Notre histoire 2001 – 2011
2001 – 2011 GLOBAL GROWTH, GLOBAL CRISIS
Dagmar Brösztl-Reinsch
“As our firm started to grow, our clients tended to become larger and more international and the international connections became more important for our clients.”
9/11
On September 11 2001 al-Qaida terrorists hijacked two aircraft and crashed them into the World Trade Centre towers in New York, as well as the Pentagon. The USA declares war on terrorism.
First Kreston member firm in mainland China
The first Kreston member firm in mainland China, Nanjing Gongzheng CPA, is admitted.
Rich Howard
“Many times change is driven by scandal and issues that have come up that have shaken public trust in what we do and the services we offer. There were significant efforts over the last two decades to converge the accounting and audit standards around the world – so that everyone was operating under the same set of rules and investors could rely that they were getting the same information out of one location or exchange as another.”
Largest-ever expansion of the EU
Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia are admitted to the European Union as member states in the largest-ever expansion of the EU.
Kreston saw a number of personnel changes
Jon Lisby took over from Chris Flint as CEO in late 2005. Clive Stevens, Chairman of Kreston Reeves UK, begin serving as Kreston Chairman, a role which he held until 2012.
Rich Howard
“We embarked on a project to set up an audit network within Kreston’s [then] association. When we got to present it to the Kreston board, the response was rather than one service line let’s do it with the whole network. We set out to change from association to network. We hired a quality control director, joined the Forum of Firms, did all the things that we needed to be a network – including allowing and encouraging firms to adopt the Kreston brand.”
Continued strong growth for Kreston
A strong year sees aggregate fee revenue increase by 30%, to $1.7bn. The year’s growth follows on from a very successful 2006, which saw fee revenues grow by 50% over two years. At this time, Kreston’s membership includes 250 firms in 78 countries with a total resource of 18,000 professional and support staff.
Financial crisis
A financial crisis triggered by a lack of confidence in bank solvency, and a lack of credit availability, leads economies around the world into recession. Central banks provide trillions of dollars of fiscal stimulus and bailouts. The 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in the US would attempt to deal with many of the issues behind the crisis.
Revenues grow
Kreston revenues grow by 21% in 2008. Network-wide announcement celebrates exceptional growth over the past three years, moving from US$1.142bn in 2005 to US$2.065bn in 2008 an increase of 81%.
A key arrival
Kreston welcomes Exco France as a member. Exco is a network of 23 independent firms, located throughout France and employing 2,000 professionals and support staff. In addition, Exco’s correspondent members in 11 French-speaking African countries also join Kreston as full members. As well as France and Africa, the network adds additional locations in Poland, West Indies, New Caledonia and Reunion. Kreston also welcomes Exco’s CEO, Franck Parker to the Kreston Board.
Andrew Collier
“The two really big changes that really accelerated the growth of the network were when CBIZ & MHM from the US joined us – they were acquiring firms and growing significantly. And when Exco from France joined us, which came off the back of one of the big changes in the industry – the demise of Arthur Andersen.”
Costa Rica is added to Kreston’s Central America group
With this recruitment, Kreston now has a presence in each of the major countries in Central America during 2008 – Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Dr Gabriel Brösztl retires
The co-founder of Kreston in 1971, announces his decision to retire as Managing Partner of Bansbach Schübel Brösztl & Partner GmbH (“BSB”) after a remarkable period of sixty years.
Clive Stevens [then Chairman of Kreston]
“Without Gabriel Brösztl there would simply be no Kreston. It was Gabriel’s early vision, leadership and drive that created our organisation 39 years ago. Kreston continues to thrive on the culture that Gabriel established “of doing business with people we know like and trust”. He is and remains one of my ‘accounting heroes’”.
An active role in regulatory reform
Kreston UK comments on The Future of Financial Reporting in the UK and Republic of Ireland – Kreston UK comments UK Accounting Standards Board’s (ASB) proposals to change the basis of UK GAAP and bring it in line with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Sue Almond, Kreston’s Director of Quality and Professional Standards says: “The members in Kreston UK agree that change is needed to the overall framework for financial reporting in the UK. We welcome ASB’s proposals and support global convergence to international standards, but we do not feel that the time is right to withdraw the FRSEE – it is fit for purpose, our member firms’ clients like it, and stakeholders such as the tax authorities and lenders appear happy with it. SMEs are critical to the UK economy and should not be burdened by unnecessary change at such a sensitive point of the economic cycle”.
Kreston supports overhaul of audit policy in Europe
In its official response to the European Commission Green Paper Audit Policy: Lessons from the Crisis, Kreston welcomed the wide-ranging consideration of the audit market but urged caution to make sure that actions can be successfully implemented without placing unnecessary burdens on the critical SME market.
Embracing technology
Embracing technology with global reach, Kreston launches an iPhone and iPad app, giving members, clients and contacts mobile easy access to Kreston’s global network.