Category Archives: PwC

Former KPMG partner urges royal commission into consulting industry following damning report into PwC scandal

Posted on by

Whistleblower tells Senate inquiry into federal government’s use of consultants that ‘self-regulation is failing’ across the industry

A former KPMG partner turned whistleblower has urged the federal government to consider a royal commission into the consulting industry and to formally ban firms that breach legal and ethical standards.

In late 2021, Brendan Lyon told a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry that he was pressured to amend his work, which found the state’s budget was $10bn worse off than Treasury claimed.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

PwC walks back report used to claim Australia’s nature repair market could be worth $137bn

Posted on by

Report cited by environment minister in support of offset bill was criticised for inflated figures and lack of clarity on outcomes

PwC has walked back a report used to claim the nature repair market could be worth $137bn, accepting it measures “indirect spending towards biodiversity” but the amount spent on “threatened species conservation, with clear outcomes, is likely much less”.

The consultancy firm made that submission to a Senate inquiry examining the Albanese government’s nature repair market bill in response to a critique of the report from progressive thinktank the Australia Institute.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Deputy PM says Russia uprising ‘a crack in the edifice’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

O’Neil defends decision to keep Nauru offshore processing open

Home affairs and cyber security minister Clare O’Neil was asked about why the offshore processing site on Nauru is being kept open if the last refugee has been removed on ABC RN this morning.

It is an unmitigated good thing for the country that we’ve transitioned the last asylum seeker off Nauru. This has been a festering sore in Australian politics for more than a decade. And I’m very pleased that our government has taken that approach of making sure that we bring that to a close.

However, it is very important that we maintain our strength on the borders. Offshore processing is a part of our overall approach and that is why Nauru will remain open and on standby.

Continue reading...

PwC to publicly name all staff involved in tax scandal, inquiry told

Posted on by

CEO Kristin Stubbins says once internal investigation is complete there will be ‘appropriate accountability’ for those found to have acted inappropriately

The consultancy firm PwC will name all staff involved in the tax scandal shortly after it completes an internal investigation.

“This is a comprehensive, detailed investigation and as you can appreciate, we need to get it right,” acting PwC chief executive, Kristin Stubbins, told a parliamentary inquiry on Monday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

NSW government temporarily bans all PwC work on tax projects

Posted on by

Inquiry into state local health districts’ use of consultants to begin after firm revealed to have misuse of confidential information

The New South Wales government will suspend the embattled consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers from working on tax projects as it emerged that the state’s health districts spent at least $124m on consultants since 2011.

The temporary ban will be announced on Thursday, when a state parliamentary inquiry into the public sector’s use of consultants will begin, and follows revelations that PwC misused confidential federal government information for commercial gain.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia’s leading super funds halt future contracts with PwC amid tax scandal fallout

Posted on by

AustralianSuper, Australian Retirement Trust, Hesta and Aware Super say they won’t enter into new contracts with the firm

Australia’s biggest superannuation funds have either frozen, or are reviewing, future work contracts with PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia, as the fallout from the tax leaks scandal proves costly for the embattled firm.

Four of the country’s biggest funds, AustralianSuper, Australian Retirement Trust, Hesta and Aware Super, say they will not enter into new contracts with PwC, after the professional services firm used confidential information obtained through its work for the government for commercial gain.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia politics live: Lambie threatens to disrupt Senate over Afghanistan medals; question time under way

Posted on by

Follow the latest news

Adam Bandt rails against Woodside’s exclusion from petroleum resource rent tax

Greens leader Adam Bandt is speaking to ABC radio RN Breakfast about the petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT) changes and in particular the fact that Woodside’s Western Australian North-West Shelf project isn’t included in it.

The tax is still broken, and they’re meant to be subjected to it. They should pay their fair share of tax. As I say, even after these changes, Australia only brings in a few $100 million extra from these big gas corporations that are making billions of dollars of profits. It’s about a 10th of what comparable countries bring in. If we made these guess corporations pay their fair share of tax. They’d be an extra $94 billion over the decade to go to things like delivering cost-of-living relief, funding a rent freeze, getting dental into Medicare.

Continue reading...

