Ex-PwC partner at heart of Australia scandal gets eight-year ban

Former PwC Australia partner Peter Collins was banned by Australia’s markets regulator from providing financial services for eight years. 

Collins is “not a fit and proper person to provide financial services” and it is in the public interest for him to be barred from working in the sector, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said in a statement Friday. 

PwC is fighting to restore confidence in its Australian business following the tax-leak scandal. Former senior partner Collins obtained confidential tax policy information while advising the government, details the firm then used to advise global clients.

“ASIC found that Mr Collins disclosed confidential information he obtained in his roles as a tax advisor to the Commonwealth Treasury and the Australian Board of Taxation,” the regulator said. “For the duration of his ban, Mr Collins cannot provide financial services, control an entity that carries on a financial services business or perform any function involved in the carrying on of a financial services business.”

Collins has the right to apply to an appeals tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision.