Big names, broken trust

Here, hiring a Big Four firm can resemble buying an expensive wedding sherwani: worn once and remembered through the bill. The logo enters the boardroom first. If its report states the obvious, it becomes “global best practice”. If a local consultant says the same thing, fee negotiations begin.

Early in my consultancy journey, a business group explained it avoided local advisers for fear its secrets might reach regulators or rivals. Another managing director said: “You know many people in the corporate sector, including my competitors. Subconsciously, you may pass our business secrets to them.” Neither fear is misplaced here, where confidentiality sometimes lasts only until the next dinner. Australia supplied the punchline: a foreign passport does not vaccinate a consultant against temptation. In the PwC tax scandal, a partner advising the government under confidentiality on multinational tax avoidance shared sensitive information within PwC. It was used to help multinationals stay ahead of the rules. PwC Australia’s chief executive resigned and nine partners stood down.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

Then came KPMG. A whistleblower alleged confidential Lendlease board information was used to pursue audit work elsewhere. KPMG acknowledged its initial investigations lacked the necessary rigour. The inquiry also heard sensitive Optus information had been shared with a team seeking Telstra’s audit. The chief executive and head of audit departed. ABC reported KPMG was temporarily frozen out of new federal work while 297 existing contracts worth AUD 653 million remained active.

Why does this happen? Trust has become the shop window; consulting is the shopping mall behind it. An Australian Treasury paper noted that audits generated only 20 percent of the four largest firms’ revenue in 2025. Non-audit work had previously risen from 73 percent to 82 percent. Partners face growth targets and cross-selling incentives. A consultant may be sworn to secrecy while a colleague is rewarded for knowing what the competitor knows. Chinese walls drawn in PowerPoint can apparently develop convenient doors.

The risk in Bangladesh extends beyond business groups. Government agencies and development partners also favour well-known logos for credibility and reassurance. All four firms operate here through locally incorporated entities or member firms, but the global brands are networks of legally separate firms. Work and data may cross borders. A regional headquarters is geography, not a certificate of ethics, particularly where enforcement is weaker. When trouble arrives, clients may discover the brand was global but accountability remarkably local.

Boards must therefore replace admiration with architecture. Every engagement should identify the Bangladesh contracting entity, the resident accountable partner and overseas teams with data access. Contracts should require network-wide conflict checks, need-to-know access, local data storage, approval for cross-border transfers, audit trails, indemnities and personal accountability for breaches. Audit committees should prohibit the statutory auditor from sensitive strategy, forensic or tax structuring assignments, and periodically retender major work.

Qualified local professionals should be independent co-leads, chosen by the client, with access to evidence, methodology and working papers, not decorative subcontractors hired to arrange interviews. Public bodies and development agencies should publish the scope, fees, conflicts and deliverables while including a duty to act in the public interest. The UK Financial Reporting Council has operationally separated Big Four audit practices and established independent audit boards. Australia is considering firm licensing, stronger information controls, structural separation and mandatory retendering. Bangladesh’s FRC and procurement authorities should adapt these safeguards.

The Big Four possess deep expertise. This is not an argument for professional nationalism. It is an argument against corporate hypnosis. Confidentiality is not a logo, and independence is not an imported adjective. Bangladesh should stop buying accountability by brand and start building it through contracts, local scrutiny and consequences.

The writer is the founder of BuildCon Consultancies Ltd and BuildNation Ltd