PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting

For 2011, PwC brings together more than 161,000 specialists from 154 countries. In Kazakhstan, PwC opened its practice in 1993 and currently has offices in Astana and Almaty, with over 400 professional experts. In Russia, a network of firms first appeared in 1913, and in 1989 resumed its activities. The company has opened offices in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Kazan, Yekaterinburg and Vladikavkaz.

History

2024: Mass layoffs after sharp outflow of customers

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is cutting staff across all of its divisions in China, after a massive outflow of corporate clients dented the accounting firm's revenue prospects in the country. The cuts became known in July 2024.

At least 100 employees from different teams at PwC's offices in China in Beijing, Shanghai and elsewhere have been laid off, Bloomberg reported.

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In light of changes in the external environment, we are making some adjustments to better optimize our organizational structure in line with market demand, a PwC spokesperson said.

More than 30 listed companies in China, including state-owned giants PetroChina Co., China Life Insurance Co. and Bank of China Ltd., have dropped PwC's services as auditor this year. Most of the changes came after the firm came under scrutiny for its role in an alleged accounting fraud at property developer China Evergrande Group.

Regulators have examined PwC's role in providing Evergrande's accounting services after the developer was accused of inflating its revenue by 78 billion dollars from 2019 to 2020. The Securities Regulatory Commission China has promised further investigations into "mediation agencies" involved in the case.

The auditor has faced challenges in other jurisdictions as well. In Hong Kong, the city's accounting regulator is conducting an investigation into audits of Evergrande's financial statements. Earlier, the accountancy firm also pledged to improve the company's internal governance in Australia over questions about a serious conflict of interest related to leaking government tax plans to its clients. Its UK network has been separately fined £5.6million for failing to audit Babcock International Group Plc.^[1]

2022

PwC employee demands $235,000 for traumatic brain injury sustained on corporate booze

At the end of August 2022, an employee of PricewaterhouseCoopers filed a lawsuit against the company in the amount of $235 thousand, in connection with a traumatic brain injury received, according to him, during a work party, according to court documents. Read more here.

PwC to pay millions for erroneous audit edits

On June 7, 2022, PwC was fined twice by the British accounting regulator for errors in the audit of London construction groups Kier and Galliford Try.

The Big Four accounting firm was ordered to pay £5 million ($6.3 million) after the Financial Reporting Board found irregularities in the audit reports of companies, both of which eventually suffered from accounting errors.

PwC to pay millions for erroneous audit edits

The Big Four accounting firm was ordered to pay £5m after the Financial Reporting Board (FRC) found problems in audits of companies, both of which have suffered accounting errors in recent years.

The FRC found errors in PwC's audits of long-term contracts at the two companies, including accounting for revenue and expenses on a major complex contract at Galliford Try.

{{quote 'A rigorous accounting audit of long-term contracts is particularly important in an audit of construction companies, where many contracts are awarded for several years,' said Claudia Mortimor, deputy executive adviser to the FRC. "Auditors should not only ensure that sufficient proper audit evidence is obtained to support the accounting of contracts, but also apply sufficient professional skepticism," she said. This is vital for investors to be able to trust financial statements. }} PwC was ordered to pay £3 million ($3.7 million) for non-compliance with regulatory requirements when conducting an audit of the reporting of Galliford Try, a house construction company, for the 2018 and 2019 fiscal years. The fine was reduced from £5.5 million ($6.8 million) in recognition of the cooperation of the Big Four auditor, the FRC said in a statement.

Another fine of almost £2 million ($2.5 million), reduced from £3.35 million ($4.2 million), was imposed on PwC for auditing Kier's financial year ended June 2017. PwC also agreed to pay more than £756 thousand ($952 thousand) to cover the costs of two FRC investigations.

Шаблон:Quote 'We regret that some aspects of our work did not meet the required standards,' PwC said. The company said that since the Kier and Galliford Try audit, it has invested heavily in improving the quality of the audit, including for long-term contracts, resulting in improved results in the review of its operations.^[2]

PwC continues to work in Russia under a new name - "Trust Technologies"

At the end of April 2022, it became known about the continuation of PwC under a new name - "Trust Technologies." Under such a legal entity, the Russian division of one of the world's largest audit companies will operate. Read more here.

2021

Buying Focus Orange, a consultancy that helps businesses with employee benefits

In early December 2021, PwC acquired Focus Orange. The financial component of the transaction of the company did not disclose. Read more here.

CD&R bought the company's tax and immigration advisory unit from PwC

On October 19, 2021, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), a private equity firm, announced the purchase of a tax and immigration advisory business from PwC. The deal is scheduled to close in the first half of 2022, after which the assets sold were rebranded. The value of the deal has not been named. According to Reuters, we are talking about the amount of $2.2 billion.

The sold division of PwC offers services for taxing employees, organizing business trips, managing mobility and calculating wages of more than 3 thousand companies operating in the international arena. The company also offers tax and immigration services for employees moving abroad, which allows it to benefit from the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Morgan Stanley & Co serves as PwC's financial advisor.

CD&R bought the company's tax and immigration advisory unit from PwC

PwC Sells Company Tax and Immigration Advisory Unit for $2.2 Billion

The return of business travel, the emergence of mobile work models and the increased need for compliance in a complex business and regulatory environment will stimulate significant needs in this area, "said CD&R partner Russ Fradin in a statement.

