The dust hadn’t even settled before PwC Russia and EY Russia released statements on their respective websites about being told they were no longer part of the global networks of PwC and EY due to Russia’s war with Ukraine.
The statements from PwC Russia and EY Russia are pretty much what you’d expect—acknowledging they were leaving their firm’s global empire, blah blah blah, the transition is expected to be smooth and the global firm HQ said it would support our employees, blah blah blah, we will continue to provide high-quality services to our clients, blah blah blah.
First up, PwC Russia:
PwC Russia is leaving the network of PwC member firms, but will continue cooperation.
The decision was taken after extensive consultations with the Global leadership team.
PwC Russia is a team of 3,700 employees in 11 cities and has worked in Russia for more than 30 years.
This transition is expected to be smooth and the PwC Global leadership team has stressed that it would make every effort to support our Russian colleagues and firm through the process.
The principles and rules of working with clients in Russia will remain unchanged.
We are confident in the business of the Russian firm. Our main competitive advantages are highly professional employees dedicated to their work and vast experience in applying the highest quality standards of auditing and consulting which continue to be highly valued by our clients.
And now EY Russia’s statement on Monday:
Today, EY global organization decided that the Russian practice will continue working with clients as an independent group of audit and consulting companies that are not part of the EY global network. The changes will take effect after the required transition period.
EY in Russia is a team of 4,700 professionals working in 9 cities of the country. The company has been operating in the Russian market for more than 30 years. During this time, the Russian practice has developed extensive expertise and built a team of highly qualified professionals in audit, technology and business consulting, transaction services, tax and legal services, and gained experience in implementing most complex projects.
EY Russian practice is providing and will continue to provide services to all its clients in accordance with high quality standards based on international methodologies developed by the global organization, which will continue to provide methodological support to Russian practice.
EY global organization assured that it would provide assistance to Russian employees.
We are confident that our clients will support us, and we will continue mutually beneficial cooperation on both current and new projects, and will continue to successfully develop the Russian practice.
As of now, KPMG Russia and Deloitte Russia have not released statements about being cut from the global networks of Deloitte and KPMG.
But the process of completely shedding their Russian-member firms will take the Big 4 some time, according to the Wall Street Journal.
For at least some of the firms, finalizing their exit will likely take months, according to people close to the Big Four. And the repercussions of their move may last for years.
[…]
Senior leaders at the four accounting giants are still scrambling to work out the details of their departure from Russia, the people close to the firms said. Firms in the Big Four networks operate as separate legal entities in each country, using a common global brand and bound by an agreement that governs arrangements such as the sharing of certain intellectual property.
The Russian members of their international networks will now have to set up under different brands. The transition from the networks to stand-alone status involves everything from dealing with regulators and transferring documents, to advising clients and working out what to do with staff on secondment to Russia.
“It’s fiendishly complicated,” another of the people close to the firms said. “The whole process is going to take a few months.”
Big Auditors to Leave Russia Amid Invasion of Ukraine [Wall Street Journal]
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