Unibank shareholders accuse KPMG of conflict of interest

The shareholders of unibank have accused audit firm KPMG of engaging in conflict of interest after the Bank of Ghana made them receivers of some assets of unibank.

According to a statement by unibank, even though it has not received the report on the work KPMG undertook on its operations, portions of it that does not fairly capture the entire truth is being disseminated in the media.

“The recent appointment of KPMG as the Receiver in respect of some assets of uniBank and four other banks shows KPMG seeking to benefit from the report that it provided to the Bank of Ghana through a further paid engagement, a clear conflict of interest situation which does not put KPMG in a good light.”

The shareholders of unibank also expressed worry over the refusal of the Central Bank to grant to them access to the report.

According to the shareholders, the Bank of Ghana in a letter dated August 13, 2018 through its Secretary told them the Bank “is unable, at this time, to make available to you a copy of the Official Administrator’s Report on the bank”.

However, the KPMG report on uniBank is the reference source of media discussions over the past few days.

“No reason was assigned for the refusal to provide the report which the Shareholders had requested in a letter dated the 3rd of August 2018,” uniBank Shareholders said in a statement.

The statement added: “It is unacceptable for the Bank of Ghana and KPMG to deny Shareholders access to the report, even as material in the report is being widely disseminated to discredit uniBank and instigate public contempt and opprobrium against uniBank. No opportunity has been provided to the Shareholders of uniBank to respond to any purported findings of KPMG and yet they are being tried by the court of public opinion without the full facts of the case.

“We note that in the purported Report it is stated that the said Report should not be made available or communicated to any party without the prior written consent of KPMG. There is a further statement by KPMG that “we have not sought to verify information contained herein…accordingly we are unable to determine the extent to which information and explanations provided to us are complete and accurate and the report should be read in that context.

We note that in the purported Report it is stated that the said Report should not be made available or communicated to any party without the prior written consent of KPMG. There is a further statement by KPMG that “we have not sought to verify information contained herein…accordingly we are unable to determine the extent to which information and explanations provided to us are complete and accurate and the report should be read in that context.”