TS couldn’t help but wince as we read through the US Department of Justice’s agreement with KPMG over the firm’s tax shelter schemes. It was fined $450m (£252m) and was forced to agree to having a monitor stationed in its offices on a humiliating ‘he’s free to go anywhere’ kind of policy.

But just when you thought the DoJ was going for the jugular, it gets all friendly and agrees that KPMG can stay on as DoJ auditor. No conflict of interests there then! Mind you, perhaps the level of trust has dropped somewhat. The settlement is at pains to points out that KPMG’s $450m fine is not deductible for tax purposes. They wouldn’t have tried it, would they?