PwC tax scandal: staff stood down over concerns problem ‘significantly broader’ than one partner

Posted on by

Former NSW police commissioner and now PwC partner Mick Fuller contacted his friend the AFP commissioner after scandal broke, Senate estimates told

PwC has agreed to a federal government order to stand down all employees involved in the alleged misuse of confidential information from government work, responding to concern the problem is “significantly broader” than one partner at the firm.

The public service has stepped up its response to PwC for sharing confidential tax policy information to drum up business, with the head of Treasury referring the matter to police and finance ordering staff “directly involved in, or who had knowledge of, the significant breach” to be stood down.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Labor senator accuses PwC of ‘deception and betrayal’ in misuse of Treasury information

Posted on by

Deborah O’Neill has also raised concerns that other consultancy firms may have engaged in similar practices without being detected

An Australian senator has delivered a scathing rebuke of the consultancy firm PwC, arguing its misuse of Treasury information was a betrayal of professional ethics and standards while suggesting more resignations may be necessary.

On Monday night, the chief executive of PwC Australia, Tom Seymour, resigned after sustained criticism of the firm allegedly profiting from sharing confidential government tax policy with colleagues.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

China instructs state firms to phase out big four auditors

Posted on by

Firms urged to allow contracts with Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PwC to expire

The Chinese government has reportedly instructed state-owned companies to phase out contracts with the big four accounting including KPMG and EY, as authorities try to address security concerns and curb the influence of western-linked auditors.

China’s finance ministry is among the government entities that have issued informal guidance last month, urging state-owned corporations to let contracts with Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PwC expire, according to Bloomberg News.

Continue reading...

Jim Chalmers ‘furious’ after former PwC tax adviser found to have shared confidential government briefings with staff

Posted on by

Treasurer vows to ‘throw the book’ at people responsible for breach after unauthorised disclosures of multinational tax consultations

Jim Chalmers has said he is “absolutely furious” at findings a former PwC tax adviser breached the confidentiality of multinational tax consultations by disclosing them to other staff at the firm without authorisation.

On Wednesday, the treasurer promised to “throw the book” at people responsible for what he labelled a “shocking breach of trust, an appalling breach of trust”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

£1.1bn in fees, 3.1m hours, 14 years: the UK cost of winding up Lehman Brothers

Posted on by

PwC, administrator of Lehman’s London arm since bank’s failure in 2008, secures three more years to finish process

Administrators will spend at least three more years winding up the London-based arm of Lehman Brothers, swelling the almost £1.1bn in fees that PwC has already raked in since the bank’s calamitous collapse in 2008.

PwC has secured court approval to extend the administration process for the investment bank’s European hub to 2025, given the “complexity of unwinding the group’s affairs” after one of the biggest corporate failures in history.

Continue reading...

Made.com enters administration, putting about 500 jobs at risk

Posted on by

Online furniture retailer’s brand, domain names and intellectual property bought by Next

The online furniture retailer Made.com has collapsed into administration after weeks of speculation, putting about 500 jobs at risk and leaving customers disappointed.

The company’s brand, domain names and intellectual property were immediately bought by the fashion and homeware retailer Next.

Continue reading...

PwC told client it could cut Australian tax by $70m, court documents in privilege fight show

Posted on by

The Australian Tax Office is auditing Brazilian meat processor JBS over tax restructure

Global accounting firm PwC told Brazilian meat multinational JBS it would save about $70m a year in Australian tax if the company followed advice that was deliberately structured as a legal service in order to prevent it being seen by authorities, according to documents released by the federal court.

PwC’s decision to provide tax advice to JBS as legal advice was legal, but the strategy backfired after the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) launched an audit of JBS.

Continue reading...

Heads could roll at PwC over Isabel dos Santos links, says chairman

Posted on by

Exclusive: Bob Moritz says he is ‘shocked and disappointed’ by Luanda Leaks disclosures

The global chairman of PwC has warned that heads could roll at the professional services firm over its links to Isabel dos Santos, Africa’s richest woman, who is battling allegations that she obtained her wealth through corruption and nepotism.

Bob Moritz, whose firm advised companies belonging to Dos Santos and her husband across multiple jurisdictions, told the Guardian he was “shocked and disappointed” by recent disclosures about the British-headquartered accounting firm’s work for the daughter of Angola’s former president.

Continue reading...