Deloitte CEO defends $3.5m pay amid calls for reform, royal commission
Deloitte chief executive Adam Powick has told a Senate inquiry the consulting sector operates without clear oversight and misconduct reporting rules, as he conceded in a fiery exchange that he was not worth a salary that is seven-times the prime minister.
The inquiry into consultants also heard former competition chief Allan Fels again demand the breakup of the big four consulting firms, while KPMG partner-turned-whistleblower Brendan Lyon called for a royal commission into the sector.
Deloitte Australia chairman Tom Imbesi (left) and CEO Adam Powick at the Senate inquiry in Canberra on Monday. Martin Ollman
As well, former PwC director Tracey Murray alleged aspects of the firm’s tax leaks scandal would have been widely known within the firm’s tax practice.
The inquiry, triggered by the PwC tax leaks scandal, has expanded well beyond the troubled big four firm to into a growing vortex that has so far sucked in rivals Deloitte, KPMG and EY along with strategy consulting firms McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group.
Emerging themes are that the partnership structure of the big four firms helps them escape the type of regulatory oversight and disclosure that other large private companies are subjected to, that self-regulation of the sector is not working effectively, and that the firms, especially the strategy firms, feel free to refuse to reveal details of their operations to the Senate committee.
Mr Powick agreed with Labor senator Deborah O’Neill that there were “yawning chasms” in the regulation of the big four accounting and consulting firms.
In Monday’s hearings, Senator O’Neill first confirmed that the firms’ auditors were regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and professional body
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