PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has identified a list of 76 current or former partners associated with its tax leaks scandal, handing over their names to Australian lawmakers.
“We’ve heard the calls from our stakeholders to release the names of those who were responsible for confidentiality breaches and we’ve been working as quickly as possible to determine that and to disclose these names to the senate per their request, and we have now done so,” PwC Australia acting chief executive officer Kristin Stubbins said in a statement yesterday.
In an e-mail to partners yesterday, first reported in the Australian Financial Review, Stubbins said former partners Michael Bersten, Peter Collins, Neil Fuller and Paul McNab were involved in breaching confidentiality.
Photo: AP
A spokesperson for PwC confirmed the names.
Stubbins added that the names of nine others who were placed on leave last week have been provided to a senate committee and promised to take appropriate action.
The firm also handed over a list of an additional 63 current or former partners and staff who received at least one e-mail containing confidential information, noting that those people might not have been aware of the confidentiality breach.
The Australian arm of the global consulting giant has been under pressure following revelations that a former senior partner obtained confidential tax policy information while advising the government and the firm then used it to advise global clients. The firm stands to lose millions of dollars in revenue because of the breach, as clients review their relationship with the consultant.
Last week, Australia’s largest pension fund said it was freezing all future contracts with the consulting firm in the wake of the scandal.
McNab said in a LinkedIn post that at all times he worked with clients to comply with Australian tax law, and not avoid it.
“For the record, I was not involved in any [Department of the] Treasury consultations regarding MAAL [Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law] where confidential information was discussed,” he said, referring to the multinational anti-avoidance law. “In addition, I trusted that the information shared with me as a partner of the firm would comply with any confidentiality agreements that may have been in place with Treasury.”
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
‘FAILED EXPORT CONTROLS’: Jensen Huang said that Washington should maximize the speed of AI diffusion, because not doing so would give competitors an advantage Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday criticized the US government’s restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China, saying that the policy was a failure and would only spur China to accelerate AI development. The export controls gave China the spirit, motivation and government support to accelerate AI development, Huang told reporters at the Computex trade show in Taipei. The competition in China is already intense, given its strong software capabilities, extensive technology ecosystems and work efficiency, he said. “All in all, the export controls were a failure. The facts would suggest it,” he said. “The US
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed gratitude to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) for its plan to invest approximately 250 million euros (US$278 million) in a joint venture in France focused on the semiconductor and space industries. On his official X account on Tuesday, Macron thanked Hon Hai, also known globally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), for its investment projects announced at Choose France, a flagship economic summit held on Monday to attract foreign investment. In the post, Macron included a GIF displaying the national flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan), as he did for other foreign investors, including China-based