Ex-Macquarieexec named PwC Australia’s first independent chairman
Edmund Tadros Professional services
editor
Aug 1, 2024
PwC
Australia has become the first big four consulting firm to appoint an
independent chairman: former Macquarie Group executive director and thriller
writer John M. Green is set to take up the role as part of its reform following
the tax leaks scandal.
New PwC Australia chairman John M.
Green. Panterapress Author John Green
The
firm has also appointed boutique law firm Webb Henderson, supported by former
NSW Supreme Court chief justice Tom Bathurst, KC, as an independent monitor to
check its progress on improving
governance and operations.
Company director Lisa Chung will join Mr
Green on the firm’s governance board as an independent non-executive member.
The firm is continuing a search for a third independent member for this board.
The firm’s existing chairman, PwC partner
Justin Carroll, said Mr Green and Ms Chung would hold the firm’s management to
account and deliver improved oversight over its operation.
“Together, John and Lisa bring enhanced
levels of independent thought and governance experience to our governance
board, facilitating more robust challenge and oversight of our firm,” Mr
Carroll said.
Despite these moves, the firm is still not
covered by the Corporations Act because it is a partnership. So while Mr Green
will be independent of the partnership, the director duties within the act are
not enforceable by the corporate regulator.
In the same way, PwC’s promise to apply ASX
corporate governance principles to its operations are unenforceable by the
regulator.
ASIC chairman Joe Longo has said the
regulator can only police a “sliver” of services provided by the big four
accounting firms because they operate in a grey legal area where they are
neither “true partnerships” nor covered by federal corporate laws.
Chairman,
author
Mr Green, a former investment banker and
executive director at Macquarie Group, holds a number of other positions,
including being a director of financial services company Challenger Group and
the chairman of the UOW (University of Wollongong) Global Enterprises, the
company that operates the overseas campuses of the university.
He has also written four thrillers and is
chairman of Pantera Press, an independent book publisher he co-founded.
Ms Chung is a former partner at Blake Dawson
(now Ashurst) and Maddocks and the chairman of charity Australian Unity. She
also holds a number of positions including being a director at property
developer AVJennings and architects Warren and Mahoney.
The move to appoint independent directors is
part of a raft of changes recommended in a review of PwC’s governance and
culture by former Telstra chief executive Ziggy Switkowski.
PwC commissioned Dr Switkowski and separate
legal reports in response to revelations in The
Australian Financial Review about its tax leaks scandal. The matter
involved a former partner, Peter Collins, sharing confidential tax information
with PwC personnel. The firm’s tax advisers then developed structures to help
clients sidestep tax laws the firm was helping Treasury develop.
PwC Australia CEO Kevin Burrowes said
appointing the independent directors will ensure the firm is “bringing the best
of our multidisciplinary model to our clients and creating a working
environment for our people to thrive in”.
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Edmund Tadros leads our coverage
of the professional services sector. He is based in our Sydney newsroom. Connect with Edmund
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Email Edmund at edmundtadros@afr.com.au
