Live news: PwC Australia vows to name partners involved in tax leak

Kristin Stubbins, acting chief executive of PwC Australia, said the consultant will publicly name any partners found to have been involved in the tax leaks scandal and said consequences will be “severe”. 

In her first public appearance since the tax leaks scandal — in which a PwC tax partner leaked confidential government information to his colleagues — erupted in May, Stubbins said an investigation into the scandal would reveal its findings imminently. “We will name anyone who has done anything wrong,” she told a New South Wales state government hearing. 

Kevin Burrowes was named on Sunday as the new head of PwC Australia to replace Stubbins, as the group sold its government consulting business to Allegro Funds for A$1 (US$0.66).

Oil prices rose on supply concerns and stock markets were mixed after Wagner warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin withdrew from positions in Russia, ending an armed uprising but raising doubts about the stability of President Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose as much as 1.3 per cent to $74.80 a barrel in early trading in Asia on Monday, while US marker West Texas intermediate rose as much as 1.4 per cent to $70.11 a barrel.

The gains for crude oil benchmarks came after Prigozhin reached a deal with Moscow over the weekend to withdraw his fighters from southern Russia.

Shares in Japanese semiconductor-equipment maker JSR were untraded in the market’s first half-hour on Monday following the company’s acknowledgment it was considering a deal to be bought out by a state-backed investment vehicle.

Sources familiar with the matter said that JSR was considering a buyout proposal from the Japan Investment Corporation, overseen by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. 

The deal, they said, would value the company at about ¥1tn ($7bn). The company’s market capitalisation on Friday stood at $4.7bn.

The shares were untraded on a glut of buy orders. The stock closed at ¥3,234 on Friday and the untraded bid/ask price stood on Monday at ¥3,934, 22 per cent higher.

Events: New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins concludes his visit to China, while Mongolian prime minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene begins his first trip to Beijing. The Energy Asia conference opens in Kuala Lumpur. 

Markets: China’s stock exchanges, including Hong Kong’s, resume trading after the Dragon Boat festival long weekend.

Economic data: Singapore releases manufacturing data for May and ING analysts say the figures should remain in contraction, mirroring weakness in non-oil domestic exports. Taiwan announces industrial output figures for May.

Corporate results: China Gas presents fourth-quarter earnings.

Build it and they will vote for you. That is the essence of US president Joe Biden’s “Invest in America” roadshow, which kicks off on Monday with a big infrastructure funding announcement at the White House.

The press call provides the starting gun for a three-week tour of the country by Biden, vice-president Kamala Harris and senior cabinet members to trumpet the administration’s achievements and plans to replace creaking infrastructure, boost manufacturing capacity and nurture clean energy technology development.

It follows last year’s tour, in which Biden announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, and will ensure headlines for him and his team while Congress takes a two-week recess.

Read more about coming events in The Week Ahead.

Nine out of 10 medium-sized UK companies are halting growth plans because they cannot access capital, according to a study released on Sunday.

The survey by accounting and consulting group BDO said a quarter of companies surveyed were scaling back their business or reducing employee numbers.

Inflation and increased operating costs were among other problems, affecting 56 per cent of the 500 companies surveyed, BDO said.

“Despite staying resilient through an incredibly difficult time, tough challenges remain for mid-sized businesses, with access to capital becoming a critical issue,” said BDO partner Richard Austin.

China has described Yevgeny Prigozhin’s attempted insurrection as Russia’s “internal affair” as it tried to play down any potential impact on their close ties during a visit by Moscow’s deputy foreign minister Andrei Rudenko to Beijing.

State media showed Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang smiling and walking with Rudenko on Sunday as China tried to gauge the impact of the rebellion by Prigozhin and his Wagner paramilitaries on the political stability of one of its most important allies.

Chinese state media said only that the pair “exchanged views . . . on Sino-Russian relations and international and regional issues of common concern”.

Read more about China’s reaction to the Russian insurrection.

A growing number of Conservative MPs with slim majorities are cutting back time they spend in Westminster in a bid to shore up their electoral prospects in their constituencies, as gloom grips the party ahead of the next election.

US pollster Frank Luntz told Tory MPs that any with a majority of less than 15,000 votes were at risk of losing their seats. More than 180 have majorities below that threshold.

Conservative MPs defending marginals are able to apply for permission to be away from the Commons for up to one week each month and are being offered help to improve their chances of re-election.

Read more about the Conservative party election jitters.