January 2024
Spotlight on consultants after big four billing rates leaked
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher declined to reveal which of the 413 firms on the management advisory panel were leaked the highly confidential data of their rivals.
Mathias Cormann did ‘some work’ for ex-PwC boss Luke Sayers
The new revelations follow Luke Sayers admitting that his new firm Sayers Group granted Cormann some shares before he took the OECD job.
November 2023
Deloitte accused of double-dealing Honda sellers
Honda dealers are suing their parent company, and say auditors Deloitte used their confidential accounts data to help the car manufacturer buy them out cheaply.
September 2023
PwC to curtail consulting work for US audit clients to reduce conflict risk
The move comes amid a worldwide debate over how to ensure accounting firms remain independent of the companies they audit.
June 2023
PwC won’t appear at crucial upcoming Senate inquiry hearing
The scandal-hit accounting firm is not listed to appear at next week’s Senate committee hearing but the ATO, Treasury and rival KPMG will all face questions.
May 2023
EY cashes in on offset conflicts
The big four consulting firm is pushing the carbon credit market to a slew of clients. It is just neglecting to mention many of those offsets are allegedly shams.
March 2023
EY global CEO contradicts US leader over plan to split firm
EY’s global chairman told its 13,000 partners they have a “right” to vote on the plan to split the firm, in a memo sent just hours after the US boss declared it “premature” to say if the deal could be salvaged.
Deloitte CEO slams EY split and its leaders’ ‘deal fever’
Joe Ucuzoglu says his firm will stay together, and questioned the reasons that EY leaders have extolled to sell its separation plan to partners, staff and clients.
EY split on hold for ‘weeks, not months’ amid new doubts over plan
Two senior EY partners said the firm was committed to the split and issues would be “resolved within weeks, not months” to ensure “momentum across the deal”.
February 2023
Inside the massive global operation to split EY
More than two dozen separate global teams are working on the complicated, lengthy and risky internal project to separate its auditing and consulting arms.
October 2022
The scandals and hypocrisy behind McKinsey’s sterling reputation
A new book shatters the luminous image that has long been attached to the consulting giant.
August 2021
Fed’s stoic Powell prepares for his greatest challenge
The US Federal Reserve chairman appears to be prepared to take a leaf out of Paul Volker’s book and become deeply unpopular by raising interest rates.
July 2021
Ponzi scheme: legal watchdog’s ‘frustrating’ probe
When a $60 million Ponzi scheme unravelled, some victims found their superannuation tied up in property deals. A law firm on the deal had never contacted them.
February 2021
Smash repairer finessed oversight after related-party deal
Changes were made after AMA Group paid $3.15m to a private equity firm linked to a director.
January 2020
Mayfair Platinum licence conflicts raise eyebrows
An expert says the structure of controversial investment firms can create traps for unsophisticated investors, no matter how wealthy they are.
December 2019
Takeovers Panel raises conflict concerns with CEO in boardroom
When is it okay for a CEO to stay in the boardroom when other directors chat vote on a deal involving a potential conflict of interest?
Gatekeepers turned poachers are a danger to audit integrity
The evidence is mounting that the big four are the new vampire squid of corporate Australia.
August 2019
ASX200 face 'Enron risk' with non-audit work
About a quarter of all ASX200 companies spend more than 40 per cent of their fees with their auditor on non-audit work, creating concern about the independence of the financial inspection work.