PRICE WATERHOUSE COOPER (PwC)
Parliamentary report finds PwC engaged in 'calculated breach of trust', but won't release list of staff involved in tax leaks
By political reporter Tom Lowrey
It also found no evidence "colleagues or leaders" called out this behaviour, up until it became publicly known in 2023
The parliamentary committee has not released the list of names in the emails out of concern that some are not substantially involved
But it has stopped short of publicly releasing a list of dozens of people who sent or received emails containing confidential information within the firm.
PwC has been under fire for months after revelations a former partner at the firm shared information taken from confidential Treasury briefings.
The Treasury was seeking the firm's input as it shaped new laws targeting multinational tax avoidance — information that PwC later used to help its clients work around the laws.
A trove of emails was publicly released through a Senate committee last month, revealing at times open discussion of confidential Treasury information on the new tax policies.
The matter is now the subject of a police investigation, and the parliamentary inquiry has been running alongside it.
A new interim report lays out what is now publicly known about the tax leaks, and strongly recommends PwC publicly discloses more information about who was involved and in what capacity.
"It is clear that the desire for personal gain trumped any obligations that PwC had to the Commonwealth of Australia and its citizens," it finds.
"This was a calculated breach of trust by PwC.
"There is no evidence that PwC colleagues or leaders called out this behaviour for years, up until it became publicly known in 2023."
It also finds the firm engaged in a long-running effort to hide its actions.
"PwC engaged in a deliberate strategy over many years to cover up the breach of confidentiality and the plan by PwC personnel to monetise it," it said.
List of names won't be released for now
The emails were produced by the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB), a somewhat-obscure agency that handed PwC and its former partner Peter-John Collins its first sanction over the tax leaks affair.
There has been a strong push from some within parliament to make public the names of dozens of people included on the emails released by the TPB.
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But the committee has stopped short of releasing a list of 63 names handed to it by PWC, primarily out of concern that some people named are not substantially involved in the matter.
It makes just two recommendations — that PwC cooperate fully with ongoing investigations, and it publish further details about those involved in the matter.
Committee chair senator Richard Colbeck said the committee was put in the "invidious position" of having names without context.
"We don't know whether they were active participants in what had occurred, or whether they were just on an email list," he said.
"It wasn't fair for us to be put in that position and we are pretty cheesed off, to put it lightly, with PwC."
"The committee considers the onus is on PwC to promptly publish accurate information about the involvement of PwC partners and personnel in the interest of the transparency and accountability it claims to be working towards," it finds.
The revelations have sparked significant blowback from PwC, including commitments from some agencies — like the Reserve Bank — that they won't be signing new contracts with the firm until it is confident of cultural change.
At a recent round of Senate estimates, government agencies were grilled as to the extent of their relationship with PwC, and whether they maintained confidence in the firm handling confidential information.
Senator Colbeck said the ramifications of PwC's conduct will be felt beyond Australian shores.
"The emails that have been released have email addresses that are in other jurisdictions," he said.
"[So] we think other jurisdictions should be looking at what's been happening in this case as well."
Parliamentary report finds PwC engaged in 'calculated breach of trust', but won't release list of staff involved in tax leaks
By political reporter Tom Lowrey
The interim report finds that PwC engaged in a long-running effort to hide its actions.(ABC News: John Gunn)
A parliamentary committee has described the actions of consulting firm PwC in monetising confidential federal government information as "a calculated breach of trust".
Key points:An interim report recommends PwC publicly disclose further details about those involved in the leaking of confidential tax information
A parliamentary committee has described the actions of consulting firm PwC in monetising confidential federal government information as "a calculated breach of trust".
Key points:An interim report recommends PwC publicly disclose further details about those involved in the leaking of confidential tax information
It also found no evidence "colleagues or leaders" called out this behaviour, up until it became publicly known in 2023
The parliamentary committee has not released the list of names in the emails out of concern that some are not substantially involved
But it has stopped short of publicly releasing a list of dozens of people who sent or received emails containing confidential information within the firm.
PwC has been under fire for months after revelations a former partner at the firm shared information taken from confidential Treasury briefings.
The Treasury was seeking the firm's input as it shaped new laws targeting multinational tax avoidance — information that PwC later used to help its clients work around the laws.
A trove of emails was publicly released through a Senate committee last month, revealing at times open discussion of confidential Treasury information on the new tax policies.
The matter is now the subject of a police investigation, and the parliamentary inquiry has been running alongside it.
A new interim report lays out what is now publicly known about the tax leaks, and strongly recommends PwC publicly discloses more information about who was involved and in what capacity.
"It is clear that the desire for personal gain trumped any obligations that PwC had to the Commonwealth of Australia and its citizens," it finds.
"This was a calculated breach of trust by PwC.
"There is no evidence that PwC colleagues or leaders called out this behaviour for years, up until it became publicly known in 2023."
It also finds the firm engaged in a long-running effort to hide its actions.
"PwC engaged in a deliberate strategy over many years to cover up the breach of confidentiality and the plan by PwC personnel to monetise it," it said.
List of names won't be released for now
The emails were produced by the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB), a somewhat-obscure agency that handed PwC and its former partner Peter-John Collins its first sanction over the tax leaks affair.
There has been a strong push from some within parliament to make public the names of dozens of people included on the emails released by the TPB.
PwC is starting to give off royal commission vibes
Daniel Ziffer explains why the PwC conflict-of-interest scandal is giving him banking royal commission vibes.
But the committee has stopped short of releasing a list of 63 names handed to it by PWC, primarily out of concern that some people named are not substantially involved in the matter.
It makes just two recommendations — that PwC cooperate fully with ongoing investigations, and it publish further details about those involved in the matter.
Committee chair senator Richard Colbeck said the committee was put in the "invidious position" of having names without context.
"We don't know whether they were active participants in what had occurred, or whether they were just on an email list," he said.
"It wasn't fair for us to be put in that position and we are pretty cheesed off, to put it lightly, with PwC."
"The committee considers the onus is on PwC to promptly publish accurate information about the involvement of PwC partners and personnel in the interest of the transparency and accountability it claims to be working towards," it finds.
The revelations have sparked significant blowback from PwC, including commitments from some agencies — like the Reserve Bank — that they won't be signing new contracts with the firm until it is confident of cultural change.
At a recent round of Senate estimates, government agencies were grilled as to the extent of their relationship with PwC, and whether they maintained confidence in the firm handling confidential information.
Senator Colbeck said the ramifications of PwC's conduct will be felt beyond Australian shores.
"The emails that have been released have email addresses that are in other jurisdictions," he said.
"[So] we think other jurisdictions should be looking at what's been happening in this case as well."
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