The Tax Institute initiates investigation into 4 named PwC partners
The Tax Institute has commenced an investigation into four of its members who were named and removed as part of PwC’s confidential information breach.
Richard Gregg, Peter Konidaris, Eddy Moussa and Wayne Plummer were the four partners named who were also members of The Tax Institute with the body now reviewing their status.
In its release PwC said “Peter Konidaris and Eddy Moussa have exited the PwC partnership because their actions failed to meet their professional responsibilities.”
“For similar reasons, Richard Gregg has been given notice of PwC Australia’s findings against him and a process has started under the Partnership Agreement to remove him from the partnership.”
The Tax Institute’s chair Clare Mazzetti said they took member misconduct seriously and consequences, including possibly revoking their membership, would be issued once the investigation was completed.
“We take our responsibility to take action where a member is found guilty of misconduct seriously. We require the highest standard of conduct from our members, and in turn, our members expect that we will enforce those standards in cases such as this. We are committed to doing so,” said Ms Mazzetti.
“Upon identification of these individuals, our board met to discuss immediate action that needed to be taken.”
“An internal investigation has been launched and disciplinary measures, up to and including revoking memberships, may be undertaken in due course. Eddy Moussa has also relinquished his position on councils and boards for The Tax Institute and The Tax Institute Higher Education, effective immediately.”
The Tax Institute’s president Marg Marshall said the breach by PwC was extremely disappointing for the entire industry.
“This whole situation is deeply disappointing and is not what The Tax Institute, nor the wider tax profession, expects and stands for,” said Ms Marshall.
“On the whole, our members are dedicated, principled professionals who act with integrity and in the best interests of their clients, the profession and the Australian economy.”
“Our governance procedures are in place to ensure these values are upheld and our members can rest assured that we are working in their best interest.”
The action comes as PwC’s one-dollar sale of its government consulting arm to Allegro Funds was completed.
As part of the finalisation of the deal, Allegro Funds revealed the practice would be renamed to Scyne Advisory with 132 former PwC partners moving across with the purchase.
Scyne Advisory announced its leadership team would have 10 former senior PwC partners being Tim Jackson, David Sacks, Jamie Briggs, Ben Neal, Chris Rogan, Adrian Box, Tricia Tebbutt, Diane Rutter, Kate Evans and Josh Chalmers.
It also recruited former federal court judge Andrew Greenwood to serve on its board as a non-executive director and would chair a probity, conflict and ethics subcommittee of the board.
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