Standard Life Aberdeen has confirmed that KPMG will be its auditors, after it completed the £11bn merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management on 14 August 2017
In 2015, Aberdeen Asset Management appointed PwC after having been with KPMG, while in May, Standard Life appointed KPMG, having been with PwC.
According to its 2014 annual report, Aberdeen Asset Management paid KPMG £1.5m in audit fees for that year, plus £600,000 for non audit services. Standard Life paid PwC a total of £7.3m in 2015. This was made up of a group audit fee of £3.7m, reduced from £4.7m the previous year because of the disposal of the company’s Canadian business.
The new business, trading as Standard Life Aberdeen, will manage funds worth approximately £670bn.
Having been agreed in March, the merger aims to make £200m in cost savings per year, while the firm will have a global workforce of 9,000.
In a statement, Standard Life Aberdeen said: ‘Standard Life Aberdeen plc’s group auditors will be KPMG. PwC are resigning from the audit of Aberdeen Asset Management PLC and its subsidiaries and KPMG's engagement with Standard Life PLC is being extended to include all of the former Aberdeen Asset Management PLC legal entities. This is in line with the EU Audit Directive on auditor rotation, which applies to Standard Life Aberdeen plc, formerly Standard Life plc, which formally acquired Aberdeen Asset Management PLC.’
