Barclays decision threatens KPMG SA
The bank’s board says it wants to ditch the auditors, who will lose R138m in annual fees
KPMG is on the ropes. The auditing firm lost its biggest private sector client yet on Thursday — and with it about R138m in annual audit fees. The more than 200 employees who worked on the Barclays Africa account face losing their jobs after the bank’s board decided to ditch it as an external auditor. Barclays Africa shareholders will vote on the recommendation later in May. It comes weeks after VBS Mutual Bank was added to the list of KPMG’s audit failures. The move threatens the future of KPMG SA, which has already lost several private- sector clients and can no longer do work for the government after the auditor-general dropped it in April. It is also the latest blow to the audit profession, which is facing a growing number of investigations in SA and globally. The Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors, which fined PwC in 2017 over its audit of South African Airways, is investigating Deloitte’s audit of Steinhoff and KPMG’s work for Gupta-family companies, the South African R...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.