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Nick Wilson
The Switkowski report also recommended that the board be given power to remove the CEO. While the reform package said the board will undertake an “exhaustive due diligence process” over incoming CEOs, it did not expressly commit to granting a removal authority.
“However, improved independence, as well as increased oversight, powers and duties will ensure the governance board is well equipped to hold management to account and to provide strong governance oversight for the firm,” said PwC.
The package included several other changes including that all governance board members will also be reviewed annually by the chair, and every three years by an external third party, and a power to withhold payment for leaders who engage in serious misconduct or regulatory or audit failure occasioning a “loss of confidence in the firm.”
In responding to the announcement, Greens senator Barbara Pocock said the package was a “weak measure in view of evidence that shows PwC International can reach over the local board as they did in the sacking of Kristin Stubbins.”
Stubbins was ousted after 30 years of tenure at the company by global management who, Senator Pocock told the consulting inquiry was “running the show.”
PwC International has been called out for refusing to release a report on the alleged involvement of six international partners in the tax scandal, which conduct Pocock said amounted to “thumbing its nose at Parliament.”
Justin Carrol, chair of PwC Australia’s governance board said the measures “will herald a new era for the firm.”
“Our people, clients, and communities rightly expect the highest standards of governance and accountability from our firm and these enhanced measures establish a best-in-class governance framework,” said Carrol.
PwC Australia CEO Kevin Burrowes said he was “really proud” of the changes, adding, however, there is “still much work to do.”
PwC Australia said it “intends” to have the new board members in place by 1 July, 2024.
