{"text":[[{"start":9.85,"text":"PwC partners in Hong Kong are set to miss out on payouts collectively worth hundreds of thousands of dollars after a record fine for failures in its audit of collapsed property developer Evergrande."}],[{"start":20.799999999999997,"text":"Proceeds from the 2022 sale of a business unit, which were due to be distributed to people who were members of the partnership at the time, will instead be kept for the “operations and investments” of the firm, PwC told retired partners in an email seen by the FT."}],[{"start":37.099999999999994,"text":"The U-turn, which will affect some current and former partners, comes just weeks after PwC agreed to pay HK$1.3bn ($166mn) in penalties and compensation for failing to spot the fraud that led to Evergrande’s collapse."}],[{"start":52.8,"text":"Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission ordered PwC to compensate shareholders for having “actively acquiesced to manipulation by China Evergrande” and failing to properly check the authenticity of the group’s records during audits for 2019 and 2020."}],[{"start":69.94999999999999,"text":"The saga has cast a long financial shadow over PwC’s China business, costing it clients on the mainland and triggering a lawsuit by liquidators of Evergrande’s Hong Kong-listed parent company that aims to recoup billions of dollars more for shareholders."}],[{"start":86.64999999999999,"text":"Hong Kong partners were promised a share of the $2.2bn raised from PwC’s 2022 sale of its global mobility business, which advised companies on tax and immigration issues when they moved staff overseas, to US private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice."}],[{"start":103.54999999999998,"text":"Payouts to individual partners amounted to hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars in many cases, spread over five years but, according to the email, the firm has decided to stop the distributions after three years. Management had always retained discretion over whether to pay the money or not, the email said."}],[{"start":122.09999999999998,"text":"Proceeds that had yet to be paid out to equity partners “will not vest” and “will revert to be used in the operations and investments” of the firm, PwC China’s chief financial officer River Zhang wrote in the email to retired partners."}],[{"start":136.2,"text":"PwC shook up its leadership in China in the wake of the Evergrande scandal, installing UK partner Hemione Hudson as chief executive with a brief to reassure clients."}],[{"start":147,"text":"Hudson overhauled the firm’s governance procedures after acknowledging work for the property developer fell short of its standards and has shed staff to help shore up its financial position."}],[{"start":157.65,"text":"The Asia-Pacific region was PwC’s worst performer in its most recent financial year to June 2025. Revenues were down 5 per cent, compared with global growth of 3 per cent."}],[{"start":169.8,"text":"PwC said: “We do not comment on internal financial"}],[{"start":173.45000000000002,"text":"matters. We are fully committed to managing our business to deliver"}],[{"start":177.8,"text":"high-quality services and invest for the future.”"}],[{"start":187.8,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780643563_2232.mp3"}