Chartered Accountant, Consultant and Senior Business Advisor
Education
- B. Comm., McGill University– 1969 – cum laude
- M.B.A. (Operations Research & Management Sciences)
– University of Michigan,Ann Arbor –1971 - Licentiate in Accountancy, McGill University – LIA 1972
- Chartered Accountant, Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec – CA – 1973
- Certified Information Systems Auditor, EDP
Auditors’ Association – CISA – 1979 - Fellow of the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec – FCA – 1996
President, Bismuth Consulting/Consultation Bismuth
Since January 2008, Claude has been operating a consulting entity, offering specialized ervices related to Commercial Disputes, Litigation Support, Arbitration and Management Consulting to a number of businesses operating in various industries, including manufacturing, distribution and professional services.
Mr Bismuth brings his considerable experience as an accountant and Auditor of public and privately held companies operating in Canada and internationally. During his career, also he has participated in a number of operational reviews and due diligences related to his role as a financial advisor.
As a seasoned professional accountant and consultant, Mr Bismuth brings a wealth of experience in Business Strategies, including the evaluation and implementation of M & A objectives, conducting operational reviews, providing assistance in evaluating and reworking business plans.
He has provided Litigation support and Consulting services, as well as Expert Witness Testimony in a number of circumstances, since 1986 on various complex accounting, auditing and financial reporting matters. He has also acted as a Consultant and Expert in cases involving a wide variety of industries, drawing on his extensive industry knowledge and sense of business practices.
Litigations and other legal proceedings (i.e.litigation, arbitration, mediation and class actions) in which he has been involved have included such matters as: accounting and financial reporting, damage valuation in context of contract interruptions,
investments in businesses, calculation of economic damages, asset tracings, and breach of professional and fiduciary duty in the context of a wide variety of industries including: financial services, chemical, industrial, retail, manufacturing, retail and distribution. Mr Bismuth has also been retained a number of times as an Expert to opine on professional liability cases involving public accountants.
In his role as a Litigation Support Consultant and Expert Witness, he has been called upon to express his professional opinion on such matters as: Preparation and Analysis of Briefs in an arbitration context; Critical Dispute Analyses; Comprehensive Damage
Analyses; Analysis of incidents of Fraud; Due Diligence assessments; Evaluation of damages resulting from Contract interruptions, and Analyses of application of terms under of commercial contracts, as they relate to Canadian and US GAAP standards, as well as other agreed upon accounting practices.
Retired Senior
Partner, Ernst & Young, Montreal
Responsibilities:
Up to December 31, 2007, Claude was a senior Assurance & Advisory Business Services partner in the Montreal office of Ernst & Young. He served a number private and public companies and also acted as the senior advisory partner on a number of public company audits. In audits as well as in consulting assignments, Claude has led many teams serving multi-national firms, as well as the Canadian practice for E-Commerce advisory services, and the Aerospace & Defence Industry group. For over twenty years, Claude played a significant role in the Technology and Life Sciences Practices. He performed audits, and consulted on a number of strategic issues with industry, governments and various business groups.
Claude has also been actively involved working with audit committees and current governance issues, as well as with venture capital banking, financing for entrepreneurs at various growth stages, and strategic management issues. He has worked extensively in the area of mergers and acquisitions.
Over the last 10 years of his practice at Ernst & Young, Claude has acted as both as a Senior Client representative and as an Expert on a good number of Litigation matters. In fact, Claude has been retained as an expert in professional liability cases involving the duties and performance of C.A. firms in conducting audits. Claude has been in front of Quebec courts as an expert on a number of Commercial disputes and in a Class Action suit. Claude has also acted as a consultant to companies undergoing Mediation and Arbitration proceedings. For those situations, he worked closely with the clients’ internal project team, both on the elaboration
of strategies as well as building the extensive supporting documentation submitted to the Arbitrator. Claude also brings value and his experience, by attending and participating in the arbitration, mediation and/or court hearings.
