All PwC partners and staff found to have done wrong will be named once an investigation into the tax advice scandal is over, an inquiry has been told.
The revelation came as PwC’s acting chief executive Kristin Stubbins said offloading the firm’s government consultancy business and appointing a new CEO showed its commitment to accountability.
PwC has been under pressure to name all of those involved in the scandal as politicians turn up the heat on the firm and government departments review contact with advisers.
“This is a comprehensive, detailed investigation and, as you can appreciate, we need to get it right,” Stubbins told a New School Wales parliamentary inquiry on Monday.
“When the investigation is complete, which it will be shortly, we will be naming all those people who did anything wrong, and there will be appropriate accountability.”
She said the probe was looking at leadership, governance and accountability, not just the tax advice issue.
“It’s very important that we take a holistic view of this and make sure accountability is taken by those who need to take it.”
Stubbins earlier told the hearing an agreement in principle to divest the federal and state government consulting businesses to Allegro Fund was “the right thing to do for our public sector clients”.
“(It will) ensure continuity of service and to protect the jobs of the talented people in our government business,” she said.
“PwC Australia will make no financial gain from the transaction.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters he had been briefed on the PwC changes and did not believe they would make a difference to government reviews.
Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill questioned the divestment decision.
“We have this unseemly haste with a profit-driven motive to try and phoenix itself back into some sort of connection with the government,” she told ABC radio.
Greens senator Barbara Pocock said the ethical failure had not been addressed.
“The conflicts are still there. They don’t just magically disappear when you rebadge the partnership and put up a fence,” she said.
“There is still an opaque partnership model, which will continue working to harvest government contracts—a stream of contracts that is likely falling to a trickle in view of recent events.”
Noting the work her firm had done during the COVID-19 pandemic, Stubbins said it was important to acknowledge “we don’t always get things right”.
“We deeply regret the breach of confidential federal tax policy information that happened around eight years ago and I deeply apologise for that,” she said.
“We have failed the standards we set for ourselves as an organisation.”
New CEO, Singapore-based Kevin Burrowes, is awaiting immigration clearance to come to Australia.
An independent review of PwC’s conduct in the scandal headed by former Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski is due to be released in September.
PwC is accused of abusing trust by leaking government tax information for financial gain.
Former partner Peter Collins has been referred to federal police and nine others have stood down.
Chief executive at the time, Tom Seymour, apologised and stepped down in May.
The divestment of the government consultancy business will create two separate firms.
The government business generated about 20 per cent of the Australian firm’s fiscal year 2023 revenue.
