Shehnaaz Suleman

Shehnaaz Suleman

Shehnaaz leads BDO South Africa's Financial Services Technical Centre, the specialist IFRS sub-service line that provides mandatory consultation and audit-quality support across BDO's financial services client base. She is the final technical authority on FSTC positions in both FS Audit and FS Advisory, covering insurance, banking, asset management, medical schemes and stockbrokers. Her insurance experience runs both ways. 

From 2018 to 2019 she was technical accounting specialist inside Discovery Group, supporting the Group's insurance entities from the preparer's seat. Since then, she has delivered IFRS 17 implementation support, technical opinions and position papers to insurers; performed reviews of insurance annual financial statements; and responded to JSE proactive monitoring matters. She represents BDO South Africa on the SAICA Insurance Project Group, the SAICA IFRS 17 / IFRS 18 Working Group and the BDO Global IFRS 17 Working Group. She previously advised banks and insurers in South Africa and the United Kingdom as a Senior Manager in EY's Financial Resources Group and spent six years at KPMG on complex IFRS matters across Africa.

Largest Financial Services clients serviced:

  • Discovery Group (insurance and medical schemes) 
  • Telesure Group 
  • Munich Re 
  • Allan Gray 
  • Absa / Barclays 
  • Nedbank

Group / Multinational audit experience

Shehnaaz supports group and multinational financial services audits as the IFRS technical authority, with direct experience of consolidated insurance and banking reporting across multiple jurisdictions and regulatory environments, including African, Mauritian and Bermudan subsidiary structures. Her time inside Discovery Group gave her direct exposure to group technical accounting across a large, multi-entity insurance group, including how technical positions are set centrally and applied consistently to underlying entities. She applies that experience when advising engagement teams on consolidation, structured entities, foreign currency translation, net investment hedging and cross-border classification and measurement matters. She represents BDO South Africa at BDO Global technical forums, alongside other major audit firms' counterparts, which keeps technical positions aligned between the local practice and the global network. She has delivered IFRS training across the African continent and engages directly with audit committees, group finance teams and regulators on complex group reporting matters.

Qualifications and professional affiliations 

  • CA (SA)
  • South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA)
  • Registered Auditor (RA)
  • Member of the Institute of Directors South Africa (M.Inst.D) 
  • Executive Development Programme, Wits Business School (2026)