Big Four accounting firm Deloitte is suing three senior Hong Kong partners for leaking client secrets to rival firms and plans to transfer nine senior executives to the little-known firm en masse. .
The London-based consultancy said in the lawsuit that Derek Lai, Adrian Chan and Forrest Kam, who work in the company's restructuring division, created a plan to organize the defectors in July of this year. .
According to the company, an internal investigation revealed that the three individuals had downloaded a large amount of personal information with the intention of passing it on to the other company.
Deloitte argued that the contract ignored the non-compete clause and was a blatant attempt to wrongfully harm the company.
Lai, who headed Deloitte's Asia insolvency practice and oversaw some of the region's major restructurings, including the liquidation of media giant Asia TV, has denied the allegations, Britain's Sunday Times reported. .
Chan and Kam have not commented publicly on the matter.
Deloitte is suing all three for damages and is asking a Hong Kong court to issue an injunction effectively blacklisting them from the financial services industry.
Professional services giants often try to poach talent from rivals in hopes of attracting new and lucrative clients as a result.
The Post has contacted the British consulting giant for comment.
Founded in London in 1845, Deloitte is the world's largest accounting and regulatory firm by revenue, generating $67.2 billion last year and employing 460,000 people worldwide.
The company is part of the so-called Big Four consulting firms, including PwC ($55.4 billion), EY ($51.2 billion) and KPMG ($36 billion).
These companies are considered “one-stop shops” in the financial industry, offering advice on everything from tax and legal to auditing and accounting services.
