BDO appoints Connie Carnabuci as independent board director

As Australia’s leading professional services firms come under increased scrutiny as to governance and oversight, BDO has appointed Connie Carnabuci as its second independent board director.

Carnabuci brings four decades worth of professional legal and governance experience to the role, including as a senior partner at global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and more recently as general counsel of the ABC.

Based out of Sydney, Carnabuci joins BDO chairman David Fagan, the former Clayton Utz chief executive partner who was appointed to the now eight-person national board in 2020, as its two non-executive independent members.

“Connie’s appointment underscores our progressive approach to governance, ensuring our board comprises individuals with diverse perspectives and a commitment to ethical oversight,” Fagan stated. “As BDO continues to grow and evolve, the integration of independent viewpoints will be crucial in maintaining its trajectory of excellence and trustworthiness in the market.”

Rising to partner, Carnabuci spent more than a decade with Mallesons Stephen Jacques in Sydney, New York and Hong Kong prior to crossing to Freshfields in 2002 for a further twelve years, serving as Asia group leader for the law firm’s TMT and intellectual property & IT practices as well as global co-head of its technology sector business at the time of her departure.

From 2017 to 2021, she was general counsel at the ABC, at a time when the Murdoch press was ramping up its sustained campaign against the national broadcaster alongside a more than amenable government, with the AFP raid on the network’s Sydney headquarters occurring during her tenure together with significant budget cuts, Covid-19, and a series of parliamentary enquiries.

Governance

Now, the Senate has turned its attention to the consulting sector, motivated in part by the PwC government tax scandal and serious questions over the governance of sprawling partnerships. This has prompted a number of the country’s largest professional services firms to get ahead of any reforms by introducing or increasing the number of independent directors on their boards.

“We’re at a time where our clients and stakeholders are placing a stronger emphasis on ethical conduct, compliance with regulations and the maintenance of professional standards,” stated BDO chief executive Tony Schiffmann. “This appointment reinforces our position and commitment to exceptional governance and transparency and accountability across our sector.”

Together with her blend of compliance, risk and digital expertise, Carnabuci also brings outside board experience, as a current director of the Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation and foreign exchange company OFX. In addition, she is a member of the UNSW Business School advisory council and committee chair of the Law Council of Australia.

Carnabuci said: “I am honoured to join the BDO board at this exciting time and look forward to contributing to the firm’s continued growth and success. BDO's dedication to client excellence, governance and transparency resonates with my professional values, and I am excited to be part of a firm that is committed to leading by example in the industry.”