JSE- and NYSE-listed Harmony Gold has reached a settlement with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority of South Africa (FCSA), related to the company’s financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2007.
Harmony states that the results for that quarter, at that stage unbeknownst to the company, were incorrect.
The first indication that the results were erroneous was end-July 2007. The company immediately informed shareholders and the necessary authorities, while reviewing all its financial reporting policies and systems to ensure that such an error would not be repeated.
“The inaccuracy of the March 2007 quarterly financial results was a bona
fide error, following the implementation of a new financial software system. This has been the only material weakness identified in our internal control over financial reporting that we have had in 68 years,” Harmony FD Frank Abbott assured shareholders.
At the time, the Directorate of Market Abuse, however, alleged that Harmony had published misleading financial statements for that quarter.
The company said it cooperated with the Financial Services Board over more than a decade to ensure that expansive and protracted enforcement proceedings and possible litigation be avoided.
The company has agreed with the FCSA to pay an administrative penalty of R30-million.