Grant Thornton appoints Claire Scott as national Financial Services leader
Accounting and advisory firm Grant Thornton has appointed Claire Scott as its next national Financial Services leader, with Scott to take over from Darren Scammell at the start of next year.
Scott has been with Grant Thornton in Sydney since crossing from KPMG in 2015, and was admitted to the firm’s audit & assurance partnership the following year, where she focuses on financial services clients.
Bringing two decades of professional experience dating back to her career start in Ireland, Scott takes over from Scammell from the beginning of next year, with the latter having served as financial services lead for the past three.
“I am thrilled to take on the new role and work alongside our talented team to help clients navigate the evolving financial services landscape,” Scott said, crediting the strong foundation left by Scammell. “With the industry going through rapid transformation, our clients need experts who are deeply knowledgeable and capable of providing forward-looking, tailored solutions.”
A business graduate of Trinity College Dublin, Scott kicked off her career with a three-and-a-half-year stint at the local branch of KPMG, before crossing with the firm to Sydney in 2010. She then joined Grant Thornton as an associate director five years later, where she has led the firm’s mutual & authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADI) sector business among other roles.
With a further nod to ever-rising regulatory complexity, the firm noted Scott’s extensive experience in providing external audit, assurance, advisory, and compliance services to clients in such APRA-governed areas, including superannuation and mortgage funds, investment managers, fintechs, non-bank lenders, and across the banking spectrum, from majors and credit unions to foreign.
“Claire’s extensive financial services experience, commitment to client success, and expertise in audit and regulatory standards make her the ideal leader to guide our clients through these times of significant change,” stated chief marketing officer Fraser McNaughton. “Darren has set a high standard, and I want to thank him for his dedication and ongoing contributions.”
Scott will continue to be based out of Grant Thornton’s Sydney office, which has recently relocated from its old, two-decade long Kent Street address to shiny new premises across two floors in Grosvenor Place at 225 George Street in the heart of the city, where they join fellow consultancies Baringa Partners and Deloitte among other tenants.
