Yahoo Finance Grant Thornton chief executive Sacha Romanovitch to stand down
Sacha Romanovitch, the chief executive of the financial services company Grant Thornton, has said she will stand down, weeks after being attacked by colleagues for her strategy and “socialist agenda”.
In a statement, she said: “Following discussions with Grant Thornton’s Board, we have agreed that the time is right for a new CEO to take the firm forward.”
The company has said that a new chief executive will be appointed before the end of 2018.
In September, Romanovitch, the only female chief executive in the British accounting sector, was attacked for creating a “culture of fear” within the company.
The attack came in the form of an anonymous note that stated it represented the views of 15 partners or directors at the company.
It claimed that the firm was “out of control” as well as having “no focus on profitability,” and was sent to several media outlets.
Ed Warner, chair of the Partnership Oversight Board at Grant Thornton UK, said: “The Board has agreed that a new CEO is the logical next step to create long term sustainable profits for the Firm.”
The departure of Grant Thornton’s chief executive comes less than a week after Patisserie Valerie, one of firm’s clients, was plunged into crisis by revelations that it had a black hole in its accounts worth more than £20m.
Patisserie Valerie issued clean set of accounts filed earlier this year, signed off without qualification by auditors from Grant Thornton.
Earlier this year The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), which regulates auditors, fined Grant Thornton £3m due to an early settlement over serious conflicts of interest on two audit clients.
The watchdog said its investigation also uncovered "widespread and serious inadequacies" in controls at Grant Thornton's Manchester office between 2010 and 2013, as well as "firm-wide deficiencies in policies and procedures relating to retiring partners."
