Treasury Imposes New Hefty Maximum Fines for Rogue Auditors

Rogue independent auditors and auditing firms in South Africa will be facing hefty penalties of up to R25 million, if they are found guilty of improper conduct as the National Treasury tightens controls.

Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana gazetted the latest notice of maximum fines for registered auditors found guilty of improper conduct, after the notice of maximum fines previously gazetted in June 2023 was withdrawn in January 2024.

These maximum fines will be applicable to improper conduct committed from 6 June 2024, the date of publication of gazette notice 4933.

The notice does not apply retrospectively, and the maximum fines promulgated by the minister on 15 June 2023 will remain applicable for improper conduct committed between 15 June 2023 and 6 June 2024.

According to Treasury, a framework for the implementation of the maximum fines in a proportional and scalable manner will be issued by the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors for public comment before adoption by the board.

The gazette notice is available on:
https://gazettes.africa/akn/za/officialGazette/government-gazette/2024-06-06/50765/eng@2024-06-06