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PwC Australia will remove eight partners for professional or governance breaches after an investigation by the embattled consulting firm into the tax leaks scandal.
The firm said the decision for the eight partners to exit or be removed from partnership is part of the push to “take accountability, reshape the culture, and re-earn trust with its stakeholders”.
The eight partners include former chief executive Tom Seymour, former chief risk officer Sean Gregory, former government leader Peter Konidaris, former financial advisory head Pete Calleja, former chairman Peter van Dongen, Eddy Moussa, Wayne Plummer and Richard Gregg.
Seymour had previously stepped down as CEO when the scandal broke but has now been removed from the firm.
PwC said the independent investigation found a number of “specific examples” where professional standards were breached regarding the misuse of confidential information.
It also found a “failure of leadership and governance” to address the matters at the time or while they were being investigated.
”This enabled poor behaviours to persist with no accountability,” the firm said.
“These behaviours are not, and never have been, acceptable under PwC’s standards.”
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Acting CEO Kristin Stubbings said accountability is essential to improving the firm’s culture and a number of partners “fell short” of what was expected of them.
”They are now being held accountable for their misconduct,” Stubbins said.
“While we cannot change the past, we can control our actions today and in the future. Moving forward, the PwC Australia management team will continue to take all appropriate steps to improve the firm’s culture and standards.”
The exits come following allegations by the Australian Treasury that Peter Collins, a former PwC partner, had been leaking confidential information about changes to federal tax laws to partners, staff and clients that would be impacted by them.
The leaked information from Collins allowed PwC to reverse-engineer tax advice to clients, earning them millions of dollars.
The Australian Senate launched an inquiry into the broader consulting sector, and late last month the Treasury referred the matter to police for criminal investigation.
PwC employs 10,000 Australians and around 900 partners.
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