Mark Hunt has been appointed head of the financial services practice at BDO. He has accumulated significant experience in providing investigation, assurance and advisory services to regulated firms and is also a senior forensic and dispute advisory partner and retains audit responsible individual status, acting as concurring partner on some of BDO’s largest financial services audit clients.

As the lead partner of BDO’s financial services practice, a particular focus for Hunt is investing in senior resources in the banking team. Leigh Wormald was recently appointed as partner, the first of eight new partners expected to join the team over the next 12 months.

Wormald has over 17 years' experience as an auditor and adviser across the financial services industry. She is a specialist in auditing and advising local and international banks, investment funds, private equity firms, hedge funds, exchange traded funds and stockbrokers and joins from Baker Tilly.

She previously led the bank and investment funds audit team at Mazars and prior to that was a banking partner in the financial services practice at KPMG in South Africa.

Hunt said, “We have plans to continue to grow the team by over 30% over the next 12 months, in line with our views of the increasing market opportunities.”

Wormald added, “My experience of banking audit and financial services advisory projects has given me deep insight into the challenges now facing major international banks through to niche banks and newer entrants.”