GRANT THORNTON SWITZERLAND - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Audit Financial Services
- Senior Manager in the Audit Financial Services Service Line at Grant Thornton Switzerland / Liechtenstein
André Fröhlich is a Senior Manager in the Audit Financial Services service line at Grant Thornton Switzerland/Liechtenstein.
Professional experience
André has been employed at Grant Thornton AG since 2015. Prior to joining Grant Thornton AG, he was working for a Big 4 company in the Assurance Financial Services Banking and Asset Management department of a Big 4 company. His experience covers a broad range of areas, including all relevant CISA fields.
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Member of the Advisory Committee
- Manager - Tax Zurich
Anthony Haug works as a Manager in the International Individual Tax department at Grant Thornton Switzerland in Zurich.
Professional experience
Anthony has seven years of experience as a tax and global mobility consultant. Before joining Grant Thornton, he worked for five years in the tax and global mobility teams of two Big 4 companies in Zurich.
Anthony has experience in domestic and international tax matters. His role involves providing consultation for private clients in their tax matters and the global workforce of multinational companies on cross-border issues. He assists clients in cross-border acquisition matters, planning and optimisation of tax and social security matters, and residence permit issues.
Job Titles:
- Certified Accountant
- Senior Manager
- Senior Manager - Audit Industry, Services, Institutions Schaan
Benjamin Hoop is a senior manager in the service line Audit Industry, Services, Institutions in Liechtenstein and Buchs. As senior auditor, he is responsible for the performance of audit operations.
Professional experience
Benjamin Hoop has several years' experience in advising and auditing medium-sized international service providers and industrial companies based on the Persons and Companies Act (PGR), the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR), Swiss GAAP FER (true and fair view) and IFRS.
Benjamin Hoop is a certified accountant and recognised as an auditing expert by the Swiss Federal Audit Oversight Authority (FAOA). He has a Bachelor of Arts HSG in Business Administration.
Languages
In addition to his mother tongue German, Benjamin Hoop speaks fluent English.
Expertise covers:
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Committee
- Head of the International Individual Tax Department
- Partner - Tax Zurich
Bernhard Lauri is head of the international individual Tax department of Grant Thornton Switzerland in Zurich.
Professional experience
Bernhard Lauri has more than 12 years experience as a tax consultant.
Before joining Grant Thornton, he worked for several years in the tax team of a Big 4 company in Zurich and in a medium-sized international tax consulting and audit firm.
Bernhard Lauri has experience in domestic and international taxation. His function includes consulting private clients on cross-border issues, in particular the structuring and planning of international assignments. He assists clients in cross-border acquisition circumstances, the settlement of individuals, planning and optimization of social security matters as well as in the area of residence permits.
Professional qualifications and memberships
Bernhard Lauri has a masters in Law (lic.iur.) and is a Swiss certified tax expert. In addition, he has a master in Advanced Studies in VAT.
Languages
Bernhard Lauri's mother tongue is German. He is fluent in English and has a solid knowledge of French.
Expertise covers:
Job Titles:
- Audit Expert
- Director - Audit Financial Services Geneva
- Director of the Industry
Catherine Tornare-Cottet is Director of the industry, services and other audits service line in Geneva and Lausanne.
Professional experience
Before joining first Baker Tilly Spiess SA and now Grant Thornton, Catherine Tornare-Cottet worked for more than 20 in a Big4, where she was a licensed audit expert and FINMA auditor for banks, securities traders and managers of collective investment schemes. She also worked as head of internal audit of the International business and Senior Executive Divisions of a cantonal bank in Romandie.
Her responsibilities at Grant Thornton cover a wide range of local and international clients operating in services and trading, and also non-profit entities. She is highly proficient in auditing in compliance with the requirements of IFRS, Swiss GAAP FER and the Swiss Code of Obligations.
She also has extensive experience of individual commissions (capital increase, agreed procedures and other certifications) and conducting internal audits for financial companies and expert assessments.
Catherine Tornare-Cottet is an audit expert licensed by the Swiss Federal Audit Oversight Authority and a certified accountant.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Advisory Committee
- Director - Tax Geneva
Charles Forichon is a Director for the tax advice department in Geneva and Lausanne.
Professional experience
Charles Forichon is specialized in tax advice for corporate and private clients.
He has several years of experience advising corporation, entrepreneurs and private clients, focusing on various aspects such as wealth planning, real estate organization, restructuring and cross-border transactions. Charles Forichon also assists his clients for tax litigation in front of the tax authorities and the Swiss courts.
