The tied German legal arm of big four accountant KPMG is set to drop the brand name of its parent in a symbolic move designed to head off regulatory pressure.

KPMG Beiten Burkhardt, a member of the accountant’s KLegal law firm network, is planning to change its name to Beiten Burkhardt Goerdeler on 1 January 2003, with a partner vote scheduled for this month. The name Goerdeler comes from the ‘G’ in KPMG and stands for the group’s founding German partner, Reinhard Goerdeler.