SEC Charges Two Former KPMG Auditors for Improper Professional Conduct During Audit of Not-for-Profit College

The Securities and Exchange Commission today suspended two former KPMG auditors from practicing before the SEC in connection with settled charges against the two for improper professional conduct during an audit of the now defunct, not-for-profit College of New Rochelle. The SEC previously charged the college’s former controller with fraud in connection with the college’s fiscal year 2015 financial statements. According to the SEC’s orders, former KPMG partner Christopher Stanley approved, and former KPMG senior manager Jennifer Stewart authorized, the issuance of an unmodified audit opinion on the college’s fiscal year 2015 financial statements, despite not having completed critical audit steps. As described in the orders, KPMG’s work on the audit had stalled because the college’s former controller had provided the audit team with inaccurate, incomplete, and contradictory information.