Patisserie Valerie shareholders are looking at the liability of the accountants, auditors and now the administrators in relation to such a huge accounting error.
Patisserie Valerie’s net assets had been overstated by at least £94m by accountants KPMG, leading Patisserie Valerie shareholders to consider legal action against administrators KPMG in order to gain access to forensic accounting reports. The auditors are being investigated in relation to their role in Patisserie Valerie’s audits going back to 2015.
SA Law Corporate Partner Vincent Billings comments on the case in Economia:
“This is not a new issue. Often parties who have suffered a loss will examine the work of professional advisers to see whether they have conducted themselves in an appropriate manner when supplying services.
All companies are obliged to keep financial records that give a true and fair view of its financial affairs. If a company fails to keep the correct type of accounting records, every officer (director and company secretary) is in default and liable to a fine and/or imprisonment unless they can show they acted honestly and that in the circumstances the default was excusable. Therefore, in the first instance it is the company’s responsibility to ensure their accounting records show a true and fair view.”
Read Vincent’s full article published by Economia:
