Consulting firm KPMG approved SVB and Signature’s accounts just a few days ago.
The consulting firm KPMG gave a clean bill of health to the accounts of the recently failed banks Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank in audits conducted respectively 14 and 11 days ago, as reported Monday by The Wall Street Journal. The audits were for 2022, so KPMG was not reviewing the accounts for the current period in which the problems have developed, but among its functions is to point out risks and other matters relevant to the accounting close, the newspaper indicates.
SVB had a peak in deposits in the first quarter of 2022 and these fell by 13% in the last nine months of the year. In the current fiscal year, it disclosed on March 8 that. customers were “burning cash.” at a high level that “increased further in February,” he adds.
KPMG’s potential errors will foreseeably form part of the investigation announced by the Federal Reserve. on its own supervision of SVB, due for release on May 1, and of the lawsuits that customers have begun to file.
The consulting firm told the Journal that it cannot comment on specific audits due to confidentiality issues, but in its defense stated that. is not responsible for subsequent events to its analysis of accounts.
SVB announced on Wednesday that it was seeking a capital increase to tackle financial difficulties, prompting many depositors to withdraw their funds creating One of the biggest banking panics in a decade.. On Thursday they tried to withdraw $42 billion, it told regulators. As a result, authorities closed and intervened the bank on Friday for lack of liquidity.
Signature Bank, which has fewer assets than SVB, also fell victim to “bank panic” last week and was Closed and intervened by regulators. Sunday.
The U.S. government, the banking regulator (FDIC) and the central bank presented on Sunday an emergency plan to protect the deposits of both entities and said that customers could withdraw their money this Monday. Still, fears of a financial crisis have weighed on the U.S. banking sector and other markets, with sharp declines in regional institutions.
