The Kuwait Capital Markets Authority’s Disciplinary Board issued a resolution imposing financial penalties on IFA Hotels and Resorts Company and its external auditor, Grant Thornton Office (Al-Qatami and Al-Aiban), for breaches of the Listing Rules and the Securities Activities and Registered Persons framework linked to the company’s 2023 financial statements. The Board fined IFA Hotels and Resorts KWD 20,000 and the auditor KWD 5,000. The findings centred on non-compliance with paragraph 38 of International Accounting Standard 28 Investments in Associates and Joint Ventures, assessed under Article 1-14 of Module Twelve of the Executive Bylaws to Law No. 7 of 2010 (as amended). The Authority determined the issuer had inflated its investment in an associate by recording an “other adjustments” item of KWD 2,266,962 to address a negative equity-method investment balance without considering loans granted to the same associate, where equity-method losses should have been charged. Grant Thornton was found to have breached Module Five requirements by issuing its audit report without noting the IAS 28 non-compliance.
Kuwait Capital Markets Authority 2025-07-07
Kuwait Capital Markets Authority fines IFA Hotels and Resorts KWD 20,000 and Grant Thornton KWD 5,000 for IAS 28-related listing rules breaches
The Kuwait Capital Markets Authority’s Disciplinary Board fined IFA Hotels and Resorts Company KWD 20,000 and its auditor, Grant Thornton Office, KWD 5,000 for breaches of Listing Rules and the Securities Activities framework related to 2023 financial statements. The violations involved non-compliance with International Accounting Standard 28, where IFA inflated its investment in an associate, and Grant Thornton failed to report this in its audit.