PricewaterhouseCoopers fined R87 million for misconduct

PWC head offices in Sunninghill North of Johannnesburg.photo by Simphiwe Mbokazi

PWC head offices in Sunninghill North of Johannnesburg.photo by Simphiwe Mbokazi

Published Aug 17, 2017

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LONDON - Multinational professional services network, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been fined R87.62m for misconduct over its audit of RSM Tenon Group in the largest-ever sanction issued by the UK accounting regulator. 

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) announced the fine on 16 August 2017, along with penalties against PwC's senior audit partner, Nicholas Boden. 

The misconduct relates to an audit of RSM's accounts for the year ended June 2011. 

The record penalty follows a  three month earlier record fine that PwC incurred another for misconduct over its audit of Connaught, an FTSE 250 company that went into administration in 2010. 

The FRC issued a R84m sanction against the auditor over the Connaught work in May, marking the then-largest-ever penalty from the regulator. 

“Aspects of the audit carried out in 2011 fell short of professional standards,” a PwC spokesperson said. 

“We continually review and update our audit processes in response to both internal reviews and external inspection findings". 

- BLOOMBERG

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