PwC Global Managing Partner for Employee Mobility Peter Clark, will become CEO of the new spin-off company. Former chief executive and chairman of Aon Hewitt and partner in the buyout group Russ Fradin, will become its chairman. The mobility unit has the largest presence in the US and UK, as well as significant operations in Australia, Canada and the Middle East.

PwC Chairman Bob Moritz, said the deal would allow more investment in line with the group's strategy. PwC plans to spend $12 billion through 2026, focusing on advising clients on technology and ESG. The sale is PwC's largest since it sold its consulting arm to IBM in 2002 for $3.5 billion as audit firms responded to calls for more independence in the wake of the Enron scandal.

The sale is the latest in a string of deals to sell PwC to private equity firms as they prioritise investments in fast-growing industries such as technology and advising companies on environmental, social and management issues. JP Morgan, UBS Investment Bank, BMO Capital Markets, BNP Paribas Securities, Mizuho Financial, RBC Capital Markets and Societe Generale have agreed to finance the deal and are acting as financial advisers to CD &^[3]

Allowing 40,000 employees to work remotely full time

At the end of September 2021, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) announced that it would allow 40 thousand of its American employees to work full time from home. Moreover, employees will be able to choose such a format on an ongoing basis.

PwC said it became the first professional services company in the United States to offer employees the opportunity to work virtually and live anywhere in the country. Employees who decide to work from home full time will have to come to the office for face-to-face meetings, important team meetings, customer visits, training sessions, etc., at least three times a month.

We learned a lot during the pandemic, and virtual work, as we think about the evolution of flexibility, is the natural next step. If you are an employee with a good reputation, work in the client service and want to work virtually, you can do it! We are confident that we can manage hybrid teams, "said Yolando Seals-Sheffield, PwC's deputy head of human resources.

PwC allowed employees to work remotely for good

On September 27, 2021, the company sent a memo to employees saying it was proposing a new policy to attract and retain employees and maintain performance. Team members who prefer to be in the office regularly will also not be limited in this, the rest are allowed to work completely remotely.

The pandemic has forced more and more companies to come to terms with the fact that employees prefer to work from home, either full time or partially. This raises concerns among executives that the longer people stay at home, the harder or harder it is to bring them back. During the pandemic, many employees developed a new daily routine, and those who initially experienced discomfort from working outside the office now accepted the flexibility and productivity of working from home. Surveys have shown that enthusiasm for remote work only increases as the pandemic continues.^[4]

Allocation of $12 billion for hiring 100 thousand employees

In mid-June 2021, PwC announced that it plans to spend $12 billion to hire another 100,000 employees between 2021 and 2026. About 10,000 of those employees will be black and Latino students. The company itself intends to pay more attention to advising clients on environmental, social and corporate issues.

The New Equation plan aims to invest in hiring and training new employees, as well as developing new technologies. The company intends to increase the total staff of 284 thousand people at the beginning of 2021 by more than a third in the period from 2021 to 2026.

PwC will allocate $12 billion to hire another 100 thousand employees

In total, PwC has allocated $125 million to prepare 25,000 black and Latino students for business careers as part of a new initiative, said Tim Ryan, chairman and senior partner of PwC in the United States. PwC plans to hire 10,000 of those students over the next five years, he said. With this initiative, the company should increase black and Latino representation among its senior employees, junior employees and interns to 35%.

We're going to get them ready to go, create internship and training opportunities, "Ryan explained. Ten thousand people will come to work, but we are equally proud of [other] 15 thousand, whom we will help get the necessary education and find work.

The infrastructure transformation plan also includes a $3 billion investment that would double the size of the Asia-Pacific business, PwC said. According to the chairman of the board of PwC Bob Moritz (Bob Moritz), the company "is going to invest huge funds to rethink its strategy and find the services that our customers and the world need."^[5]

Introduction of flexible working hours for 22,000 employees

At the end of March 2021, the British audit company PwC informed its 22,000 employees that after the COVID-19 pandemic, they will be able to choose when to start and end their working day.

Flexible working hours are one of three key components of PwC's new concept, which it called a "deal." Another innovation is that after the coronavirus pandemic, the company will allow employees to spend part of the working day at home, expecting that from 40% to 60% of their time will be spent on meetings with customers and colleagues in the office. The third key change involves allowing employees to work half a day on Fridays during July and August 2021. The majority of staff are expected to be finishing work at lunchtime on Friday.

PwC allowed 22 thousand employees to start and end a working day whenever they want

PwC President Kevin Ellis noted that the company wants to consolidate new methods of work in order to survive the pandemic.

Without careful planning, there is a risk now that we will lose the benefits of new ways of organising work when the economy recovers. The future of work is changing at such a speed that we must constantly improve our workflow organization models to meet the needs of our employees and our customers, "he explained.

PwC announced that all innovations will be introduced in stages. As of the beginning of April 2021, the UK began to ease restrictions related to COVID-19, so in the coming months, most people will again go out to work in offices. The company has already informed staff about the opening of offices in England and Wales.

At the end of March 2021, England and Wales began to ease coronavirus restrictions, allowing up to six people from two households to meet outdoors while at a social distance.^[6]

2019: Demonstration of the operation of the inter-corporate quantum network

On June 6, 2019, Sberbank, Gazprombank, PwC and the Russian Quantum Center demonstrated the work of the first inter-corporate quantum network. Read more here.

2018: Creating an accelerator for blockchain projects in conjunction with Bitfury Group

On December 13, 2018, it became known that Bitfury Group in Russia and PwC entered into a partnership agreement. The cooperation is aimed at creating an accelerator for blockchain projects, which will save business from a number of financial costs. Read more here.

Notes