Australian bank Westpac announced Wednesday that non-executive board member Peter Nash would be stepping down, pointing to his close connections with auditing firm KPMG as the reason for his departure.
KPMG has found itself at the center of a growing controversy following whistleblower claims that the firm improperly shared confidential company information with prospective private-sector clients in order to win auditing contracts.
Nash had been a senior partner at KPMG until 2017 and served as the firm’s national chairman in Australia, while also holding positions on its global and regional boards. He joined Westpac’s board in 2018.
Westpac Chairman Steven Gregg addressed the departure in a formal statement, saying, “With recent attention on Peter’s former roles and relationships at KPMG, he has decided now is the right time to retire from the board to limit any ongoing distraction for the company.”
Nash had been reelected to the Westpac board in December of last year, though approximately 40% of investors cast votes against him. That opposition was also tied to his prior role as a director at ASX during a turbulent period for the stock exchange.
According to local media reports, Nash attended pitch meetings in 2023 where auditing firms were competing to secure Westpac’s contract — a process that ultimately resulted in the bank switching its auditor from PwC to KPMG.
Adding to the scrutiny, Martin Sheppard — who resigned last week as KPMG chairman — told a parliamentary hearing in mid-June that Nash had stayed at his home while the bidding process was underway, as the two men have been longtime friends.
Gregg defended the bank’s process while acknowledging the optics of the situation. “The structure of Westpac’s audit tender process was robust. Peter declared his past connections with KPMG and was not on the selection committee,” he said. “However he acknowledges the perception of bias that may have been created by his relationships.”
In his own statement, Nash said that Westpac had “changed significantly” during his tenure on the board and was well positioned for the future. He made no reference to KPMG in his remarks.
