Satyam fraud affects PwC's brand, not business
Tuesday, 30 March 2010, 23:29 IST   |    6 Comments
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Satyam fraud affects PwC's brand, not business
Kolkota: In his first visit to Kolkota, since he took over as the chairman of PwC, Dennis Nally pointed out that while Price Waterhouses (a PwC network firm) name being dragged into India's biggest corporate fraud did have a negative impact on the PwC brand, the controversy did not result in a large number of its clients either walking away or driving harder bargains. Talking to The Times of India, Nally said, "Clients remained tremendously loyal. The Satyam issue did not have any effect on rates (PwC charges). The company took a series of steps to boost internal controls, including devising a new approach to assess risks. Conversations about economics become a lot easier when you are in a longstanding relationship." He also said that sometimes fraud can take place despite the best of controls. "You can never completely eliminate the possibility of material fraud," said he. The company is planning to double its headcount in Kolkata's tech hub Salt Lake from 2,000 to 5,000 in three years and set up one of three proposed shared services centres worldwide in the city. Also, it intends to take its India headcount to 10,000 within three to five years from about 6,400-6,500 currently. India presently contributes two percent to the global business. "We want to raise this figure to five percent within five years," said PwC India Chairman Gautam Banerjee. Talking about the idea of acquiring smaller firms to expand its reach, Nally said, "We still want to acquire talent and companies and there is no change in that thought process."

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