Grant Thornton International has confirmed it
is building a new member firm in Hong Kong to be set up by Grant
Thornton China.
The firm will begin trading as Jingdu Tianhua
Hong Kong but will eventually adopt Grant Thornton branding.
The new firm will be led by Daniel Lin and
plans to have more than 100 staff within 12 months.
The firm’s initial focus will be on the
delivery of assurance and taxation services with SEC and IFRS
capabilities. There are also short-term plans to develop
international tax and transfer pricing services, transaction
advisory and business risk services.
Growth through merger and acquisition is being
considered and the firm is in the process of registering with the
PCAOB.
The International Accounting Bulletin revealed
last month that Grant Thornton International was planning to set up
a fully integrated firm in partnership with its Chinese member,
which has 65 partners and over 1,500 professionals in 10 Mainland
China offices.
This strategy has led to Grant Thornton’s
current Hong Kong member firm to enter into merger discussions with
rival BDO – a deal which awaits the approval of local
authorities.
