Australia’s largest pension fund, AustralianSuper, will halt its use of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) domestic unit following a national scandal involving the firm’s misuse of confidential government tax plans. The fund, valued at approximately A$290 billion ($196.71 billion), has frozen new contracts with PwC and expressed concerns about the scandal at the highest level.
An audit contract worth A$1.6 million in 2022 will be reviewed, and last year, the fund spent A$700,000 on non-audit services provided by PwC.
The repercussions of the scandal continue to expand as more entities distance themselves from PwC.The Reserve Bank of Australia has suspended future work with the firm, and both the Treasury and the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority have hinted at blacklisting PwC.
The scandal revolves around a former PwC Australia tax partner who shared confidential drafts of government tax laws with colleagues at the firm. These drafts were subsequently used to solicit work from international clients, including U.S. technology companies. Tax officials revealed that the leak had helped prevent several attempts by multinational firms to evade new tax avoidance laws.
AwareSuper, valued at A$150 billion, is also working with PwC to determine if any tax advisers involved with the fund were implicated in the leak. An internal review of external consultants is currently underway.
