The FSCA recently published a Press Release regarding the fine that it imposed on the Steinhoff Group. The Steinhoff Group were being investigated, by the FSCA, due to alleged contraventions of the Financial Markets Act in the period prior to the discovery of significant accounting irregularities at the Company in December 2017.
The Press Release states that the requirement for Steinhoff to make multiple, significant restatements of its accounts subsequent to December 2017 supports the conclusion that Steinhoff failed to meet its obligations under the Financial Markets Act. The FSCA has therefore found that the Steinhoff Group made false, misleading or deceptive statements, promises or forecasts in its public statements to the markets in the prior period.
The FSCA imposed an administrative penalty of R1.5 billion on Steinhoff but later resolved to remit a portion of the penalty resulting in Steinhoff paying a penalty of R53 million. The Press Release emphasized that the size of the headline penalty reflects the scale and severity of the regulatory breach.
Read the Press Release: The FSCA fines Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. (Steinhoff/the Company) for contravention of the Financial Markets Act