PwC internal inquiry under fire as government plans stricter review on the use of consulting firms

Company director and former head of a government review into nuclear energy Ziggy Switkowski will review the culture of embattled accounting firm PwC as the federal government works out how to deal with the consequences of the tax leak scandal.

Switkowski’s appointment by PwC to review the accountability, governance and culture of the firm follows revelations that the firm used confidential information obtained during government consultations on drafting multinational anti-avoidance laws to market solutions designed to dodge the law then partner Peter Collins helped draft.

Emails released via a parliamentary committee said that the firm forecast $2.5 million in revenue from 14 entities that had engaged with PwC on restructuring their affairs in January 2016.

Collins is no longer with the firm and his tax agent registration was terminated. Chief executive officer Tom Seymour has stepped down. The firm said yesterday that Seymour, who was head of tax during the relevant period, will leave in September.

Switkowski will be given access to all relevant personnel, a statement from the firm said, and his findings will be presented to the firm in September.

PwC’s statement said a summary of the recommendations will be made public.

“We are committed to learning from our mistakes and ensuring that we embrace the high standards of governance, culture and accountability that our people, clients and external stakeholders rightly expect,” said PwC’s acting CEO Kristin Stubbins.

The Switkowski review has been criticised by senators Deborah O’Neill and Barbara Pocock. O’Neill has branded the review as an exercise in damage control while Pocock said the inquiry as proposed is not the kind of review that is required.

PwC’s announcement of the review comes while a parliamentary committee conducts an inquiry into the use of consulting firms.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and finance minister Katy Gallagher are looking at what consequences may flow from confidentiality breaches.

Chalmers said before the federal budget that he was working with relevant agencies to see what more could be done to prevent similar breaches of trust from occurring again.

“My focus when it comes to PwC is bedding down the Tax Practitioners Board changes that my predecessor sat on and working with the Treasury and the tax office and others to see if we can do further things to strengthen the arrangements so that this ridiculous situation from some years ago doesn’t repeat itself,” Chalmers said.

“We want to be able to be a consultative government and we want to have faith in the processes. We understand why businesses want to be consulted, particularly on big changes, and we do what we can to try and satisfy that need but we can only do that if people trust the system and flogging off the confidential information to make a buck is not consistent with the sort of good faith that we want to see when we consult business on changes, whether it’s tax changes or other changes.”

This article was first published by The Mandarin.