Australian accounting giant PwC has stood down nine partners over a scandal which saw confidential tax documents shared with clients to give them an upper hand.
In an open letter published today from PwC Australia's acting chief executive Kristin Stubbins, she issues an apology to the public and the Australian government.
"Although investigations are still underway, we know enough about what went wrong to acknowledge that this situation was completely unacceptable," she wrote.
"No amount of words can make it right."
The company is in damage control after former adviser Peter Collins leaked confidential documents in relation to tax laws that he was advising the Australian government on in 2015.
Emails released on May 2 reveal PwC partners used the confidential information to give 14 US companies, many working in tech, an unfair advantage.
The scandal has already seen chief executive Tom Seymour and two executives stand down.
However, today it was announced that PwC has directed nine partners to go on leave immediately while the company continues an independent review, which it says will be made public.
Stubbins said she doesn't have plans to release names of staff at this time.
"There has been an assumption by some that all those whose names have been redacted must necessarily be involved in wrongdoing," she said. "That is incorrect.
"Based on our ongoing investigation, we believe that the vast majority of the recipients of these emails are neither responsible for, nor were knowingly involved in any confidentiality breach."
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