Former finance minister Mathias Cormann was planning to join the consulting firm founded by ex-PwC boss Luke Sayers after he left the big four firm, the Senate inquiry into consultants has been told. Mr Sayers also told the inquiry he was fined $180,000 for violating PwC’s independence policies over money he put privately into a company PwC had invested in that was bidding for a billion-dollar federal contract.
In a response to questions from Greens Senator Barbara Pocock, Mr Sayers again denied that PwC’s culture had become problematic during his eight years of leadership of the firm. He said the Switkowski report into the firm’s tax leaks scandal related to PwC’s “current state” and not its culture during his time as CEO between 2012 and 2020.– which has rocked PwC’s local operation and heightened scrutiny of the multibillion-dollar consulting sector – relates to former international tax partner Peter Collins sharing confidential tax information with PwC personnel who used it to help clients sidestep laws he was helping Treasury develop and which came into effect in 201