KPMG have issued a Transparency Report for 2013. It begins with this:
The press is full of evidence of a breakdown in trust between business and society. High proï¬le collapses during the ï¬nancial crisis, concern over companies' approaches to tax planning, corporate proï¬ts while price increases put pressure on household budgets, stories of high-cost unregulated lenders, the perception of a widening gap between executive pay including bonuses and the wages of the workforce — the list goes on.
So, I expected them to address the issues raised, and a few more besides (like International Financial Reporting Standard being illegal in UK law) but no, they then said:
And that was the ned of the references to tax.
I look forward to their tax and transparency report in that case. It should make fascinating reading. In the meantime, their existing report wins an award for opacity and not transparency because it does not say what it is about, and that's pretty staggering for a report with the title they've given it, especially when the cover implies it applies to more than their audit operation:
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Sir Humphrey said “It’s best to get rid of the difficult bit in the title” in a Yes Minister episode called “Open Government”
Thank goodness KPMG are too private sector and efficient to resemble a Whitehall mandarin’s inefficient public sector obfuscation.
Another oxymoron that is right up there with the Transparency of Lobbying bill
Sir Humphrey was a model of clarity compared to the aspiring fiscal Stalinists currently running KPMG;-)
Very transparent about its opaqueness!