CAPE TOWN - South Africa's audit regulator
will fast-track an investigation into global auditor KPMG over
work done for business friends of President Jacob Zuma, the
regulator's chief executive told lawmakers on Tuesday.
The Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors' inquiry into
KPMG follows an internal investigation in which the firm found
work it did for companies owned by the Gupta family "fell
considerably short" of the firm's standards.
The Guptas are accused by a watchdog of
improperly influencing the award of government contracts, has
denied wrongdoing, as has Zuma.
But KPMG last month cleared out its South African leadership
as several companies considered dropping KPMG and after the
finance minister asked government departments to review their
work with the firm.
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"We will fast-track the investigation, but we have to
respect the prescribed process of the auditing profession act
and disciplinary rules," Independent Regulatory Board of
Auditors CEO Bernard Agulhas told parliament's finance
committee.
"In the beginning we did not always receive the information
that we required. It was important that the process isn't
delayed," Agulhas said, adding that KPMG has since committed to
cooperate with the probe.
Nearly a dozen of South Africa's blue-chip companies use
KPMG's services, including three of the nation's four largest
banks.
The central bank has told top lenders they cannot fire KPMG
because it might undermine financial stability, two sources with
knowledge of the matter told Reuters.