Was KPMG partially responsible for the 2023 banking crisis?

KPMG, one of the big four accounting firms in the U.S., was the audit firm for Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank, the three major banks that failed in the banking crisis of 2023. A new report from The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations examined KPMG’s role in the bank failures. Does KPMG bear any responsibility in the failure of these banks? This episode examines two articles one from Banking Dive titled “Senate report on Silicon Valley Bank rips KPMG, reveals CFO role” and one from The Wall Street Journal titled “KPMG ignored flaws at regional banks before 2023 crisis, Senate Report finds.”  Links to the Banking Dive article and report are included below. 

Link:  Senate report on Silicon Valley Bank rips KPMG, reveals CFO role | CFO Dive

Link: 2025_09_17-Regional-Bank-Failures-Report-1.pdf