UK regulator sanctions auditor of metals magnate Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance
UK regulator sanctions auditor of metals magnate Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance
By Kirstin RidleyTue, June 23, 2026 at 10:57 AM UTC
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The GFG Alliance flag flies at the completion of a 330 million pound deal to buy Britain's last remaining Aluminium smelter in Fort William Lochaber Scotland, Britain December 19, 2016. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
By Kirstin Ridley
LONDON, June 23 (Reuters) - The UK's auditing watchdog has sanctioned a small accounting firm in Britain over its audits of four companies in the GFG Alliance, the business empire of metals magnate Sanjeev Gupta, for an "egregious" lack of objectivity and independence.
The Financial Reporting Council said on Tuesday that King & King and Milankumar Patel, the engagement partner who signed the audit reports, hid "clear self interest threats" during more than 140 audits of GFG entities between 2018 and 2020.
The sanctions are related to the audits of GFG's British businesses Liberty Specialty Steels, Alvance British Aluminium, Liberty Steel Newport and Liberty Performance Steels.
King & King, at the time a six-partner firm, relied on GFG entities for revenues, compromising its independence and objectivity, and failed to meet audit requirements such as planning and risk assessments, income and expense recognition, and going-concern and financial statement disclosures, the FRC said.
King & King and GFG did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Patel, who made almost £877,500 ($1.16 million) in pre-tax profits from GFG audits over two years, has been fined a total of £326,184, received a severe reprimand, banned from statutory audit work for three years and has seen his "responsible individual" status withdrawn for two years.
King & King has been fined £52,000, banned from an audit register for five years and from accepting high turnover clients for two years, and ordered to submit to external monitoring and implement training on ethical compliance.
Some penalties were reduced by 25% for early settlement.
Gupta was once dubbed the "saviour of steel", but the failure in March 2021 of GFG's main lender, Greensill Capital, prompted a scramble to refinance. The UK Serious Fraud Office opened a fraud, fraudulent trading and money laundering investigation two months later.
GFG, which has denied wrongdoing, said last year it had struck a deal with Greensill creditors on global debt settlement terms.
($1 = 0.7567 pounds)
(Reporting by Kirstin Ridley; Editing by Jan Harvey)
Source: “AOL Money”
