Twelve PWC partners have now been kicked out of the scandal-ridden consultancy for misconduct in relation to the leaking of confidential Treasury information.
PWC announced on Monday it was ‘exiting’ eight more partners for failure of leadership and governance.
Acknowledging ‘past failures of professional, ethical or leadership responsibilities’, the company said as a result of its internal investigation, eight partners have left or are in the process of being removed, on top of the four whose departures were confirmed previously.
PWC says the uncoupling of the latest group of partners represents an important milestone in its investigation, though work is still being done in ‘some areas’.
“The investigation identified a number of specific examples where professional standards were breached with respect to misuse of confidential information or other matters reviewed by the ATO,” the company said in a statement.
“Furthermore, the investigation identified a failure of leadership and governance to adequately address the matters, either at the time or whilst the matters were under investigation by the TPB or ATO.
“This enabled poor behaviours to persist with no accountability.”
PWC says those who will be leaving are Peter Konidaris, Eddy Moussa, Richard Gregg, Pete Calleja, Sean Gregory, Peter van Dongen, Wayne Plummer and Tom Seymour.
Their departures follow that of Michael Bersten, Peter Collings, Neil Fuller and Paul McNab, who were previously named as being involved in confidentiality breaches.
“It is clear that the conduct of a number of partners fell short of what was expected of them,” Acting CEO Kristin Stubbins said.
“They are now being held accountable for their misconduct.”
It comes after PWC announced last month it was selling off its government business to private equity investor Allegro Funds for $1, representing an exit from all state and federal government advisory work for the former Big Four consultant.
It also follows the release of an interim report by a parliamentary committee which found PwC engaged in a deliberate and aggressive strategy to monetise confidential Commonwealth tax information and cover up its actions.
The NSW government has taken the step of suspending PwC from all tax consultancy work for three months, and Greens Senator Barbara Pocock confirmed on Sunday that she has referred the tax scandal to the new National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), which opened for business this week.
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