History of KPMG in The Bahamas

In an ever-changing world, stability, strength and clarity can be found at KPMG, one of the largest and oldest firms of chartered accountants in The Bahamas. The predecessor firm of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. was established in Nassau in 1954, and its Freeport office was opened in 1962. The firm currently has 5 partners and a staff of over 65.

Our professional staff has diverse experience obtained from training and practice in The Bahamas, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Similarly, our clients are diverse and include a wide variety of industries ranging from banking, trusts, finance, mutual funds and insurance to construction, wholesaling, retailing, manufacturing, real estate, media and hospitality.

Since its inception, KPMG has experienced continual growth, due partly to the enactment of a significant amount of finance related legislation designed to make The Bahamas one of the most competitive international financial centers in the world. It is anticipated that this trend will continue as financial services continues to be one of the most important sectors of the Bahamian economy.

During 1998, the firm facilitated two significant changes in order to continues to meet the increasing demands being made on the accounting profession in a changing world. Firstly, a separate legal entity, KPMG Corporate Finance Ltd. was established. This entity has been responsible for providing corporate finance advisory services to a significant number of local and foreign businesses. In particular, the company has assisted with the successful launch of a substantial proportion of the recent Initial Public Offerings made by local companies. In addition, KPMG has been an adviser on a number of re-organizations, mergers and acquisitions that are regular events in the current strong economic climate.

Secondly, the firm commenced construction of a brand new office building (Montague Sterling Centre) which has been designed to allow for the continued expansion of the firm locally as well as providing electronic access to the resources of KPMG International. We moved into the building in September 1999.

2000 saw the succession of Mr. Tracy Knowles to the position of Senior Partner of the firm. He joined a predecessor firm of KPMG in 1971 and has been a partner of KPMG since 1980. Mr. Knowles has wide ranging audit experience over a number of industries in The Bahamas and several European countries. He is also a licensed member of the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a Bahamas representative of the Institutes of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland.