Making Transparency the Norm

Q: What aggregate value does Grant Thornton bring to the Mexican economy?

A: Our differentiator is our technical capacity. We have good people and we want to continue enriching our quality system to provide better services. Also, we want to expand and establish in the cities that could benefit from our services. The third goal is to continue to be the support our clients need to overcome the economic difficulties they are experiencing, especially regarding tax issues.

Q: What are the expectations for Mexican companies in the new economic environment?

A: It is clear that new market rules are going to create lower sale prices and bigger costs for Mexican companies due to the exchange rates and tax prices. However, the Mexican investor is determined to develop new plans to optimize costs. In fact, our clients are seeking advice on how to make their operations more efficient to achieve more competitive prices.

Q: Which industrial sectors are requesting more support?

A: The tourism sector is growing and becoming stronger, given the number of Mexican tourist sites and attractions. Therefore, there are many investors in the hotel industry looking to expand their infrastructure and service offering. The energy sector has also advanced. Salles Sainz Grant Thornton has requests from American, Canadian and New Zealand companies that want to establish infrastructure in Mexico. The last area would be construction.

Q: What percentage of your efforts is focused in each industrial sector?

A: Of our total clients, 26 percent are from the consumer products sector and 15 percent are from the services area. Industrial products occupy 15 percent, financial services and banking hold 14 percent, real estate has 5 percent, technology, media and telecoms have 5 percent and health is at 3.6 percent.

However, there are industries that can be more profitable. For example, consumer products and manufacturing are near 28 percent of our total revenue, services represent 15 percent, industrial products are at 13 percent, financial is 10 percent and health companies are 3 percent.

Q: What type of services do most of these industries require?

A: Our most common service is audit. Sixty percent of our income comes from the external auditing of financial statements, social security and local taxes, among others. We mainly work with foreign companies that have just arrived in Mexico and need help complying with the fiscal and accounting regulations.

Q: What strategies do you employ to help Mexican and foreign companies avoid corruption?

A: We work with companies from the financial sector, such as banks, stock brokerage firms and SOFOMs, and all are obligated to provide the CNBV with a transparency report. There are certain rules regarding money laundering that also apply to companies in other industries. Besides compliance advisory, our money laundering-prevention strategy is focused on ensuring that all companies have a compliance officer who guarantees that the company is complying with all that is demanded by law.