type global network of independent member firms industry professional services founded 1980 headquarters london united kingdom key people ed nusbaum ceo grant thornton international ltd products assurance services tax advisory specialist advisory services privately held business services revenue 4.6 billion usd 2015 number of employees 42 204 2015 website www.grantthornton.global grant thornton office building grant thornton is the world s seventh largest professional services network 1 of independent accounting and consulting member firms which provide assurance tax and advisory services to privately held businesses public interest entities and public sector entities . grant thornton international ltd is a not for profit non practising international umbrella membership entity organised as a private company limited by guarantee . grant thornton international ltd is incorporated in london united kingdom and has no share capital . according to grant thornton international ltd member firms within the global organisation operate in over 130 countries . combined global revenues from member firms in 2015 were us 4.6 billion . there are over 2 500 member firm partners and total member firm personnel of over 42 000 . 2 contents 1 early history 2 recent significant mergers 3 member firms 4 accusations of negligence and incompetence 5 see also 6 references early history edit the earliest origins of the name date back to 1904 when the uk firm of thornton webb & co was formed . through a series of name changes this firm merged in 1959 with another uk firm baker & co which traced its origins to 1868 to form the firm thornton baker . in 1975 thornton baker merged with kidston jackson mcbain a uk firm which traced its origins to the glaswegian accountant robert mccowan who set up in practice in 1844 and was a founder of the institute of accountants and actuaries in glasgow in 1853 . in the us 26 year old alexander richardson grant founded alexander grant & co in chicago in 1924 . grant had been a senior accountant with ernst & ernst now ey . alexander grant was committed to providing services to mid sized companies . when grant died in 1938 alexander grant & co survived the change in leadership and continued to grow nationally . in 1969 alexander grant & co joined with firms from australia canada and the united states to establish the organisation of alexander grant tansley witt . this organisation operated successfully for 10 years . in 1980 alexander grant & co and thornton baker firms with similar qualities clients personnel numbers and values joined with 49 other firms to form a global organisation grant thornton . in 1986 alexander grant & co and thornton baker changed their names to grant thornton reflecting their mutual affiliation and strategic alignment . 3 recent significant mergers edit bradenham manor in buckinghamshire england owned by grant thornton as a training facility . in 1987 grant thornton merged with carter chaloner & kearns grant thornton uk merged with rsm robson rhodes in july 2007 4 grant thornton russia merged with rosexpertiza in january 2012 5 grant thornton china merged with ascenda cpa in january 2012 6 in may 2012 grant thornton australia merged with several former bdo offices in melbourne and sydney . in july 2013 grant thornton johannesburg merged with the local pkf member firm . 7 although many of the firms now carry the grant thornton international name they are not all members of one international partnership . each member firm 8 is a separate national entity and governs itself and manages its administrative matters independently on a local basis . this is similar to other professional services networks . member firms edit grant thornton s uk headquarters in euston london . grant thornton member firms service international work through their local international business centres located in 40 major commercial centres throughout the world . grant thornton international ltd carries out an annual global research project the international business report 9 which surveys the views and expectations of over 11 500 privately held businesses across 40 economies . accusations of negligence and incompetence edit grant thornton moldova has been accused of incompetence after being the auditor for three of moldova s banks involved in the moldovan bank fraud scandal . the theft was discovered in november 2014 at unibank banca de economii and banca sociala which grant thornton moldova audited in 2011 and 2013 along with kpmg . stephane bride one of the managing partners of grant thornton in moldova was appointed as the moldovan minister of economy after the scandal broke out . allegedly the money was embezzled and spirited out of the country in complex financial transactions some through uk companies . the authorities had to rescue the three banks with a bailout equivalent to half the annual budget . none of these allegations have been proven and grant thornton moldova did qualify the audit reports for these banks . 10 see also edit accounting networks and associations professional services networks references edit http www.big4.com andersen the next four bdo rsm grant thornton and baker tilly and a surprise 469 english paul . transparency report . www.grantthornton.global . retrieved 2016 03 30 . http www.grantthornton.com portal site gtcom menuitem .91 c078ed5c0ef4ca80cd8710033841ca vgnextoid 75f52e5a13bc5010vgnvcm100000308314acrcrd & vgnextfmt default auditors join forces to take on big four daily telegraph 28 april 2007 angela ceroni . grant thornton international ltd. home . gti.org . angela ceroni . grant thornton international ltd. home . gti.org . merger of equals as grant thornton and pkf in johannesburg join forces to create a formidable client service offering . gt.co.za . grant thornton international limited member firms insight landing . insights . internationalbusinessreport.com . http www.theguardian.com world 2015 jul 01 global auditor moldova wealth franchise grant thornton banks embezzle v t e consulting firms management consulting mckinsey & company bain & company boston consulting group accenture booz allen hamilton a.t. kearney bearingpoint l.e.k. consulting marsh & mclennan companies oliver wyman roland berger company arthur d. little kurt salmon huron consulting group capgemini deloitte monitor deloitte ernst & young pricewaterhousecoopers kpmg sia partners strategy & cra international accounting and finance consulting deloitte ernst & young pricewaterhousecoopers kpmg bdo international grant thornton international fti consulting capco analysis group milliman it consulting cognizant cgi group computer sciences corporation fujitsu hitachi consulting hewlett packard enterprise services ibm global services atos infosys tata consultancy services unisys slalom consulting sopra steria business & decision cambridge consultants avanade sogeti human resource consulting mercer consulting firm towers watson aon hewitt hay group hewitt associates people founders james o. mckinsey marvin bower bill bain consultant bruce henderson roland berger arthur dehon little edwin g. booz james l. allen managing directors dominic barton rich lesser orit gadiesh charles douard bou e areas of expertise management consulting human resource consulting information technology consulting economic consulting risk and strategic consulting tax advisor audit assurance services financial adviser public sector consulting performance consulting biotechnology consulting others big three management consultancies big four accounting firms consulting firm case interview enron scandal business consultant consultant grade consulting certified management consultant house of lies victor cheng strategy business list of management consulting firms list of it consulting firms retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title grant thornton international & oldid 744531338 categories grant thorntonaccounting firmsinternational management consulting 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