By Amelia McGuire and Charlotte Grieve
PwC has published its first ethics compliance report card following a November order from the tax regulator, which suspected the professional services firm could be engaging in some on-the-nose conduct after former partner Peter Collins was found to have leaked confidential government information to clients.
Gold standard: Over 1000 PwC employees have been forced to sit an ethics compliance test.Credit: John Shakespeare
A PwC spokesperson said the firm had published the report to “enhance the firm’s transparency and culture” – a sorely needed move after the past couple of months.
Under the directive from the Tax Practitioners Board, the professional services firm has also introduced a swath of sparkling new compliance rules which include banning client-facing staff from working confidentially on tax policy. It will also have to produce a report of its compliance efforts every six months.
PwC is now required to regularly train its staff on ethical conduct to avoid potential conflicts of interest after it became clear they were failing to do exactly that. They also need to keep a list of those who’ve signed confidentiality agreements and report on compliance with said measures.
The first of these compliance reports shows about 1300 partners and staff have swotted over the need to act with integrity in the form of a seven question quiz.
Some would argue that tipping-off clients on looming government policy changes before their introduction would never pass the pub test and shouldn’t require an employee quiz to say so … but we digress.
Unsurprisingly, the answer to whether breaching the Tax Practitioners code of professional conduct could result in:
a) reputational risk;
b) termination of the firm’s tax agent registration; or
c) potential fines;
is “all of the above”.
PwC’s compliance training includes a helpful flow chart on confidentiality. Credit: Pricewaterhouse Coopers
Given the big four accounting firm is now the subject of separate investigations by the TPB, the Australian Federal Police and multiple parliamentary inquiries over the extent of its ethics breaches, its chairman Justin Carroll and freshly parachuted-in chief executive Kevin Burrowes may want to study up on behalf of the company.
ATLASSIAN SHARE SALE
Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes has not felt the need to tell his fellow investors how his split from wife Annie Cannon-Brookes will affect his shares.
But it is interesting to note the country’s second-richest man and co-founder Scott Farquhar went through with a pre-announced sell down of their stake in the business overnight.
A quick perusal of the original May announcement shows Cannon-Brookes can afford to lose some shares without giving up that much voting power. This is because he and Farquhar have an iron grip on the voting shares in Atlassian and plan to keep it that way.
Even the stock they sell gets converted to ordinary shares (which means they don’t have super voting rights). So MCB could potentially hand over half of his stake to Annie as ordinary shares while still retaining majority control with Farquhar.
The Atlassian bosses have been upfront about their plans to sell a dollop of their stake in the business, with about $US345 million of their Atlassian Nasdaq-listed shareholdings to be offloaded over the next year. All up, Cannon-Brookes and Farquhar will reduce their holding from nearly 41 per cent to just over 39, while their voting power shrinks by just 0.8 per cent to 86.6 per cent.
Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes have an iron grip on the voting shares in Atlassian.Credit: Louie Douvis
Things could not be more different on the transparency front for fellow billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, who announced this month he was to separate from wife Nicola.
The Forrests confirmed the end of their 31-year long marriage after more than $1.1 billion in Fortescue shares were moved to Nicola’s wholly-owned company Coaxial Ventures last month. Nicola now also owns half of Tattarang, the pair’s flagship private company, making her the country’s second-richest woman behind Gina Rinehart.
FOXTEL DOUBLE DIPPING, AGAIN
We brought you news in March that Foxtel was in hot water after overstating its audience numbers for key sports by up to 40 per cent.
Now, it’s happened again. Oztam – the company that tracks TV ratings – has been caught once more double counting the footy numbers for different brands of the Foxtel Group.
This time it’s much more marginal (we’re told single digits) but if you’ve been watching footy on Kayo, there’s a good chance Oztam were counting it for Foxtel too.
The stuff up triggered a behind-the-scenes war of words. While it may look like a ploy by Foxtel to puff up its numbers and please advertisers, we’re informed this is not the case.
Oztam has been slow to adapt to the online world, where streaming reigns supreme. And, its motives are further complicated by its free-to-air shareholders.
Yet on the other side, Oztam has accepted some blame, while suggesting Foxtel was slow to give the ratings company exactly what it needs to do the job properly.
It takes two to tango. The truth may lie somewhere in between.
The ordeal is a throw-back to Succession, where Alexander Skarsgard’s fictional character dealt with GoJo’s fabricated Indian user base conundrum with a strategy of “throw PR people at it”.
Perhaps it’s time Oztam and Foxtel took a leaf out of the Swede’s book to get the story straight.
LIBS SCRAMBLE FOR STONE REPLACEMENT
It’s the job nobody in Sydney seems to want.
More than 100 days since the Liberals lost the NSW election, the party remains unable to find anyone to replace Chris Stone as state director.
Despite announcing his resignation immediately after the loss, Stone is still chained to the big chair waiting for someone to take the reins. The Libs even took the unprecedented step of advertising for the role in the Australian Financial Review last week.
Liberal insiders have suggested the party’s top target has become Westpac’s government relations boss and Woollahra Council Deputy Mayor Richard Shields, but he did not respond to our request for comment.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman’s spinner Luke Nayna has made it known he’s ready and waiting to take up the mantle if only he’s given the chance.
While one source close to the party said support for Nayna is lower than the party’s national standing, another argued he’s in with a shot, particularly as Stone’s patience to persist in the role he long retired from wears thin.
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