# KPMG LLP (UK) - **Type:** Advisory firm - **Website:** https://kpmg.com/uk/en/home.html - **Assessed by:** The Assurance Desk (Add-Venture Advisory Ltd) The UK arm of the Big Four firm KPMG. It offers data protection advice through its legal practice and AI-governance advice through its Trusted AI framework. ## KPMG scores Scored 1 to 5 on six criteria. There is no overall score. ### Help when things go wrong: 2/5 FRC issued three separate sanctions against KPMG LLP since 2023 (Carillion £18.55m, N Brown £710,937.50, Carr's Group £690,625); no independently verified case study of KPMG defending a client through an ICO data-protection investigation was found. ### Qualifications of the people who do the work: 4/5 Long-established Big Four LLP (Companies House OC301540, incorporated 2002); named UK emerging-technology-risk lead (Douglas Dick, MA Hons, IIA member, PRINCE2) publicly profiled, though no verified DP-specific individual credential such as CIPP/E was found. ### What it publishes about fees: 2/5 No published fee rates or fee model for the DP/AI advisory practice were found; the UK Transparency Report discloses only statutory audit fee information, which is a different, regulator-mandated disclosure. ### Knowledge of your sector: 3/5 Named UK leads and published pages exist (Rajvir Cheema, Tim Colclough on data-protection advisory; Douglas Dick on Trusted AI); but the prior named UK data-protection legal-practice lead left the firm in December 2024, leaving current continuity unconfirmed. ### Independence from what it sells: 2/5 KPMG's own UK data-protection advisory page promotes delivery 'partnering with Microsoft' via Microsoft Purview, indicating engagements are structured around a specific vendor's software stack. ### Who carries the risk if the advice is wrong: 3/5 KPMG LLP publicly discloses professional indemnity insurance (Queen Street Mutual Company PCC Limited and others, worldwide territorial cover) on its own regulatory-information page; the LLP structure limits individual partner liability. ## Sources for KPMG Every line carries the page it was read on and the date it was checked. - KPMG LLP is registered as an active limited liability partnership at Companies House. - Source: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/OC301540 - Checked: 2026-09-19 - The FRC sanctioned KPMG LLP over its audits of Carillion plc. - Source: https://www.frc.org.uk/news-and-events/news/2023/10/sanctions-against-kpmg-llp-kpmg-audit-plc-and-two-former-partners/ - Checked: 2026-09-19 - KPMG LLP publicly discloses its professional indemnity insurance arrangements. - Source: https://kpmg.com/uk/en/misc/regulatory-information.html - Checked: 2026-09-19 - KPMG UK publishes a 'Trusted AI' advisory framework structured around ten ethical pillars. - Source: https://kpmg.com/uk/en/insights/ai/kpmg-trusted-ai.html - Checked: 2026-09-19 - Douglas Dick is named as KPMG's Head of Emerging Technology Risk, leading its AI risk management service line. - Source: https://kpmg.com/xx/en/contacts/d/douglas-dick.html - Checked: 2026-09-19 - KPMG UK's data-protection advisory work sits within its Legal Services technology practice. - Source: https://kpmg.com/uk/en/services/legal/technology.html - Checked: 2026-09-19 - The US audit regulator PCAOB censured KPMG LLP (UK) and imposed a $600,000 civil penalty for violating PCAOB quality-control standards, failing to make required audit-committee communications in 10 issuer audits (2020-2023), and filing 13 inaccurate Form APs across seven issuers. - Source: https://assets.pcaobus.org/pcaob-dev/docs/default-source/enforcement/decisions/documents/105-2025-012---kpmg-uk.pdf - Checked: 2026-09-20 - The ICO's public enforcement action list was checked by firm name and contains no entry for KPMG LLP. - Source: https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/enforcement/ - Checked: 2026-09-20 ## What this provider publishes Not published means we did not find it on the firm's own pages. - Price: Not published - Indemnity cover: Published - Credentials: Published - Independent accreditation: Not published - Client results: Not published - How it uses AI: Not published ## Strengths - Long-established UK entity: KPMG LLP has been registered at Companies House since 2002 (OC301540) as an active limited liability partnership. - Publishes a structured 'Trusted AI' ethical framework (ten pillars) with a named UK emerging-technology-risk lead, Douglas Dick. - Publicly discloses professional indemnity insurance details, including insurer name and worldwide territorial cover, on its own regulatory-information page. - Operates a dedicated UK 'Data, Digital and Technology' legal-services practice publishing specific data-protection service lines, including SAR management and breach-response coordination. ## Things to check Each one carries the factual basis it rests on. - The FRC fined KPMG LLP £18,550,000 (discounted from £26,500,000) on 12 October 2023 for 'fundamental' deficiencies in its Carillion plc statutory audits. - Basis: FRC published decision notice, 12 October 2023 (frc.org.uk), a primary regulatory register. - The FRC sanctioned KPMG LLP again in 2025 over its N Brown Group plc audit, with KPMG admitting serious breaches of International Standards on Auditing and paying a discounted penalty of £710,937.50. - Basis: FRC published sanctions announcement, June 2025 (frc.org.uk), a primary regulatory register. - KPMG's own UK data-protection advisory page promotes delivery 'partnering with Microsoft' using Microsoft Purview, rather than describing vendor-neutral advisory delivery. - Basis: KPMG's own published webpage, kpmg.com/uk/en, dated content read 19 Sep 2026. - The US audit regulator PCAOB censured KPMG LLP (UK) and fined it $600,000 on 11 March 2025 for repeatedly failing to disclose other accounting firms' audit participation (13 inaccurate Form APs across seven issuers, 2020-2023) and failing to make required audit-committee communications in 10 issuer audits, alongside related quality-control violations. - Basis: PCAOB Release No. 105-2025-012, In the Matter of KPMG LLP (United Kingdom), 11 March 2025, https://assets.pcaobus.org/pcaob-dev/docs/default-source/enforcement/decisions/documents/105-2025-012---kpmg-uk.pdf ## Where this firm appears - [After a data breach: what UK law asks of you](https://theassurancedesk.com/best/post-breach) - [Does the EU AI Act apply to a UK firm?](https://theassurancedesk.com/best/eu-ai-act-exposed) - [Your sector adds its own rules to UK data protection law](https://theassurancedesk.com/best/sector-regulated) - [Compare providers](https://theassurancedesk.com/compare) --- **Scope.** The Assurance Desk covers data protection, AI governance and cyber security in the United Kingdom and the United States. It scores providers in both: UK-facing firms, and firms based in the United States. Every provider scored so far was selected for data-protection, AI-governance or security-assurance work. Where a page describes law, it names the country that law applies in. **Who publishes this.** The Assurance Desk is published by Add-Venture Advisory Ltd, company number 11854524, registered in England and Wales. The same owner runs Avouch, a marketing agency that sells AI visibility services to firms of the kind this site covers. That is a conflict of interest, and it is disclosed here. **Corrections.** If you represent this firm and something here is wrong or out of date, email hello@theassurancedesk.com with the evidence.