KPMG’s U.S. boss, Paul Knopp, said the accounting firm stood behind its audits of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) and Signature Bank (SBNY.O), the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Knopp said KPMG’s audit work considered all the facts available at the time and that “market-driven events” in the intervening days led to the banks’ failures, the report said.
“It’s important to recognize that audit opinions, which only address the financial statements and internal controls of the business, are based on audit evidence available up to and at the date of the opinion,” the accounting firm said in a statement.
“Any unanticipated events or actions taken by management after the date of an opinion could not be contemplated as part of the audit,” the company added.
Global markets have been bumpy since the collapse of SVB, the biggest U.S. bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis, and Signature Bank.
