BDO Bahamas was founded by Clifford Culmer in 1977, and was initially called Clifford Culmer & Co, which later became Mann Judd. In 1995 the firm joined BDO International Limited, which is currently the world’s fifth largest accounting organization. BDO is an international network of public accounting, tax and advisory firms which perform professional services under the name of BDO. The fee income of the member firms in the BDO network, including the members of their exclusive alliances, was $10.3 billion as of 30 September 2020. These firms have representation in 167 territories, with over 91,000 people working out of over 1,600 offices worldwide.
For over forty years, BDO Bahamas has provided services to both government corporations and private clientele as well as, winding up of companies, acting as trustee in bankruptcies and participating in a number of high profile international liquidations, and over the years the firm has not only grown is size, but also in stature. The landmark case in 1982, known as 'in re Culmer', established that the provisions of Bahamian law relating to liquidation proceedings are in conformity with international common law as a result of the Banco Ambrosiano bankruptcy, and set a worldwide precedence in liquidation proceedings. This decision is still referred to in global insolvencies today. Other notable engagements include; The Grand Bahama Port Authority receivership, BonnyCord Group Limited receivership, Dominion Investments (Nassau) Ltd liquidation, Mosaic Composite Limited (U.S) Inc liquidation, Olympus Univest Limited liquidation.
In addition to the firm’s Corporate recovery and Insolvency expertise, BDO Bahamas has also developed a team of in-house accounting, assurance/audit, advisory, corporate finance and forensic investigation experts. Founder and Senior Partner Clifford Culmer indicates that these varying degrees of expertise position the firm to take advantage of the constantly shifting global marketplace.
At BDO Bahamas we work with our clients to define what exceptional client service means to them and we aim always to bring insight and up to date thinking to help them meet their objectives.