James Smith
Chief Executive Officer, BDO Global
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Executive summary
James Smith
LLM, BEC, MAF
Chief Executive Officer, BDO Global
James Smith became the Chief Executive Officer of BDO Global in June 2019. His vision for the firm reflects a commitment to pursue bold and focused growth choices to make a better world for our clients and our communities. Central to these choices is increasing BDO Global’s ability to continually apply disruptive thinking to ourselves and our clients, and by elevating the firm’s partners and people to reach their full potential.
James joined BDO in 2000 in Australia. Since then, he has made a significant impact on the firm, holding a number of leadership roles in Forensics and Financial Advisory in Australia. Most recently, he was the Managing Partner of Financial Advisory, led our Analytics offering in Canada and headed up our Greenhouse programme located across a network of seven innovative spaces called Greenhouses. In these roles, James fostered the development of key talent at BDO with many people he mentored taking on broader leadership positions within the firm. He is an innovator, establishing leading service offerings and taking new products to market. Before joining BDO, he worked with Australia’s Company and Markets Regulator, and the country’s largest energy retailer.
James’s leadership extends to both the football pitch and the classroom. He has volunteered as an accredited sports coach and currently volunteers in an education advisory role for several Analytics courses here in Canada and Australia. He holds a Master of Laws from the University of Sydney, Diploma of Law from the Legal Practitioners Admission Board, and a Bachelor of Economics (Actuarial Studies) and Master of Applied Finance from Macquarie University.
James is a passionate wellness advocate, lives in Toronto with his wife and four children, and is known within the firm simply as “JS.”