Last week we heard some interesting news from a reliable source on a shakeup that will impact the regional and leadership structure of BDO. As you know, the next CEO of Bravo Delta Oscar will be Wayne Berson, the current head of assurance for the firm's Atlantic region. As the firm's CEO-elect, he is putting a number of things in place to get ready to take the big seat in November.
Last year, BDO slimmed down from six regions to four when they folded the Southeast into the Atlantic and the Southwest into the Central. Also at that time, Jay Duke and Doug Sirotta were appointed to be the national leaders of the assurance and tax groups respectively. Our source, a person with knowledge of the matter, has indicated that under Berson, the national roles are going away and the regional changes that were made last year will be unwound.
As of now, we mostly have specifics on what is happening in the tax practice. When the changes go into effect, Mr. Sirotta will resume his leadership role as the regional tax leader in the west. It's our understanding that the current tax leader on the left coast, Rocky Cummings, will resume run-of-the-mill partner duties. Bob Pedersen, the current tax leader in the Northeast, will also take a lesser role in the firm, although his replacement is not immediately known. Finally, we have confirmed that Wayne Corini, the Atlantic tax leader, is leaving the firm.
These changes appear to be a consolidation of power at the top of the firm, with Mr. Berson and Steve Ferrara (who we're told will be the next COO) overseeing the regional leaders rather than layering it with national busines line leaders. There are rumors of side-taking/horse-trading/alliance-making and whatnot and you could deduct that by effectively demoting Mssrs. Duke and Sirotta and promoting Mr. Ferrara, Mr. Berson has made those lines clear. It's our understanding that Mr. Duke was Mr. Berson's chief rival in the CEO election but where all the other players fall has not been confirmed.
These are pretty interesting developments for BDO, which is typically a very sleepy firm, so we'd like to hear more. If you're familiar with any of the details behind this shake-up, email us.
