PwC exposed for alleged unethical practices

It’s pretty shocking to read some of the reports coming out about PwC and their alleged unethical and potentially illegal behaviour in Australia.

For the full story read it here - https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jun/03/pwc-tax-scandal-scrutiny-on-firms-australian-business-likely-to-extend-to-uk-and-us-operation

It’s alleged that they utilised confidential information obtained during their work with the Australian government to aid in corporate tax evasion, which has triggered multiple investigations, including a criminal probe. Kind of makes a mockery of their pious statements on their website “At PwC, we don’t just talk about a culture of ethical behaviour and compliance with the law. We live it.”

Given that their HQ is in the UK with a substantial presence in the US, it seems likely that these investigations will extend internationally.
It’s also noticeable that the senior leaders are raising the drawbridge to protect themselves and throwing as many juniors “under the bus” as they can along the way!
This situation is reminiscent of the Arthur Anderson case, when in 2002 they collapsed after being exposed for some deeply dodgy accounting practices for Enron and Worldcom.

This does suggest that we need to scrutinise the effectiveness of these giants and their contracts with government bodies. Can they ever truly be trusted to be independent given their other commercial interests?

Whatever happens we need greater accountability measures in the auditing industry.