Before joining Grant Thornton in early 2020, he worked for a tax advice firm and a law firm, as well as one of the Big Four in Geneva.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner - Audit Financial Services Zurich
Christian Bögli is a partner of Grant Thornton AG in Zurich.
Professional experience
Christian Bögli worked for more than 10 years as an auditor at various firms, including a Big 4 company in Switzerland. He has worked for Grant Thornton AG since 2010 and since 2011 has been a partner and auditor responsible for banks, securities dealers and asset managers of collective capital investments.
Professional qualifications and memberships
Christian Bögli completed his licentiate in Economics at the University of Zurich (lic.oec.publ.). He is a certified accountant and an auditing expert recognised by the Swiss Federal Audit Oversight Authority (FAOA).
Christian Bögli is a member of EXPERTsuisse.
Languages
In addition to his mother tongue German, Christian Bögli speaks fluent English.
Expertise covers:
Christoph Termin is a Senior Manager and heads the IT Assurance & Advisory Services team in the Business Risk Services division of Grant Thornton Switzerland/Liechtenstein.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Audit Expert and a Certified Accountant
- Partner - Audit Industry, Tax, Outsourcing / Management Committee
- Partner - Audit, Accounting, Tax Geneva
Dominik Spiess is Partner of Grant Thornton Switzerland/ Liechtenstein and heads the Geneva and Lausanne offices.
Professional experience
Dominik Spiess has more than 25 years' experience in auditing companies, SMEs and banks. He also provides audit, taxation, management consultancy and forensic accounting (expert assessment) services.
He worked for eight years as an auditor, consultant and later as a manager at a consulting firm in Geneva, Zurich and Chicago. Afterwards he founded Baker Tilly Spiess SA, where he was Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1993 to 2018 and joined Grant Thornton on 1 January 2019.
Professional qualifications and memberships
Dominik Spiess is a licensed audit expert and a certified accountant. He holds an MSc in Business Administration from HEC (Faculty of Business and Economics) Lausanne. Dominik Spiess is a member of EXPERTsuisse and a former vice-chairman of the national committee, former president of the Académie, former member of the technical audit committee,
former committee member of the Section Geneva of EXPERTsuisse.
Languages
In addition to his native language of German, Dominik Spiess speaks fluent French and English.
Expertise covers:
Job Titles:
- Head
- Partner
- Partner - Advisory Financial Services Zurich
Sebastian Neufang is a German lawyer and gained his doctorate in law at the University of Münster.
Job Titles:
- Partner - Audit Industry, Services, Institutions Zurich
- Partner at Grant Thornton Switzerland / Liechtenstein
Shqiponja Isufi is a partner at Grant Thornton Switzerland/Liechtenstein and Head of the Service Line Audit Industry, Services and Institutions in Switzerland.
Professional experience
Shqiponja Isufi has in-depth knowledge in auditing of annual and consolidated financial statements according to Swiss law, Swiss GAAP FER, IFRS and US GAAP as well as auditing of internal controls over financial reporting according to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. She specialises in providing audit services primarily to both international and private companies. Her clients are drawn from various industries and her professional focus lies on auditing industries including technology and manufacturing, airfreight transport, pharmaceutical, telecommunications and software.
Besides her extensive experience in auditing, she is an adjunct lecturer at the University of St. Gallen and a lecturer at EXPERT Suisse.
Professional qualifications and memberships
Shqiponja Isufi holds a PhD in Economics. She is a certified accountant and an auditing expert recognised by the Swiss Federal Audit Oversight Authority. She is a member of EXPERTsuisse.
Languages
In addition to her mother tongue German and Albanian, Shqiponja Isufi speaks fluent English and has a basic knowledge of French.
Expertise covers:
Job Titles:
- Head
- Member of the Advisory Committee
- Partner - Tax
- Partner - Tax / Management Committee
- Partner - Tax Zurich
Stephan Baumann is Head of the Service Line Tax of Grant Thornton Switzerland.
Professional experience
Stephan Baumann has over 20 years' experience in tax consulting, including 12 years as a tax partner and leader international tax for a Big-4 in Switzerland. He joined Grant Thornton end of 2012.
Stephan developed and ran the Swiss Tax Desk in San Francisco and New York. Stephan focuses on international corporate tax with a special interest in the mobile income area and international corporate reorganizations.
He has successfully advised on and carried out numerous projects relating to cross-border trading, intellectual property, finance and other corporate tax structures and reorganizations. Main clients are U.S. and Eastern Europe/Russian privately-owned and publicly traded companies with nexus to Switzerland.
