In your opinion, should the United States adopt a rule similar to South Africa's "reportable irregularities" rule? Defend your answer. How do you believe such a requirement would affect the independent audit function and capital markets in the United States?

Within the first five months that the APA was in effect, the IRBA received more than 200 RI reports from auditors. By 2010, the IRBA reported that it was receiving more than 1,000 such reports annually. The majority of RIs involve alleged violations of South African tax laws, apparent violations of the nation's federal securities laws, and a wide range of questionable accounting practices.¹² The regulatory agency has also received informal reports from auditors that clients have threatened to dismiss them if they made an RI disclosure. These informal reports tend to confirm that the RI reporting rule has created tension between auditors and their clients. In an interview with a newspaper reporter, the IRBA's senior executive, Kariem Hoosain, admitted that the new requirement had resulted in a "strained relationship" between auditors and their clients.¹³ But Hoosain quickly added that was simply "tough luck." In the same article in which Hoosain was quoted, an officer of the SAICA indicated that the RI rule was "onerous" for auditors and expressed his opinion that the criminal sanctions auditors faced under that rule were unfair.¹⁴ The officer went on to note that "there's not much we can do now. It is the law and our members have to abide by [it]."¹⁵

As the details of the Randgold fraud were reported to the public, PwC, Randgold's former audit firm, became the target of increasing criticism for its role in that scandal. One reporter observed that "When the full tale of Brett Kebble's larceny is finally told, it would be something of a crime in itself if his auditors came off unscathed."¹⁶ In October 2006, Karien Hoosain revealed that his agency was initiating an investigation of PwC's Randgold audits. Hoosain indicated that such an investigation was warranted given the report of the forensic consulting firm that had been retained by Randgold's board to scrutinize Kebble's fraudulent schemes. That report indicated that Randgold's fiscal 2003 financial statements (on which PwC had issued an unqualified opinion) "grossly misrepresented" the company's financial condition.17 Hoosain reported that because of the "complexities and sensitivities" of the Randgold case, the investigation of PwC's audits would likely take years to complete.¹⁸