Herbalife auditor KPMG to resign amid info leak: NYT

KPMG will resign as the auditor of Herbalife Ltd after a KPMG partner was fired for leaking nonpublic information on companies the firm audited, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed source.

Herbalife shares were halted, and the company did not return multiple requests for comment. KPMG declined to comment.

KPMG said late on Monday it fired a senior partner in its Los Angeles office, saying the unidentified partner provided inside information about its clients to someone who had used that information in stock trading.

Herbalife shares have been a battleground for hedge fund industry titans Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn this year, with Ackman's Pershing Square taking a short position and Icahn owning a stake.

(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz and Martinne Geller in New York and Kevin Drawbaugh in Washington D.C.; editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Matthew Lewis)