[WASHINGTON, DC] – The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) has demanded communications and records from accounting firm KPMG LLP regarding its audits of three failed banks—Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank. According to reports, KPMG issued clean audits for each bank in the weeks before the banks failed.  

In a letter to KPMG CEO Paul Knopp, PSI Chair Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Ranking Member Ron Johnson (R-WI) noted that, in the days leading up to these banks’ failures, KPMG had “issued these audits without qualification” and that later, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve issued reports that “identified ‘foundational and widespread’ weaknesses with SVB and Signature’s internal audit and risk management functions.”

Blumenthal and Johnson are seeking information regarding KPMG’s audits of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank, and KPMG’s communications with state and federal regulators.  

The full text of the letter is available here.