The merger between Deloitte and BDO will not involve all of BDO in Australia, but rather only BDO Melbourne. BDO is not a national partnership like the Big Four. So while BDO Melbourne slips from the fold, the BDO network in Australia will still have Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, etc. Word on the street is that BDO wants to maintain a Melbourne presence and will do this by absorbing an existing smaller practice in Melbourne. Moreover, word on the street is that the BDO network in Australia is experiencing difficulty.

Maybe it isn’t significant, but three weeks back Bluescope China lost its Asian Managing Director Tony Finocchiaro and seven of his senior executives to a rival British steel company set on expansion in Asia. Apparently Kirby Adams was happy not to match the more than doubled salaries offered. Did they beat the bullet?