PwC boss hints there will be an all clear for international partners linked to the tax scandal

PwC Australia chief Kevin Burrowes is understood to have said a review of the tax scandal is likely to clear international partners.

PwC Australia’s new boss Kevin Burrowes has told a group of retired partners the firm’s investigations are likely to give its international partners linked to the tax scandal a “reasonably clean bill of health”.

This is despite emails showing members of PwC’s international operations were roped into conversations about the use of confidential information.

In copies of his video call with retired partners, shared with The Australian, Mr Burrowes said the firm’s investigations into its colleagues overseas was likely to deliver findings that “virtually no one” had been found to have done “any wrongdoing … outside of Australia”.

Mr Burrowes, who is in his fourth week in the top job at PwC after being flown in by the firm’s global management, said the investigations were nearing their end.

He told the almost 150 viewers, in a question-and-answer session, the investigations had implicated a number of former PwC partners in Australia in the tax scandal but said global partners were likely to escape any impact.

“Clearly emails left PwC Australia and went overseas – we are in the course of investigating that across many countries,” Mr Burrowes said.

“I say virtually – there may be one or two small instances, but we’re almost at the end of that investigation as well and I think that’s going to give us a reasonably clean bill of health about the actions of partners overseas.”

PwC Australia chief executive Kevin Burrowes

In his opening remarks, the new PwC boss said it was important the firm took time to get its reviews “right”.

“You have to remember we are asking people to recall conversations and emails from almost a decade ago, which takes time,” he said.

“We are all working really hard – as are our external lawyers – to conclude these investigations as soon as possible. We cannot put the record straight until we have fully concluded the reviews.”

There had been some concern the scandal surrounding PwC Australia could trigger the call for partners in the firm’s international businesses, who assisted in the tax operations, to be cut.

Emails revealed by federal parliament showed hundreds of messages seized by the Tax Practitioners Board, between PwC staff detailing the sharing of confidential information within the firm.

The documents published by parliament redacted the names of all partners except for former head of international tax Peter Collins, but clearly show partners in the US, UK, Ireland and Asia Pacific region received emails discussing confidential information.

Mr Collins was found to have shared confidential government tax briefings with members of the firm so that they could construct new arrangements for multinational tech clients to skirt tax laws introduced in 2016.

One email from Mr Collins told UK-based partners the documents shared with them were “provided to us on a confidential basis; I ask that you don’t circulate it beyond us or discuss it outside PwC – it would really put PwC Australia and me in a real bind”.

PwC initially touted its tax plans under the banner Project North America, and PwC’s international leadership was keen to find out which of its clients had used the tax strategies built around the confidential briefings.

The Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law was aimed at forcing tech companies to book more sales in Australia. But PwC offered 14 companies arrangements which would create artificial partnerships, in an attempt to defeat the new MAAL arrangements.

Uber and Facebook were among companies that restructured their arrangements in response to the MAAL, at a speed that concerned the Australian Taxation Office.

The speed of companies being advised by PwC in responding to the MAAL triggered a probe into the firm’s activities, which ultimately culminated in the ATO discovering the firm’s misuse of confidential information.

PwC has commissioned international law firm Linklaters to review its links to the Australian scandal that has already cost former chief executive Tom Seymour his job and resulted in an almost total clean-out of leadership.

Corporate veteran Ziggy Switkowski is leading a review of PwC Australia.

Former PwC chief executive Tom Seymour. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

PwC’s global leadership has been concerned about the collapse of the local business, sending in senior figures to advise on its handling of the crisis.

PwC’s global general counsel, Diana Weiss, tax and legal leader Carol Stubbings, and chief risk officer Coenraad Richardson were all sent in by global chair Bob Moritz.

Mr Moritz was key to the decision by Mr Seymour to step down. He also pushed PwC Australia to tip out interim chief Kristin Stubbins in favour of Mr Burrowes, who relocated from Singapore to take on the top job.