Job Titles:
- Partner - Audit Financial Services / Management Committee
Job Titles:
- CEO / Partner / Management Committee / Quality Control Risk Management
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Manager - Abacus Jasmin Andermatt
- Manager - Legal Services
- Manager - Legal Services Zurich
Gerhard Althaus is a manager in Legal Advisory at Grant Thornton Switzerland/Liechtenstein.
Professional experience
Before changing to Grant Thornton Switzerland/Liechtenstein, Gerhard Althaus worked for various law offices, an intercantonal authority in Bern and for several years in the legal department of one of the big 4 companies in Zurich.
Gerhard Althaus specialises in Swiss commercial and trade law (particularly in corporate, contract and labour law). He has provided legal advice and supported various international companies in M&A transactions and cross-border restructuring operations.
Gerhard Althaus holds a Master in Law (MLaw) of the University of Bern and qualified to practice law in 2011. He also completed an LL.M. in International Law at the University of Miami (USA).
Languages
In addition to his mother tongue German, Gerhard Althaus speaks fluent English.
Job Titles:
- Chartered Accountant
- Director - Audit Industry, Services, Institutions Zurich
- Is Director of the Service Line Audit Industry, Services, Institutions in Zurich
Hermann Caspers is Director of the Service Line Audit Industry, Services, Institutions in Zurich.
Professional experience
Hermann Caspers has more than 20 years' public accounting and auditing experience and specializes in providing audit services primarily to public and private companies in a wide range of industries including commercial trading, mining, services, education, not for profit and manufacturing.
Prior to joining Grant Thornton Switzerland/Liechtenstein in 2013, Hermann Caspers worked for Grant Thornton Neuhaus in Namibia for 18 years. He carries out audits of consolidated and stand-alone financial statements prepared based on IFRS, IFRS for SMEs, Swiss GAAP as well as Namibian GAAP and has extensive experience in planning and performing transnational audits.
Hermann Caspers is a Chartered Accountant (SA), (NAM) and member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) as well as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Namibia (ICAN). From 2008 to 2012 he was a member of the ICAN Technical Committee, where he dealt with IFRS and audit-related topics.
Languages
In addition to his mother tongue German, Hermann Caspers speaks fluent English and has a good knowledge of Afrikaans.
Expertise covers:
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager
- Senior Manager - Trust Services Schaan
Janine Fussenegger is a senior manager in the Trust Services service line in Liechtenstein.
Professional experience
Janine has been with Grant Thornton for around 15 years. After studying business administration, she gained initial professional experience as a project manager in an advertising agency. She then joined ReviTrust as an assistant to the management, where she was responsible for management support, IT, marketing, compliance, the management system and various projects.
She joined the Trust team in 2019 and is responsible in particular for compliance issues.
Professional qualifications and memberships
Janine Fussenegger holds a degree in economics (lic.oec. HSG).
Languages
In addition to her mother tongue German, Janine Fussenegger speaks fluent English and has basic knowledge of French and Spanish.
Expertise covers:
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager - Audit Industry, Services, Institutions Sandro Andres
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Committee
- Senior Manager
- Senior Manager - Tax
- Senior Manager - Tax Schaan
Martina Benedetter is Senior Manager of the Service Line Tax in Liechtenstein.
Professional experience
Prior to joining Grant Thornton Switzerland/Liechtenstein, Martina Benedetter worked for several years as legal assistant in a renowned tax consultancy practice. She had previously worked for several years as a research assistant at the Chair of Business Taxation.
Martina Benedetter is distinguished by her consolidated knowledge in national and international tax law in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Job Titles:
- Director - Audit Financial Services Schaan
Mathias Eggenberger is Director of the service line Audit Financial Services in Liechtenstein.
Professional experience
Mathias Eggenberger worked as a customer consultant and team leader in the retail sector at a Swiss industrial SME for several years. After his education/training as a business economist, he joined Grant Thornton in 2011. He thus has many years of professional experience in the field of auditing and consulting in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Professional qualifications and memberships
Mathias Eggenberger is a business economist, a chartered financial analyst (CFA) and a certified accountant. He is an auditing expert recognised by the Swiss Federal Audit Oversight Authority (FAOA) and an accountant licensed by the Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority (FMA). Furthermore, he holds specialist legal licences for auditing banks, e-money institutions, payment institutions, insurance companies, pension funds, asset management companies and investment funds (AIF, OGAW, IU) in Liechtenstein.
Mathias Eggenberger is a member of EXPERTsuisse, the Liechtenstein Association of Auditors and the CFA Society Liechtenstein.
Languages
In addition to his mother tongue German, Mathias Eggenberger speaks fluent English and has a good knowledge of French.
Job Titles:
- Manager - Audit Financial Services Zurich
- Manager in the Audit Financial Services Service Line
Pascal Furger is a manager in the Audit Financial Services service line at Grant Thornton AG in Zurich.
