Partners, staff culled at PwC as fallout from tax leaks scandal continues

Embattled consulting firm PwC Australia has wielded the axe on staff as the fallout from the tax leaks scandal continues to grow.

Embattled consulting firm PwC Australia has wielded the axe on staff as the fallout from the tax leaks scandal continues to grow.

In the past week, 47 staff were made redundant, while in ­recent months 70 partners have been forced to retire.

“They have already taken some pensions off people and they intend to take some off more,” a source familiar with the situation said.

On Saturday the Weekend Australian reported that ­former PwC chief Tom Seymour and several colleagues had ­abruptly quit a controversial education provider they had invested in, as the scandal involving tax partner Peter Collins was blowing up.

The investment by eight high-profile PwC staff or families is expected to form part of the company’s review by ­former Telstra chief Ziggy Switkowski. The Sunday Telegraph has been told this is not the only ­investment by partners in the firm that could come under scrutiny.

Former PwC Australia chief executive Tom Seymour. Picture: Floss Adams

In 2018 a number of PwC partners, including CEO Luke Sayers, made an investment in Australian Visa Processing, an entity bidding for the aborted privatisation of the Australia’s visa processing system, in which PwC had an investment.

These investments caused a row within PwC and resulted in the group’s personal investments being consolidated into the firm’s stake in Australian Visa Processing.

Mr Switkowski, who PwC has charged with investigating who knew what and when about misdeeds in the firm, is also expected to consider when PwC’s risk committee and executive leadership were told that the ATO was suing the firm for access to documents in relation to the activities of Mr Collins.

Mr Sayers has maintained that, before he left the firm in 2020, he was not informed that between 2014 and 2017 Mr ­Collins had allegedly misused confidential information he had been given by the ATO.

About 70 PwC partners have been forced to retire. Picture: Reuters

A PwC Australia spokesman said there was nothing unusual about the departures of partners from the firm.

“At the end of each financial year, we have partners leave the firm and retire from the partnership,” he said.

“We have had a slightly higher than average number of departures and retirements during the year, but our partnership has also grown during that time.”

He said that in “a small number of areas across the firm we have also made some roles redundant where our business focus has changed”.

“Taking care of our people is at the heart of who we are as a firm.

“We recognise that this is a challenging time for those ­affected, but care for all our people and our values will be at the centre of our approach,” the spokesman said.

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Originally published as Partners, staff culled at PwC as fallout from tax leaks scandal continues