EY chief Dan Scott retiring

Dan Scott, regional managing partner of EY for almost 20 years, will retire at the end of this month, the firm has announced.

Michele Thompson, EY Bahamas country managing partner and regional assurance leader, will succeed him as regional managing partner, effective 1 July.

Scott has been managing partner of EY Cayman since 2003, and became regional managing partner of the company in 2005, when EY’s Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Bahamas firms integrated into a single practice. The British Virgin Islands office was added five years later.

Mike Mannisto, EY Cayman partner and regional banking and capital markets leader, will take on additional leadership responsibilities as regional assurance leader from 1 July, according to a press release about the leadership changes at the firm, issued on Wednesday morning.

Scott joined EY in 1983 as a staff accountant in Cayman. He became a partner in 1993 and managing partner 10 years later.

“Under Dan’s stewardship, the Region became aligned with the EY Americas Financial Services Organization (FSO), headquartered in New York, and built out a business whose focus on financial services clients and access to EY’s global network has made it unique in the markets in which it competes,” the company stated in the release.

To honour Scott’s legacy and focus on education, EY has doubled its scholarship programme and called it the EY Cayman Dan Scott Scholarship Fund.

Scott is a previous chairman of the Cayman Islands Education Council, which advises the Ministry of Education.

Jeff Short, EY Cayman country managing partner and regional wealth and asset management leader, said in the release, “Naming the scholarship program after Dan is a fitting way to celebrate his legacy, as it provides opportunities for academically excellent Caymanian students to gain higher education and build a successful career in the professional services industry, just as he did.

“Through many years of inspirational leadership, Dan has fostered an entrepreneurial culture that has enabled us to respond nimbly to our clients’ changing needs with additional services, such as our tax advisory practice, Strategy and Transactions, Consulting, EY law and the EY wavespace.

“The full-service suite of offerings we provide today and the access to EY’s global network of over 400,000 professionals that stems from our alignment with EY Americas FSO — a highlight of Dan’s legacy — has helped to strengthen Cayman’s value proposition as a world-class international financial centre.”

As well as his work at EY and on the Education Council, Scott has served in a number of civic roles in the Cayman Islands, including as a past chairman of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission and the Housing Development Board.

In 2015, he was bestowed the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his service to the financial services industry and the judiciary in the Cayman Islands.

“It’s been an honour to have led this team of talented and committed professionals whom I’m proud to call my EY family. Together, we have accomplished much over the course of these forty years,” Scott said in the release.

“I’m delighted to be handing over the reins to Michele. She is an outstanding leader, who is well equipped to lead EY teams as they continue to bring to bear global expertise locally to help organizations excel in this transformative age.”

Thompson joined EY in 1987, and has more than 30 years of audit experience in the financial services industry, working extensively with numerous investment vehicles, large hedge funds, private equity funds and banks.

During the course of her career, she spent nearly two years at EY Cayman.

She has been the regional assurance leader since 2010 and EY Bahamas country managing partner since 2012.

“Dan is a transformational leader, who has guided the practice through a period of sustained growth and innovation,” she said. “His principle of putting people first — our clients, our colleagues, our communities, and the jurisdictions within which we operate — resonates throughout the firm and is evident in our commitment to excellence in client service. He has epitomized the EY purpose of building a better working world.

“I want to thank Dan for his tremendous contribution to the firm over four decades. It’s an incredible privilege for me to succeed him as Regional Managing Partner. With the support of my talented EY colleagues, I look forward to building on Dan’s track record of success and leading the Region into its next chapter.”

Carmine Di Sibio, EY’s global chairman and CEO, thanked Scott for his “extraordinary service” to EY.

“Dan has lived the EY values of integrity, respect, teaming and inclusiveness during his distinguished tenure,” he said. “He has been a visionary and innovative leader, whose success has been built on responsiveness to evolving client needs in this fast-changing world. I wish Dan well in his well-deserved retirement.

“I have full confidence that Michele will build on the solid foundations that Dan put in place and lead EY teams that continue to find new and better answers to the issues facing organizations and governments.”