KPMG welcomes the recent statement from Mr Bernard Agulhas, the chief executive of the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA).

7 May 2018

We acknowledge that failings at the firm have contributed to adverse perceptions about the audit profession and we accept responsibility to work towards redressing this situation.

The controversy around the industry has undermined public confidence and this needs to be restored through thoughtful and constructive measures.

Against this backdrop, we are supportive of Mr Agulhas’s call for a “rational and measured response” by all stakeholders, and of his resistance to allowing the industry’s reputation to be defined by the actions of a few bad individual auditors.

Since last September KPMG has undertaken far-reaching reforms which seek to put Quality and Integrity at the heart of the firm. We have been in dialogue with the IRBA throughout this period, and we look forward to co-operating closely in this next phase as they, in line with their continuous process to monitor improvements to the operations of the firm, review the adequacy of the remedial actions we have committed to.

Recent revelations about VBS have unsettled clients and we recognise they require reassurance that KPMG remains a good firm to be associated with. We have already taken many steps ourselves, and we welcome the independent scrutiny of the IRBA.

Issued by Nqubeko Sibiya, Communications Manager KPMG, 7 May 2018