PwC boss to front Senate inquiry
PwC Australia chief executive Kevin Burrowes will appear at the Senate inquiry into consulting next Thursday, the first time anyone from the firm has testified at the federal level since the extent of its tax leaks scandal became public in May.
Mr Burrowes alerted all staff in a Friday morning email, saying his appearance was part of his push to “re-earn the trust of our people, clients and stakeholders”.
PwC Australia CEO Kevin Burrowes.
Also appearing will be the firm’s head of people, Catherine Walsh, and its chief risk and ethics leader, Jan McCahey. Other attendees at the public hearing, the seventh day so far, have not yet been officially announced by the committee.
“We recognise the important work the Senate is doing and we are equally determined to ensure our stakeholders have the utmost confidence and respect for our industry. I am looking forward to sharing PwC Australia’s perspectives on the important issues before the committee,” Mr Burrowes wrote in the email.
“As we have said publicly, we are not proud of the findings from the Tax Practitioners Board investigation into PwC, which revealed behaviour which does not meet our values and expectations, and behaviour that betrayed the trust of our stakeholders. We are sorry, and we know we need to re-earn trust.”
The tax leaks issues date back to 2013, when former international tax partner Peter Collins triggered the scandal by sharing confidential tax information with PwC personnel who used it to help clients sidestep Multinational Anti Avoidance Laws he was helping Treasury develop.
PwC last week released a scathing report into governance at the firm that found a “shadow” culture that tolerated bad behaviour in the pursuit of profit “growth at all costs” and a
Read more on afr.com
