Well that’s that. All Final Four Horsemen of the Accounting Apocalypse have now announced they are abandoning their operations in Russia in response to Vlad Putin’s war against Ukraine. PwC and KPMG announced on Sunday they were cutting ties with their member firms in Russia, EY released a similar statement earlier this morning, and Deloitte spoke about it leaving Russia in a statement from Global CEO Punit Renjen a little more than an hour ago.
Renjen said:
Last week, Deloitte announced it was reviewing its business in Russia. We will separate our practice in Russia and Belarus from the global network of member firms. Deloitte will no longer operate in Russia and Belarus.
While we know this is the right decision, it will have an impact on Deloitte’s ~3,000 professionals located in Russia and Belarus. Like others, we know our colleagues in Russia and Belarus have no voice in the actions of their government. We will support all impacted colleagues during this transition and do all we can to assist them during this extremely difficult time.
We will continue to prioritize the needs of our people and clients while we bring the full strength of Deloitte’s global resources to bear in addressing the mounting humanitarian needs in Ukraine and across Europe.
We will honor our commitments and obligations to global financial markets and multiple regulatory bodies.
A couple takeaways from Renjen’s statement:
- Deloitte joins KPMG as publicly saying they not only are severing ties with their affiliates in Russia but also in Belarus, a country that has been a key ally to Russia during its invasion of Ukraine. While PwC’s statement doesn’t mention Belarus, the Financial Times reported yesterday that PwC Belarus was also leaving the firm’s network. EY’s official statement didn’t mention the status of its firms in Belarus.
- While EY’s statement this morning said the firm “will no longer serve any Russian government clients, state-owned enterprises or sanctioned entities and individuals anywhere in the world,” Deloitte’s statement today doesn’t say that—and neither did the statements released by PwC and KPMG yesterday. However, in a statement on March 2, Deloitte did say it “does not serve any entities of Russia’s Central Government.”
So now that the Big 4 and Grant Thornton have said they are exiting Russia, who’s next among the top global accounting firms with offices in Putinville? BDO? RSM (this might have already happened; still working on confirmation)? Mazars? Crowe? Baker Tilly?
Related articles:
EY Joins Big 4 Exodus From Russia
Reports: PwC Is Withdrawing From Russia and Belarus
KPMG Is Pulling the Plug On Its Operations In Russia and Belarus
Big 4 Firms Condemn Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, But Will They Sever Relationships With Any Russian Clients?
Grant Thornton Drops Its Russian Affiliate Over Conflict In Ukraine
Ex-Big 4 Partner On Why the Big 4 Firms Should Pull Out of Russia: ‘It’s the Right Thing to Do and You Know It’
What does it say that Deloitte is the last to pull out? *cough not a leader*
What does it say that Punit Renjen, Deloitte’s CEO was the only one who didn’t speak about ESG at Davos 3 years ago? Again *not leading by example*
All the press releases were in a 24 hour block. You really differentiate firms by how the speed of their editing cycle and publication process? Pffft.