Big Four auditor KPMG and a former partner in the firm have been fined and severely reprimanded by the accounting industry’s watchdog for failure to maintain objectivity and integrity while advising on the sale of mattress company Silentnight to private equity firm HIG. 

The 5 August sanctions from the Financial Reporting Council include a £13m fine against KPMG, and a £500,000 fine against David Costley-Wood — its former partner and head of KPMG’s restructuring unit in Manchester. These follow an independent Disciplinary Tribunal’s findings of misconduct post a four-week hearing from November to December 2020.