SA anti-corruption campaign targets KPMG and McKinsey
KPMG faces criticism and its clients being urged to sever ties with the firm over its alleged involvement in controversial business deals in South Africa. The Save South Africa campaign says the company risks "becoming the Bell Pottinger of the auditing profession." It accuses KPMG of being involved in numerous deals by members of the Gupta family, which has faced widespread public criticism amid accusations of corruption in their links to President Zuma's government. McKinsey is also now under scrutiny as its South African operation stands accused of turning a blind eye to corrupt payments made to the Guptas by one of its clients, Eskom.
T he speed with which anti-business campaigns can snowball in the internet age never ceases to amaze.

Following last week’s implosion of Bell Pottinger over its South African smear campaign for the Gupta family, KPMG is in the line of fire.

The accounting giant is auditor to the Guptas, who are accused of winning state contracts due to their friendship with the president Jacob Zuma. KPMG, anti-Zuma campaigners allege, played a “central role in facilitating state capture”.

Already, stung by virulent social media, several South African companies have distanced themselves from the firm.

The world’s press has picked up on the digital buzz in South Africa, and today KPMG finds itself splashed all over the Financial Times. Desperate to get ahead of the story, KPMG has launched a review into its Gupta work and pledged to “rebuild the public’s trust”, an admission its reputation has been badly damaged.

Next will surely be McKinsey. Its South African operation is accused of turning a blind eye to corrupt payments to the Guptas by the state utility Eskom, a McKinsey client.

McKinsey has launched an independent inquiry into itself, but that won’t stop the clamour. Particularly after Reuters today quoted ex-McKinsey employees saying that local staff warned the firm off the contract as early as 2013. Back in the day, multinationals would have seen little blowback in their important western markets from such African skirmishes.

Now, with Twitter and Facebook having the power to spread bad news globally in milliseconds, a well-organised local campaign in a faraway place can sink a business within weeks.

Bell Pottinger, once famed for its skills in organising such campaigns itself, will not be the last to learn that to its cost.

Barclays battler back

An update from a pal at Barclays’ Canary Wharf tower gives cause for cheer.

Back in March, in the aftermath of the Westminster terror attack, we were looking for positive stories to counter the gloom. We alighted on Barclays in Canary Wharf, where 60 traders were spending the day on a charity effort on the office gym’s StairMasters to “climb Mount Everest”.

Their efforts — which raised a chunky £70,000 — were to support their colleague on European rates sales, Tarun Mathur, who was fighting a gruelling battle with cancer.

I’m delighted to report that Tarun yesterday returned to the bank’s vast dealing room for the first time, to a standing ovation from the whole floor. The noise resounded across the North Colonnade, leaving not a dry eye in the house.

Great to have you back, Tarun. Now, crack on and tell us when the ECB’s putting up rates.