BDO announces new firm in Japan

BDO, the world’s fifth largest accountancy network, is pleased to announce that Toyo & Co. will be joining BDO in Japan on 4 January 2011.

Toyo & Co., currently the Crowe Horwath firm in Japan, and the existing BDO firm, BDO Sanyu & Co., are establishing a new jointly owned company, BDO Japan KK, which will be the new BDO Member Firm in Japan.

Sanyu & Co. was founded in 1986 and joined BDO in 1996, while Toyo & Co. was established in 1971. BDO Japan KK will have over 600 partners and staff operating out of 4 offices across the country, and will have fee income for year end 2010 of €61 million (JPY 7 billion).

Mr. Masashi Yoshida of Toyo & Co., Chairman of BDO Japan KK, is confident that BDO’s strong global brand will have a significant effect on growing their business. He says: “From the day that our firm was launched, we never set out to be the largest firm, but concentrated on becoming the country’s number one trusted firm, committed to responding to our clients’ expectations as credible, professional accountants. We wanted to be associated with an international network with high quality audit standards and an IFRS-conformed audit tool, as well as a global culture built on respect: BDO was clearly the best choice”.

Mr. Jun Sugita of the former BDO firm is BDO Japan KK’s CEO and adds: “The audit and accounting market in Japan is unique, in that the 4 largest firms make up 80% of market share. Furthermore, significant accounting fraud in 2005 resulted in the industry in Japan going through drastic changes. We were able to win both new audit and IPO clients as a consequence, and could for the first time envisage becoming the country’s number 5 firm: with this structure we have achieved this and are now actively planning to expand our tax business as well through acquisitions, mergers and strategic recruitment”.

Jeremy Newman, CEO of BDO International Limited, said “The substantial development of our presence in Japan is in line with the strategic growth plans of BDO both internationally and in this region and I am optimistic that the additional strength that Mr. Yoshida’s firm brings will nenable us to fulfill the needs of both local and international clients for the consistent and high quality service delivery that BDO gives to its clients. I hope that this is the start of the transformation of our presence in Japan and we will now be looking for further opportunities to develop and grow our business, including our tax and advisory services”.