KPMG was restricted from examining Britannia corporate loan

KPMGIt has emerged that leading accountancy firm KPMG was banned from examining corporate loan book of Britannia Building Society during the due diligence process of the bank at the time of its takeover by Co-operative Bank.

KPMG partners have told the government that Co-op as the leading four accountancy firms to evaluate the part of the business ahead of the takeover in 2009 but the accountancy firm was barred from examining its business by Britannia. Partners at KPMG, the bank's auditor for 30 years, were speaking about the financial gap of £1.5 billion of Co-operative Bank.

Richardson, the former head of the Co-op Bank is facing criticism from the Bank of England after he blamed the regulators for the troubles of the bank. Richardson dismissed suggestions that the banks decision to merge with Britannia Building Society had resulted in financial problems for the bank, contradicting the position of Andrew Bailey, the head of the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority.

Ratings agencies and the Bank's Prudential Regulatory Authority had earlier blamed Britannia merger for the company's troubles also some parts of the bank's loan books.