KPMG, the global accountant which certified that Independent Insurance had “adequate resources” just weeks before it slid into voluntary liquidation, has mounted a review of its work for the company.
The auditing firm that signed off Independent's accounts in March 2001 is reported to have received a fee of £667,000 and another £900,000 for additional consultancy work. It said in its financial statement on the insurer that it had “adequate resources to continue in operations for the foreseeable future”.
KPMG declined to confirm the amount of fees it received from Independent but said it had acted correctly in its dealings with the insurer, particularly in seeking details of its reinsurance contracts.
A spokesman for the auditing group said: “We performed extensive procedures as to the validity of Independent's reinsurance arrangements as disclosed in its accounts. We also sought specific assurances that no other reinsurance arrangements existed.”
However, the spokesman was unable to say if KPMG had received the assurances it had sought. He added: “We are currently carrying out a re-examination of the work we did for Independent covering the audit performed. We will be working with the bodies currently undertaking inquiries into Independent.”
He confirmed these bodies included the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Services Authority.
