ADGM fines PKF $100,000 over audit of $46bn company
Abu Dhabi Global Market has fined accounting firm PKF and a senior auditor $100,000 after uncovering serious deficiencies in the audit of a company reporting $46bn in annual revenue
09 October, 2026
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Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has fined accounting firm PKF and one of its senior auditors a combined $100,000 after uncovering shortcomings in the way they checked financial records of a company with an annual revenue of $46bn.
ADGM’s Registration Authority announced on Friday that it had imposed a $65,000 penalty on PKF Accountants and Business Advisers LLP and a further $35,000 fine on Saranga Omprakash Lalwani, the auditor responsible for overseeing the work.
The penalties followed an inspection that found the firm failed to carry out important checks and properly document its findings when auditing an unnamed company involved in the oil, petroleum and petrochemicals industries.
The company, identified only as “Entity A” in regulatory documents, reported revenue of $46bn for the financial year ending March 2024.
According to ADGM, inspectors discovered several problems with the audit, including inadequate checks for potential fraud, insufficient evidence to support financial figures and a lack of records showing how the audit was supervised.
One of the more striking findings involved $115.4mn worth of metal inventory that PKF claimed to have physically verified.
The firm said the inventory consisted of a “few gold bars”, but ADGM questioned this explanation, noting that the stated value would represent approximately 1.09 tonnes of gold.
The regulator said there was insufficient evidence to support the claim that the inventory had been properly checked.
Inspectors also raised concerns about how PKF examined $8.1bn in outstanding payments owed to the company, finding that the audit records did not adequately support conclusions about whether those amounts were recoverable.
The inspection further found that PKF had failed to properly assess the risk of company management overriding financial controls, an important safeguard against accounting fraud.
PKF response
PKF defended Lalwani’s role in overseeing the audit, saying she had reviewed the work but that limitations in its auditing software meant her involvement was not fully documented.
“The RAP (registered auditing principle) was involved during the engagement, including providing review notes and clearing comments,” the firm said, adding that technical limitations had prevented the full extent of her reviews from being recorded.
PKF said it had since introduced new audit software and outlined plans to improve staff training and oversight.
ADGM said the failures did not appear to have been deliberate or reckless.
The regulator also acknowledged the firm’s cooperation and previous clean disciplinary record, reducing the combined penalties from an initially proposed $110,000 to $100,000.
In a statement, ADGM’s Registration Authority said:
“The Registration Authority confirms its commitment to maintaining high standards of audit quality and corporate reporting within ADGM. Registered Auditors and Registered Audit Principals are expected to conduct audits in accordance with applicable professional standards and exercise appropriate skill, care and diligence.
“This action reinforces the importance of robust audit practices and demonstrates that failures to meet regulatory requirements will result in appropriate enforcement action.”
