Steinhoff: Why Deloitte is taking the low road
An undertaking not to be sued into oblivion is no doubt part of auditing giant’s ‘waivers’ as it chips in to the Steinhoff victims’ fund
In the days after the levee broke at Steinhoff in December 2017, and it became clear just how deep the "accounting irregularities" were buried, the group was instructed to emblazon in red on the electronic copy of its accounts: "Information can no longer be relied on."While this was done for the 2015 and 2016 accounts, further investigation and media reports suggested it was quite likely that the financial statements going back far longer were substantively false and misleading.For a company with a vast array of accounting talent in its ranks and on its board, this was the most ignominious development.Besides Markus Jooste, a CA (SA) at the group’s helm, the only other permanent feature of its year-end audit was Deloitte, which as far as we can tell, audited the company from when it first listed in 1999.On Monday the global auditing firm announced that it would be making a contribution — on the surface of things for no apparent reason — to the compensation kitty that Steinhoff is re...
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