Harmony’s 11-year investigation not a good sign for Steinhoff cases
Record-setting R30m fine slapped on the mining house after an arduous 11-year investigation
The recent record-setting R30m fine slapped on Harmony Gold by the financial sector watchdog for an 11-year old contravention of laws governing financial markets will discourage hopes of a speedy resolution to regulatory action at Steinhoff, where the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is investigating allegations of insider trading and market manipulation. Harmony, which was the world’s fifth-largest gold producer and was listed on five stock exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, was slapped with the record fine for releasing false and misleading information in April 2007. On April 25 2007 the company reported a headline profit of 58c a share for the three months to end-March 2007 instead of a headline loss as a result of the flawed implementation of a new computerised accounting system, which failed to pick up R250m of costs. It did not provide any details behind the accounting blunders. The revision meant the mining company had reported a headline loss in 14 of...
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