Kinetic Partners has strengthened its team in the Cayman Islands through the relocation of two experts in forensic accounting, litigation support a

Kinetic Partners has strengthened its team in the Cayman Islands through the relocation of two experts in forensic accounting, litigation support and hedge fund domicile and restructuring work.

Nick Matthews, a member in Kinetic's London office since 2006, will work alongside Geoff Varga, head of the firm's restructuring, corporate recovery and forensic services in Cayman, on forensic accounting, corporate recovery and hedge fund liquidations.

Matthews has more than 12 years' experience in forensic accounting with Deloitte and Kinetic. His experience has centred primarily on the financial services sector, assisting clients with financial crime issues. He has led major investigations, anti-money laundering and litigation support projects, drawing upon UK and multinational teams.

Also moving to Cayman is Malin Nilsson, currently a consultant with Kinetic in London, who will focus on forensic and corporate recovery engagements. Previously with a Big Four accountancy group, Nilsson joined Kinetic in 2007 to focus on forensic and litigation support, risk management and regulatory consulting. She has worked on expert witness reports involving hedge funds as well as regulatory investigations, reviewing firms' governance and risk management frameworks.

Matthews and Nilsson will work with Mark Longbottom, a senior consultant who joined Kinetic's Cayman corporate recovery team in March after a lengthy career with BDO's restructuring practices in London and Hong Kong, and Camele Burke, who joined Kinetic in May from KPMG's Cayman liquidation group.

"The Cayman Islands are home to a majority of the world's hedge funds," Varga says. "In the current financial crisis, many of these funds are likely to be suffering from poor performance and a higher incidence of redemption requests.

"These effects are likely to lead to a considerable number of hedge fund failures, bringing a high demand from investors, managers and others for recovery, liquidation, litigation and restructuring services. The addition of Nick and Malin, combined with Kinetic's specialist resources in centres like New York and London, make us well placed to meet those demands."

Kinetic Partners is a professional services firm providing audit and assurance, tax, regulatory risk and compliance, corporate recovery and forensic services to the asset management industry. Launched in 2005, Kinetic now has more than 90 professional staff in London, Dublin, Cayman, New York and Geneva, serving more than 650 clients, and is a leading provider of consultancy services to UK hedge funds.