PwC – did they, or didn’t they?

(By Anthony Miller – Tuesday 30th June 2009 6:00pm). Audit Satyam, that is. There’s just a wonderful story in the Times of India today (Tuesday) that it wasn’t PwC India that audited Satyam’s accounts, but Bangalore-based partner firm Lovelock & Lewes. Therefore, by some sort of weird logic, PwC claims “it wasn’t us, guv!” This is despite evidence that the auditing fees were paid into PwC’s Bangalore account before being remitted to L&L. PwC India chairman and CEO, Ramesh Rajan, helpfully explained that the firm has no manpower (I think he was referring to PwC's Bangalore office, in which he is reportedly a partner) and as part of an internal arrangement gives out their work to Lovelock and Lewes.

This ‘defence’ would look so much more convincing if PwC didn’t list L&L on their global website as “Price Waterhouse\Lovelock & Lewes”, with offices one floor below "PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt Ltd" in the same building and with the same phone number. Anyway, I’m glad that’s all been cleared up then.