Giles Watson

Giles is an insurance specialist and a Fellow of the ICAEW. He joined BDO from EY after a career of nearly 25 years during which he provided external audit, internal audit and a range of advisory services to the insurance industry. 

His experience spans a wide range of entities in terms of size and corporate structure. He has led the audit of small privately owned insurance businesses through to household names in the life and non-life sectors both within the UK and internationally.

He has led audits of entities reporting under UK GAAP, IFRS and in compliance with Solvency II / Solvency UK requirements.

Alongside his audit portfolio, Giles has been involved in numerous transactions on both the buy and sell side as well as secondments to assist entities with projects such as IFRS 17 implementation, regulatory reporting change and Sarbanes-Oxley implementation.

Giles leads the audit quality agenda for BDO’s insurance business, ensuring our methodology conforms with the requirements of auditing standards as they develop over time.

Largest Financial Services clients serviced:

• Audit partner for significant UK life and non-life insurance companies such as Standard Life and RSA.
• Led the audit of international insurance group Aetna International
• Leading the audit of an international insurance support services group, Davies Group Limited
• Independent partner’ for Prudential

Group / Multinational audit experience

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Qualifications and professional affiliations 

• CA - Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales 
• M.A., English Literature, University of Oxford, United Kingdom