Experience
Claude has a broad range of experience in the following industry sectors: construction, and engineering, major infrastructure projects, and real estate; financial services – banking, venture capital, international business; manufacturing, including automotive and high tech; aerospace & defence, electronics, software and life sciences. Claude has acted as advisor and auditor of
large publicly listed multinational construction, manufacturing, and distribution companies.
Claude has consulted with clients on their way to becoming public companies and in responding to new challenges they face after the Initial Public Offering. Consequently, Claude is quite familiar with issues related to Enterprise Resource Planning [“ERP”] system implementations, distribution and project management, order and backlog processing, and challenges presented by
proper balance in inventory management.
Claude has led several consulting assignments that call on his expertise in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, strategy development and financial assessments for companies at various growth stages. He has also carried out several mandates regarding corporate strategies in the areas of ERP, decentralization, diversification, sustaining growth and market positioning. He has spent many years evaluating progress in work in progress of major contracts.
Claude has been actively involved in several Ernst & Young studies, including the annual Ernst & Young Biotech industry reports, International Quality Study with the American Quality Foundation, and E&Y’s Aerospace and Defence Global Study.
Claude has audited a number of construction and engineering firms, as well as banks, privately held and publicly listed businesses and government agencies. He has evaluated numerous accounting systems, and has implemented statistical sampling techniques in an accounting and auditing context. He has coordinated large multi-national audits and directed the planning and review of
subsidiary operations, including financing, controls and tax issues. In addition to these responsibilities, Claude has also served clients in pre-implementation computer reviews, mergers and acquisitions, leverage buyouts and due diligence work.
Claude has directed major audits in public and private companies including Lafarge Canada, Air Liquide Canada, and Bell Helicopters-Textron.
Claude’s career with Ernst & Young’s Montreal office spanned over more than 36 years, and he held other senior positions within the firm; including Practice Director in our Entrepreneurial Services Group; Overseas Investors Program Canadian partner for France and Italy; and Practice Director for Information Technology and Computer Audit Services (Québec) for over 10 years.
Over the years, Claude has been a frequent guest speaker and lecturer on High Growth Technology sector issues. He has addressed international investors conferences on “Doing Business in Canada”, and been a guest speaker at McGill Management Institute, CATA, CVCA, Financial Executive Institute conferences and for many other professional associations.
Lecturer,
Guest speaker and Author:
- Mergers and Acquisitions (Insight Seminar)
- Regulations for Public Offerings in Canada (Insight Seminar)
- Meeting new governance challenges (Insight Seminar)
- Using Other People’s Money (McGill MBA Program for Entrepreneur Studies)
- The Executive’s Computer (McGill Management Institute)
- Canadian Venture Capital Association Professional Development Programs
- Canadian Advanced Technology Association Conferences
- C.I.C.A. & O.C.A.Q. Professional Development Program
- McGill & H.E.C. Business Schools’ CA Programs
Professional and Community Service
Active:
- Director & Audit Committee Chair, Member of the Nominating & Governance Committee- Thallion Pharmaceuticals (Public Co.listed on TSX)- (2008 to date)
- Director & Audit Committee Chair, Centre of Excellence for Personalized Medicine (Not for Profit Entity)- (2009 to date)
- Director, Digital Days Inc. (Private Co.) (2000 to date)
- Order of Chartered Accountants of Québec
- Canadian Institute of Chartered Acoountants
- Member of ISACA – Certified Information Systems Auditor –
- Member of the Royal Montreal Golf Club
- Westmount SWAT – co-Chairman
Past:
- Canadian Venture Capital Association – Board Member
- Canadian Advanced Technology Association – Board Member, Life member
- Member of the Institute of Corporate Directors
- Centraide Montréal – Treasurer, Executive Committee and Board member
- Canadian Junior Achievement, Québec Division – Executive Committee and Board member
- Westmount Municipal Association – Vice President
- Italian and French Chambers of Commerce inCanada
- Committee on Computer Auditing, Order of Chartered Accountants of Québec –
- Chairman EDP Auditors’ Association, Montréal Chapter – Founding Board member
- Westmount Old Timers Hockey – President