PwC’s Oz branch loses another pension fund

AUSTRALIA’s fourth largest pension fund suspended new work with PwC Australia yesterday, the latest in a string of funds to pause work with the accounting firm over a scandal which first surfaced in January over the misuse of government tax plans.

The decision by Unisuper, which manages A$115bn ($77bn), means five of Australia’s largest pension funds, managing a total of some A$865bn, have paused work with PwC, which says it is a “leading adviser” to the sector.

Unisuper said it was concerned by recent events at PwC and the fund had suspended new contracts for the “immediate future”.

The move comes a day after the ‘Big Four’ accounting firm sacked eight partners, including its former chief executive, who had yet to leave the firm, in a bid to “re-earn trust”.

The eight partners, who have left or are in the process of leaving, include former CEO Tom Seymour, who resigned in May after admitting he had received emails containing confidential information about the government’s tax plans.

H/Advisors

Seymour will exit PwC Australia ahead of a previously announced retirement date, the firm said.

Seymour and the other seven partners named by PwC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

PwC Australia said in a statement that its investigation found multiple examples where the “misuse of confidential information” breached professional standards and also identified “a failure of leadership and governance” to address the breaches.

PwC, which was Unisuper’s internal auditor according to the fund’s 2022 annual report, declined to comment.

“While PwC has provided the fund with an assessment that the relationship we have built over years has not been affected by this situation, we have sought further assurances on this matter,” a Unisuper spokesperson said.

Tax authorities revealed in January a former PwC partner who advised the Australian government on anti-tax avoidance laws had shared confidential drafts about the government's plans with colleagues then used this to drum up business with companies.

The scandal has already cost PwC a string of high profile clients, including the Reserve Bank of Australia.

the secrets behind Iceland’s recovery. For me it seems to boil down to two things.

First, if you have to have a financial crisis, have a big one. Iceland was so catastrophically bust in 2008 that it was forced to completely reengineer its banking and financial system, rather than the make-do-andmend tactics applied in other countries like Greece.

Second, be creative. When the country recognised the scale of its troubles, it reinvented itself as a global tourist destination – and these days a reassuringly expensive one at that.

CAN I QUOTE YOU ON THAT?

are seeing a government that is driving business out of the UK

Jim Ratcliffe of Ineos becomes the latest business leader to vent his feelings about the government’s business policies

Tom Holland has developed into one of the finest historians of our era, partly because he is so approachable and readable. If you don’t already listen to his podcast ‘The Rest is History’, you should do. His latest book, on Rome, comes out tomorrow; it’ll certainly be on my summer reading list.