KPMG has issued its 2010 Transparency Report following the provisions of the Accountancy Profession Act requiring audit firms that carry out statutory audits for public interest entities to annually publish information in their website relating to their governance and quality structures.

The firm's revenues in 2009 increased to €12.66 million from €10.63 million in 2008. In addition, at the end of 2009 the firm's headcount increased to 235 full-timers, up from 210 in 2008. The report also highlights KPMG's commitment to their people and to the community.

The report reflects KPMG's belief in the importance of a strong minded, independent and objective audit profession as an essential element in rebuilding investor confidence in the current economic climate.

"At KPMG, we have borne this firmly in mind as we faced the challenges presented by the economic downturn. We firmly believe that the 19 per cent growth we experienced in 2009, which resulted mostly from new audit mandates, reflects our clients' confidence in the quality and integrity of our audits. You can only do that if you have the best people serving your clients and from this perspective we see no difference between our business strategy and our people strategy," said Joseph Schembri, KPMG's senior partner.

"We have experienced sustained growth since Malta joined the EU - from 2005 to 2009 we had a compound annual growth rate of about 18 per cent. Indeed in the past year we experienced the highest level of growth of the Big-4 firms in Malta. This makes it even more incumbent on us to ensure that our commitment to quality is maintained and enhanced. We believe that it is this commitment which ultimately allowed us to grow in this fashion over this extended period," said Tonio Zarb, KPMG's managing partner.