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The increased focus on money laundering and fraud motivated the move, the firms said.
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Grant Thornton merges with AML specialist Initialism
15 September 2022
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Grant Thornton has expanded its risk consulting practice through a merger with anti-money laundering (AML) and counterterrorist financing (CTF) compliance business Initialism.
Initialism specialises in AML and CTF and has worked with a range of high-profile clients including financial institutions, gaming and pubs and clubs.
Grant Thornton said that the merger was motivated by the increased focus on AML and CTF by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), a trend it expected to increase.
As part of the merger Neil Jeans, who led Initialism for 10 years as principal, has been appointed a partner within Grant Thornton’s risk consulting team.
“I’m really looking forward to sharing our knowledge and expertise to deliver on great client service and support them in understanding and achieving AML/CTF compliance,” said Mr Jeans.
Grant Thornton national managing partner of consulting Michael Pittendrigh said the knowledge Initialism brought would strengthen the firm’s offerings.
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“There is a limited amount of senior expertise in the market, which has been accentuated by aggressive levels of recruitment being undertaken by AUSTRAC and financial institutions over the last 12 months,” said Mr Pittendrigh.
“Neil Jeans and Initialism are considered to be pre-eminent experts in the AML/CTF field, and we are delighted to have reached an agreement to merge Initialism with Grant Thornton’s existing financial crime capabilities; to have Neil on board with us as partner; and for the team of specialists to join us.”
Mr Jeans said that Initialism would now have more resources to work with.
“By joining Grant Thornton, Initialism will have increased access to significant additional on-demand capacity, including forensics and data analytics resources, which are becoming increasingly used in AML/CTF advisory work,” he said.
“We will also be able to collaborate with Grant Thornton’s existing team of experienced AML/CTF practitioners to deliver insights and outcomes for clients.”
The merger follows two promotions to partner within Grant Thornton’s risk consulting team in Daniel Farthing and Jane Stanton.
Grant Thornton is part of a global network that has over 61,700 professionals across 147 countries with the Australian team consisting of over 165 partners and 1,300 staff across offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth.
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