PwC partner accused of leaking in £63m lawsuit leaves firm
Ian Green, the former PwC head of restructuring, left the firm on 30 June according to Companies House filings, following accusations by Watchstone that he leaked confidential information about the PwC client.
Aquis Exchange-listed Watchstone, an insurance and technology group, have said that Green disclosed its information to a banker at Greenhill & Co in 2015. The banker was, at the time, advising law firm Slater & Gordon who were in discussions to acquire the firm’s professional services division.
“We are satisfied that we have a very strong case and are determined to take the claim to trial, should that prove necessary,” warned Watchstone, formerly known as Quindell, in a market update on 16 August.
Green was appointed as PwC’s head of the north of England in August 2019 but stepped down from the role in summer 2020. He was previously head of the firm’s business recovery practice.
A PwC spokesperson said “Ian Green’s retirement has been planned for some time and is not related to the claim.”
Watchstone said the first hearings in the case would take place next month, but said it did not expect a full trial before 2023, in a statement in its interim results report, published on Monday.
PwC denied Green had leaked information about the company in its defence to the claim, filed with the High Court in October 2020.
PwC’s spokesperson added: “We deny these allegations and are vigorously defending this claim. It would be inappropriate to comment further on an ongoing legal matter.”
The big four firm did however admit that Green had met with Gareth Davies, the Greenhill & Co investment banker, on 15 January 2015 at PwC offices, but said this was “a short and informal coffee meeting between individuals who were known to one another [as] business acquaintances”.
The meeting between Green and Davies became public knowledge during a previous court case, which was settled out of court in 2019. Slater & Gordon had accused Quindell of misrepresentation over the value of its professional services division, which it had bought for £637m in 2015.
In an email which came to light during the case Davies had written the details of a meeting with someone described as the “head of PwC restructuring”.
In 2014 PwC was appointed to review Quindell’s finances and to make recommendations for any changes to its accounting practices. Quindell paid PwC over £5m in fees between 2014 and 2015.
Watchstone claimed that Davies told colleagues that “if we find [Quindell] are in a real corner we can take them to the cleaners”.
He also, allegedly, said Green had told him Quindell would run out of cash by mid-2015 and that Green could “quietly” look further into the company’s finances on behalf of Davies and Slater & Gordon.
PwC however denied that Green made such comments in its defence document.