PwC has 'blood on its hands'
PricewaterhouseCoopers has been named on a dirty list of companies whose operations directly or indirectly help to finance the military dictatorship in Burma.
Link: PwC put on Burma ‘dirty list’
The list, published today, includes a number of British-based companies but PwC is the only accountancy firm. It is intended as a resource for investors wishing to avoid companies involved in the region.
A statement issued by the Burma Campaign reads: ‘PwC have a partner in Burma, PricewaterhouseCoopers Hla Tun Consultants Ltd, to which they refer clients wanting business advice in Burma.’
A PwC spokesman reiterated the firms stance from earlier this year. ‘PwC Global does not carry out traditional auditing in Myanmar (Burma). There is a co-operated firm in Myanmar to which PwC’s associated firms in countries which do not have a trade embargo against Myanmar refer their clients, should these clients require business advice in Myanmar.’
Despite this, director of the Burma Campaign UK, Yvette Mahon is unrepentant. ‘The Dirty List exposes companies who are directly or indirectly helping to finance one of the most brutal regimes in the world,’ she said.
‘Foreign investment can bring benefits for developing countries, but in the case of Burma it helps finance a regime that uses rape, torture and murder to suppress its own people. We want these companies to get out of Burma. They have blood on their hands.’