Job Titles:
- Certified Accountant
- Auditing Expert
- Auditor in Charge of Audit Financial Services
- Business Economist
- Manager - Audit Financial Services Schaan
Roman Broder is auditor in charge of Audit Financial Services in Liechtenstein and Buchs. Apart from his tasks as the auditor in charge, he performs quality assurance tasks in auditing.
Professional experience
Roman Broder has several years' experience in auditing in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. He is specialised in investment funds, banks and insurance companies.
Roman Broder is a business economist, a certified accountant and an auditing expert recognised by the Swiss Federal Audit Oversight Authority (FAOA).
He is a member of EXPERTsuisse.
Languages
In addition to his mother tongue German, Roman Broder speaks fluent English and has a basic knowledge of French.
Expertise covers:
Job Titles:
- Director - Transaction Services Stefan P. Baltisser
Job Titles:
- Director - Transaction Services Stefan P. Baltisser
- Director - Transaction Services Zurich
Stefan Baltisser focuses on M&A Advisory, Corporate Finance and Fundraising in the service line Transaction Services of Grant Thornton in Zurich.
Professional experience
UBS Switzerland AG - Zurich, (2016-2017), director, transaction manager, transaction financing, MBO/MBI financing
BridgeLink AG - Basel, (2012-2015), partner, M&A and corporate finance consulting
Compass Advisers - London, (2009-2010), M&A consultant, M&A and restructuring
Dresdner Kleinwort - London, (2007-2008), M&A consultant, M&A and financing
Arthur D. Little - Zurich, (2004-2006), management consultant, corporate finance
Swiss Re - Zurich, (2001-2003), structurer, structured finance
Swiss Institute of Banking and Finance - St. Gallen, (2000-2001), research
Professional qualifications and memberships
He is a holder of the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and holds a master's degree in Economics from the University of St. Gallen (HSG).
He is also a member of the CFA Institute.
Languages
Stefan speaks German and English.
Expertise covers:
Job Titles:
- Partner - Audit Financial Services / Management Committee
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager
- Client Advisor at a Swiss Financial Institute
- Senior Manager - Audit / Advisory Financial Services Zurich
Veronika Britt is Senior Manager in the Advisory Financial Services service line at Grant Thornton Switzerland/Liechtenstein.
Professional experience
Veronika Britt started her career as a client advisor at a Swiss financial institute. She left the company as the Head of Private Label Funds, where she was in charge of structuring and implementing fund solutions for institutional clients.
After her successful career as a fund manager, she started working as a senior specialist for the Swiss regulator FINMA.
Since 2019, she has worked for Grant Thornton AG as a consultant in the areas of regulatory audit, approval audits and regulatory issues. Her focus is on advising on FINMA regulated mandates and obtaining FINMA approval as well as the execution of approval audits.
Professional qualifications and memberships
Veronika Britt is a Bachelor of Law, a certified Swiss Finance institute graduate in Banking Economics and holds a MAS in Banking and Finance (CFA track). She is currently enrolled as a law faculty student (Master) with her graduation being in January 2022.
Languages
In addition to his mother tongue German, Veronika Britt speaks fluent English and has basic knowledge of French.
Job Titles:
- Head
- Partner
- Partner - Transaction Services / M & a Zurich
Vincenzo Braiotta is Head of Transaction Services/M&A of Grant Thornton Switzerland/Liechtenstein.
Professional experience
Vincenzo Braiotta is a Partner with a track record in the field of Transaction Services/M&A. He has a longstanding experience in leading and managing complex transaction in connection with acquisitions, sales and strategic alliances (including Capital Markets).
Before joining Grant Thornton, he was member of the Management, responsible for Transaction Services in an international Audit and Advisory firm. He was active as Partner and Director for two professional services firms (Big 4) in Corporate Finance, worked for a mid-marked M&A boutique as well as for a large international investment bank.
He started his career in the Corporate Development/M&A-Department of a large listed corporate. In his career he has worked in various jurisdictions out of Zurich, Munich, Cologne and New York. He has executed transaction in Switzerland, Europe, the US and Latin America. He has extensive sector experience in Financial Services and other industries.
Professional qualifications and memberships
Vincenzo Braiotta has a Masters degree (lic.rer.pol.) in business administration and macro economics from the University of Bern.
Languages
In addition to his mother tongues German and Italian, Vincenzo Braiotta speaks fluent English and French. Moreover he has a good knowledge in Spanish and a basic knowledge in Portuguese.
Expertise covers:
Job Titles:
- Partner - Outsourcing / Management Committee