Malin Bergquist's Deane Elected North American Deputy of International Practice Group

PITTSBURGH, PA, Dec. 23, 2009 – Jeffrey Deane, CPA, partner and head of the International Businesses Group of the Malin Bergquist accounting firm, has been elected North American Deputy of the International Practice Group (IPG). The group links international lawyers, accountants, tax advisers and other professionals in more than 60 cities in Europe, Canada, Mexico, India, China, New Zealand and Turkey.

This new role gives Deane and Malin Bergquist an opportunity to be a resource for VIPs advising foreign-based clients on potential expansion into the United States, connect outward-bound U.S. clients with valued foreign relationships, and reach influential referral sources with praise about Western Pennsylvania as the go-to location for establishing a U.S. presence.

IPG was established in 1992 to link international business professionals cost-effectively. Its Management Committee consists of seven members from firms in Germany, Liechtenstein, England, The Netherlands and India. Each firm's professionals are able to communicate in English and at least one other European language. The only other U.S. accounting firm in the IPG network is in New York.

Malin Bergquist was the only public accounting firm to sponsor the Pittsburgh G-20 Partnership during the recent Summit, and created a highly-publicized website in German and English to highlight the success that German-owned companies have found in Pittsburgh. Malin Bergquist counts some 40 international companies as clients, including many from Germany. The firm is a co-founder of the German-American Business Circle in Pittsburgh to create an economic development infrastructure to attract and retain German companies.

Deane also serves on the board of directors of the British American Business Council/Pittsburgh Region, and actively assists the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance in courting foreign-owned companies. He is a national authority on international financial reporting standards (IFRS) who counsels companies on IFRS convergence and has published about IFRS in the Journal of Accountancy, the bible of the profession. He is helping the prestigious American Institute of Certified Public Accountants to write IFRS questions for future CPA exams.

Malin Bergquist partner Peter Kern, CPA, who heads the firm's Public Company/SEC Group, will assist Deane as a resource for IPG members counseling publicly owned foreign companies on U.S. business matters.

More on Malin Bergquist as the gateway to expertise in the United States.