The Public Investment Corporation (PIC), the single most powerful investor on the JSE, has joined the call by the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (Irba) for listed companies to rotate their auditors every 10 years. In the three months to end-September the PIC voted against the reappointment of auditors at no fewer than 11 annual general meetings. The just released results of its proxy voting during the three-month period shows the PIC voted against the reappointment of the external auditors at Naspers, Mr Price, TFG, Richemont, Mediclinic, Tongaat Hulett, Trencor, Adcorp, Tradehold and Altron. The big four audit firms — PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and EY — were all given the thumbs down where the PIC thought they were no longer independent of their clients. The cutoff for independence is 10 years, according to the PIC. This is the first time the PIC has questioned the independence of auditors and the first time it has refused to vote in favour of the reappointment of an audit firm...
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