Baker Tilly adds Nicodemus Tan to partnership team in Singapore

Baker Tilly has admitted current Institute of Internal Auditors Board of Governors member Nicodemus Tan to its partnership in Singapore. The news follows on from last month’s merger with the Singapore arm of financial advisory and restructuring firm Ferrier Hodgson.

Baker Tilly Singapore has recruited experienced audit and risk management professional Nicodemus Tan to its local partnership ranks, it a move the firm says will fortify its governance and risk capabilities – especially in the areas of data analytics, technical expertise and emerging risk management. Tan is currently serving on the Board of Governors for the Institute of Internal Auditors, and has more than a decade and a half of professional auditing experience.

Joining KPMG in Singapore in 2004 following a degree in Accounting with Nanyang Technological University, Tan later crossed to PwC, where as a senior manager he served in the areas of internal audit, audit training, and enterprise risk management for over nine years until the end of 2016. Since then, Tan has been with the internal audit division of United Technologies, including as the director of internal audit for APAC over the past year.

“We are pleased to have Nicodemus on board the partnership. With his experience, the firm’s governance and risk service capabilities will be expanded to better serve our clientele,” commented Sim Guan Seng, managing partner for Baker Tilly in Singapore. “I am very excited to be part of an established practice that continues to expand so rapidly,” Tan said in response. “My goal is to ensure that our team continues to be the best in class.” 

Tan’s recruitment to the Baker Tilly partnership team follows the firm’s coup last month in picking up the local arm of financial advisory and restructuring firm Ferrier Hodgson, with the partnership to operate under the Baker Tilly brand (which, incidentally, received a global make-over at the end of last year). Earlier this year, KPMG in Australia added on the local assets of Ferrier Hodgson, while Baker Tilly Malaysia has an existing affiliation through a subsidiary.

“We are excited to be joining forces with Baker Tilly in Singapore,” said Tim Reid, a partner with Ferrier Hodgson who heads up the new advisory team. “This is a strategic and cultural fit for both firms, making us a highly competitive force and propelling us into the significant and very well-regarded Baker Tilly global network. We will continue in our areas of specialisation while leveraging on the skills and reach of Baker Tilly to deliver a greater breadth of solutions.”

“Tim and his team have long been recognised for providing specialist restructuring and forensic advisory. We are delighted to have Tim and his team come on board. We look forward to providing our clients with access to a comprehensive and diverse skill set,” added Sim Guan Seng. Baker Tilly International is currently the world’s tenth-largest accounting and advisory network of its kind, achieving double-digit growth in the Asia Pacific division in 2018.

In other regional Baker Tilly news, Huang Shze Jiun, the Johor Bahru managing partner of its Malaysian member was this week appointed as the President of the professional industry body MIA. “I am honoured to have been elected as the president of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and pledge to work hard so as to prove worthy of the responsibility entrusted to me,” he stated in a message posted to Linkedin. Huang Shze Jiun was previously with PwC.