JOHANNESBURG (March 2020) BDO in South Africa, part of the BDO global network -the fastest growing professional services network in the world - launched their new Financial Services division in April 2019 to help businesses navigate a changed, changing and highly challenging industry. The Financial Services offering is now formally being expanded to include a Johannesburg dedicated division, with full Banking, Insurance and Investment and Fund Management capabilities.
Headed by Pierre Jacobs, the division currently comprises of 44 financial services specialists across South Africa. These partners and managers are further supported by BDO’s large trainee base, more than 100 of which have experience in working on financial services clients. The team also integrates financial services industry specialists covering the areas of technical accounting, regulatory, tax and technology. Additionally, the team includes a Specialised Valuations Group (SVG), with expertise in valuing financial instruments and modelling related credit risk for both listed and unlisted exposures.
“We’ve combined our intellectual capital, our reputation for innovation and the trusted relationships we’ve formed over the years to build a business that rivals the best in the market,” said Jacobs, who has over two decades of audit and advisory experience in South Africa, USA and Europe, specialising in banking, lending and stockbrocking. “We’re ready to help our clients in financial services navigate the future, especially including fintech and the increasingly complex regulations that impact their businesses.”
BDO’s Financial Services Johannesburg team is led by Kevin Hoff, who also serves as the Banking sector lead for the division. He has 14 years of experience auditing and advising banks and lenders in South Africa and across Africa. Referring to BDO Financial Services’ positioning in the market: “We’re rethinking the traditional service line and functional business model of professional firms, and putting the needs of our clients first, giving our clients and stakeholders access to deep financial services expertise, specialisations and innovation, through a single point of contact and consistent quality of service, “ says Hoff.
For clients needing assistance with managing their technology risks and exploring their emerging technology risk assurance requirements, Nevellan Moodley serves as the Financial Services Technology lead for the industry. Moodley is highly sought-after for his expertise in IT audits and executing on related IT assurance and advisory projects. He is a leading market commentator in the emerging technology arena, in particular relating to how these impact on the Financial Services industry.
“It’s a challenge to keep pace with technology in financial services, “says Moodley. “Technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain and cryptocurrencies are just a few of the areas in which we are experienced in and have already incorporated these into our audit methodologies.”
He adds that “as the fourth industrial revolution continues to exponentially grow, our clients require someone that is able to help them assess these risks. Managing these risks is going to become critical to our clients and our ability to provide risk advisory services and audit in these environments is what we want our competitive advantage to be.”
BDO in South Africa’s CEO, Mark Stewart is excited about the opportunities this bring for the brand, “BDO is already established and highly sought after in the market for our audit, tax and advisory services. Our Financial Services team will continue this tradition by providing quality assurance and clarity to our clients in a strictly regulated environment. Clients are ready to partner with a firm that embraces innovation and understands the complexities of managing a business in the new fintech environment. We are excited about this new phase of BDO’s ongoing growth and evolution.”
The official launch of BDO Financial Services Johannesburg takes place at The Leonardo Hotel on Thursday, 12 March 2020.
BDO Financial Services offers a full range of services for:
- Banking, covering retail, business banking and corporate & investment banking;
- Unsecured lending;
- Stockbroking;
- Insurance, including both short and long term insurers;
- Asset and investment management:
- Collective investments schemes (CIS)
- Hedge funds
- Private equity
- Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS);
- Funds and medical schemes;
- Fund administration; and
- ISAE 3402 reports.
