• Kreston International has added Romanian firm
BG Conta to its network…

• PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada has merged with
Edmonton-based professional services firm APP &
Associates…

• Grant Thornton US has launched hedge fund
internal control, governance and regulatory compliance services to
provide greater transparency for investors….

• Deloitte Balkans has appointed Pietter Wessel
as tax partner specialising in VAT….

World

• Kreston International has
added Romanian firm BG Conta to its network. BG Conta was founded
by George Bilteanu in 1996, and has four partners and 40 staff. The
firm claims to be a top eight firm and provides audit, tax,
consulting, internal audit, outsourced accounting and payroll
services.

• PricewaterhouseCoopers
China (PwC) has opened its 14th Chinese branch in the city
of Xiamen in the south eastern Fujian Province. Eileen Liang has
been appointed the Xiamen branch lead partner.

“Xiamen is undergoing an industrial
optimisation with many highly-potential local companies,” Liang
said. “The timing of PwC’s entrance into the Xiamen market
indicates the firm’s willingness to help Xiamen-based businesses to
stand up to the current economic situation.”

• PricewaterhouseCoopers
Canada has merged with Edmonton-based professional
services firm APP & Associates. Keshav Pareek and Dwayne
Pohranychny have joined the firm as partners. APP staff will be
based in PwC’s Edmonton offices and will focus on private company
clients ranging from start-ups to larger organisations.

• Alvarez and Marsal
(A&M) has strengthened its European Financial Advisory Services
(FIAS) team by hiring nine advisers. The appointments follow
A&M’s strategy of expanding its pan-European FIAS team as a
response to the increased demand for restructuring support and
guidance by financial institutions. Eight of the appointments come
from a banking background while Aljosja van Dorssen had previously
worked at A&M Netherlands, McKinsey and Andersen
Consulting.

• Grant Thornton US has
launched hedge fund internal control, governance and regulatory
compliance services to provide greater transparency for investors.
The services include investment adviser readiness assessment,
internal control development and testing, regulatory compliance,
valuation and FAS 157 compliance, and independent attestation and
opinions on internal controls. Grant Thornton said these services
will help funds to find and retain investors and will assist them
prepare for the new Hedge Fund Transparency Bill.

• Leading Edge Alliance Scottish member firm
Johnston Carmichael has merged with
Edinburgh-based Duncan Young & Company. Duncan Young &
Company was founded in 1989 and has 23 staff. Johnston Carmichael
has 10 offices throughout Scotland and employs 450 people. Morris
Duncan, Alan Young and Ian Roy will become partners as a result of
the merger.

• Deloitte Spain has
appointed Luis Fernando Guerra as head of its tax and legal
practice. Guerra replaces Luis Crespo after his four-year term
ended. Guerra started his career at Arthur Andersen and in 2004
joined Deloitte as head of tax advisory services. The firm’s tax
and legal division grew 25 percent and generated revenue of €50.2
million ($68.7 million) in its most recent financial year.

• One of Australia’s largest banks has
invested in a 10 percent stake of Australian-based consolidator
WHK Group as part of a strategic partnership. WHK
will have access to the products, services and resources of a
Macquarie Bank subsidiary to support the implementation of the
firm’s ‘Total Financial Solutions’ strategy. Macquarie Bank will
provide funds to support WHK’s growth through convertible notes
worth A$30 million ($20 million) that can be converted into shares
within five years.

• Deloitte China is to launch
an unpaid leave programme in April to save costs in response to the
economic downturn. According to an email sent by the firm’s human
resources department, all employees in China are required to
participate in the personal leave programme, which means taking
four days leave each month. The programme will be reviewed in
October by Deloitte’s management team but may extend into 2010. In
December 2008, Ernst & Young China offered 9,000 Chinese staff
up to one month voluntary unpaid leave before 30 June through its
leave of absence programme. The firm said 90 percent of staff had
joined the scheme.

• Ernst & Young UK
(E&Y) is continuing to expand its tax practice despite the
economic downturn. The firm recruited 22 new tax partners in the
past 12 months, including Duncan Whitecross, Ted Keen, Alison
Conley, Caspar Noble, Mandy Love and Gillian Wild from Big Four
competitors. Andrew Martel and Stephen Hoyle are the newest
partners and both will be based in E&Y’s European, Middle East,
India and Africa financial services office in London.

• US Baker Tilly member Cherry,
Bekaert & Holland has expanded into South Florida by
merging with McKean, Paul, Chrycy, Fletcher & Company (MPCF).
MPCF is based in Miami and offers services in real estate,
technology, employee benefit plans, high-end tax consulting, fraud
and forensic advisory services.

• In Australia, Baker Tilly Pitcher
Partners Association has combined with Brisbane-based
accounting firm Johnston Rorke. Established in 1974, Johnston Rorke
has 15 partners and more than 130 staff, providing accounting,
audit, taxation and advisory services.

• Baker Tilly International
has appointed Bill Hogan as director of taxation. Hogan is the
former chair of Baker Tilly International’s tax steering committee
and partner of the network’s UK member firm. Tax services generated
$710 million across the international network in 2008, which
represents 24 percent of its total revenue. The appointment takes
effect from 1 April 2009.

• Russell Bedford
International has admitted InterACM Group as its
correspondent firm in Lebanon. InterACM was founded in 1993 and
recently opened a new head office in Beirut. The firm provides
audit, tax and accounting services and is licensed by the Lebanese
Association of Certified Public Accountants to perform audits on
all organisations except financial institutions.

• KPMG US has appointed Shawn
Hessing as national managing partner of the firm’s private equity
group. Hessing will lead cross-functional teams of audit, tax and
advisory to help private equity firms in cross border mergers,
acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, strategies of
exits, operational efficiencies and cash generating options for
their funds and portfolio companies.

• Deloitte Balkans has
appointed Pietter Wessel as tax partner specialising in VAT. Wessel
will be based in Bucharest, Romania but will be covering the whole
Balkans region, which includes Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova Republic,
Albania and Kosovo. He will concentrate on consolidating the firm’s
VAT practice.