British American Tobacco Drops and Sues PwC over Pollution Scandal

Source from:  Recorder Journal 12/18/2015

British American Tobacco has dumped its auditors PwC and taken them to court over a potential $1bn (£651m) USA environmental damages bill.

It is the latest in a long line of tests for the Big Four auditing firm, which is still reeling from accusations by the Public Accounts Committee that it promoted tax avoidance "on an industrial scale".

PwC’s accountants are also under investigation by the Financial Reporting Council over its auditing of one of its biggest clients - Tesco - after a whistleblower at the supermarket revealed profits had been over-inflated for at least three years.

BAT is fighting a legal battle to avoid being dragged into the Fox River scandal in Wisconsin, USA, where toxic chemicals used in carbonless copy paper (used on contracts where writing is transferred to several copies of the same document) was pumped into the waters.

Legal documents have already said the clean-up costs are estimated at $827m, with a potential natural resources damage bill of a further $382m. Enditem