Morison International
File:Morison Logo.jpg | |
Company type | Association of independent firms |
---|---|
Industry | Accounting Audit Professional Services Tax Consulting |
Founded | 1990 |
Headquarters | Global Executive Office in London |
Revenue | USD$772.9 million (2013) |
Website | www.morisoninternational.com |
Morison International is a global association of professional service firms (accounting, auditing, tax and business consulting) established in 1990. The association has 90 member firms in 65 countries. Morison International's status as an association is in accordance with the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) audit code and the EU Statutory Audit Directive 2006/43/(EC) (“the 8th Directive”).[1] Morison International is ranked by the International Accounting Bulletin as the 9th largest accounting association in the world. In 2013 the combined revenue of all member firms was USD772.9 million.
In March 2012, at the International Accounting Bulletin (IAB) Awards[2] (sponsored by Aon Insurance), Morison International won "Association of the Year" and "Rising Star Association".[3]
The association was also shortlisted in one other category - Consultancy of the Year (Hansen Holm - Morison International's member firm in Ecuador).
Origins
The association is the legacy of Walter Morison [4] (26 November 1919 - 26 March 2009) a Royal Air Force pilot who became a prisoner of war and was sent to Colditz for attempting to steal an enemy aircraft during the Second World War.
Following the war, Morison qualified as a chartered accountant at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. He was articled at Morison, a firm established by his great uncle. Morison then worked at Coopers Bros, the firm that became Coopers & Lybrand, before returning to his family firm, Morison Stoneham. He led the firm as a senior partner through a period of great change from 1960 to 1981 before retiring. Morison Stoneham was the founding firm of Morison International.
History
At its inception in 1990, Morison International (MI) was primarily a European group of independent firms of accountants, auditors, tax and business advisers in Europe to provide professional services to meet clients' cross border needs in Europe in anticipation of the establishment of a single market by the 12 members states of the European Community as from 1 January 1993.
After around 15 months of discussion, beginning in mid 1989, amongst the 4 founding members, Aplitec (France), Krogh & Ronald (Denmark), Morison Stoneham (UK) and Van der Hoek en Blok (Netherlands), Morison International was formally launched in London on 16 October 1990 with a seminar on the theme "Opportunities in Europe". Martin Silverman, a senior partner at Morison Stoneham, was appointed by the MI Board as the first Chairman of MI.
The first annual conference was held in Dublin in May 1991 and MI had member firms in Denmark, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and UK. By the time of its second conference in Paris in 1992, there were member firms in Spain and Belgium.
Based on Morison Stoneham’s connections in the Far East, MI was launched in Singapore (Paul Wan & Co), Hong Kong (Morison Heng) and Malaysia (Morison AAC) in April 1992, and this saw the beginning of Morison International Asia Pacific. At MI's second annual conference in Paris in May 1992, MI set the agenda to expand beyond Europe to be a global network (association) of independent firms committed to provide quality professional services. MI's constitutional status and structure was changed from an EEIG, a restricted European legal entity, into an UK incorporated company limited by members' guarantees with no territory restrictions on members.
In 1995, Martin Silverman resigned as Chairman of MI on his departure as a partner of Morison Stoneham. Per Krogh Peterson, a senior partner of Krogh & Ronald was appointed by the MI Board as Chairman of the association.
MI expanded from the two continents of Europe and Asia to Australia in 1996 when Hayes Knight joined the association following its participation in the MI annual conference in Singapore in 1996, the first conference to be held in Asia.
The first Latin American delegate attended the annual conference in Berlin in 1997. This was followed by an initial meeting in that year to establish Morison International Latin America. Morison International Latin America was officially launched in 1998. Latin America was represented for the first time at the MI annual conference by Carlos Camacho in 1999 in Hong Kong.
In 2001 following the resignation of Per Krogh Peterson, Jean-Pierre Larroze, a senior partner at Aplitec who has been a director of MI since its inception, was appointed as Chairman of MI.
In 2003, MI admitted its first African member in Mauritius; this was followed in 2004 with a member in Tanzania, South Africa and Nigeria in 2006. The Morison International Africa region was formed in 2007 and officially launched at the 2008 annual conference in Johannesburg.
MI recruited its first direct member in North America (USA) in 2006. In 2007 the Board terminated the association’s links with its US and Canadian affiliates and commenced recruitment of direct members in North America in 2009.
In 2008, MI recruited its first Chief Executive Officer, Liza Robbins,[5] to provide leadership in the Global development of MI and the implementation and the on-going development of its strategic plan.
Corporate governance
Morison International is run under the direction of an international Board with 5 sub-regional Boards - Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America.
Morison International Board of Directors
- Jean-Pierre Larroze (Chair of Morison International), Aplitec, France
- Stephen Chang (Vice-Chair of Morison International), Independent Director, UK
- Carlos Camacho Cordoba (Chair of Morison International Latin America), Grupo Camacho, Costa Rica
- Nonkululeko Gobodo (Chair of Morison International Africa), SizweNtsalubaGobodo, South Africa
- Christian Heimerl, MI InterAct representative, Germany
- Mark Levenfus, Marks Paneth, US
- Paul Wan (Chairman of Morison International Asia Pacific), Paul Wan & Co, Singapore
See also
References
- ^ EU Statutory Audit Directive 2006/43/(EC)
- ^ International Accounting Bulletin Awards Shortlist March 2012
- ^ "Association of the Year" and "Rising Star Association" - Double Win for Morison International!
- ^ Flight Lieutenant Walter Morison - The Telegraph, 2009
- ^ Morison International Appoints New Chief Executive - International Accounting Bulletin, October 2008