PricewaterhouseCoopers in Malta yesterday announced that, following a unanimous decision of the partners, Kevin Valenzia will be substituting John Bonello as senior partner of the Malta firm on October 1.

Mr Bonello has been with the firm in Malta for over 36 years, 33 of them as a partner, and has been effectively leading the firm for many of those years. He retires from the firm on December 31, having reached the firm's official retirement age.

Mr Valenzia joined Coopers & Lybrand in London in 1974 and moved to the firm in Malta in 1980. Since then, he has had a wide and varied career in Malta and has been the firm's finance partner since 2000 and leader of the tax services line since 2004. He continues to play a major role in the development of Malta's financial service industry and, up until earlier this year, was president of the Institute of Financial Services Practitioners and a governor at FinanceMalta.

Commenting on his election, Mr Valenzia said: "I am honoured to have been chosen by my partners to lead our firm in John Bonello's place. I know that the keys to our continued success will remain those that have worked so well to date - our ability to stay close to our clients, our commitment to quality and professionalism in everything that we do, continued investment in our people, our determination to provide services at levels which are distinctive and our consultative approach to carrying out our business.

"John Bonello has left an indelible mark on the firm and the accounting profession as a whole during the period of his leadership, embedding values we would do well to continue to adhere to, values that have resulted in the firm becoming what it is today - the leading and largest professional services organisation on the Island".

Mr Bonello praised the election of Mr Valenzia. "Kevin Valenzia has been involved in the leadership of the firm for several years and has made invaluable contributions as our tax services leader.

I know that he has the depth and breadth of experience needed to be an outstanding leader for the Malta firm. I am sure that, under Kevin's leadership, there will be continued success for our people and our clients. I also know that he will maintain our fundamental principles and culture, which have served us so well to date."