PwC Australia’s Disclosure Lapse Draws US Regulator Fine (1)

The Australian arm of accounting and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers agreed to pay a $600,000 civil penalty to settle US audit regulator charges over its failure to promptly disclose a local probe into a tax policy leak.

The US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s disciplinary order also requires PwC Australia to strengthen its process for reporting such incidents. The firm consented to the order without admitting or denying the board’s findings.

“Failure to disclose required information is not acceptable,” PCAOB Chair Erica Williams said in a statement Thursday. Accounting firms that are registered with the PCAOB must disclose certain “reportable events,” ...