KPMG Australia confirmed in February 2026 that 28 staff had used AI tools to cheat on mandatory internal AI-ethics training exams since July 2025, with the most senior case – a registered company auditor at partner level – fined more than A$10,000 and required to retake the exam after uploading the course reference manual into an external AI tool to generate answers. CEO Andrew Yates said monitoring introduced in 2024 first surfaced the misuse, and the partner self-reported to Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, which opened its own investigation. The episode is notable partly because KPMG was the first organization globally to earn ISO 42001 certification for AI governance, in October 2024, and sells a “Trusted AI Framework” advisory product – making the gap between its institutional AI-governance claims and staff behavior the sharper part of the story. It also follows a pattern of integrity failures across the Big Four, including a 2024 PCAOB fine on KPMG Netherlands and a 2025 Deloitte Australia AI-fabrication refund.
