Maurice Saatchi, who co-founded M&C Saatchi in 1995, is leaving the agency alongside three non-executive directors.
In addition to Saatchi, who served as executive director, Lorna Tilbian, Michael Dobbs and Michael Peat are departing. Their departures come amid an accounting scandal, as an independent review by PwC uncovered errors to the tune of 11.6 million euros ($15.3 million).
According to the Financial Times, the accounting irregularities were first noticed by the agency’s former auditors KPMG when auditing the 2018 financial reports in early 2019.
M&C Saatchi also recently lost longtime client NatWest to The&Partnership, which was named the bank’s creative agency of record in November.
“We have accepted the decision of these directors to resign,” chairman Jeremy Sinclair said in a statement. “We are determined to restore the operational performance and profitability of the business.”
Sinclair, who co-founded M&C Saatchi, will remain on the company’s board, as will fellow co-founders David Kershaw and Bill Muirhead, who serve as CEO and executive director, respectively. Finance director Mickey Kalifa is also still on the board.
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