Houston firm takes lead in Q3 SEC clients

The third quarter of 2025 saw a return to a more normal level of new Securities and Exchange Commission audit client engagements, with HTL International taking the lead.

The Houston-based firm added and netted seven new SEC clients, four of which came over from Top 100 Firm Grassi & Co. thanks to a corporate combination between special purpose acquisition company Alset International and lifestyle company HWH International. (See "Net engagement leaders.")

Top 10 Firm CBIZ CPAs actually brought on more new clients, with 11, but only netted five. Six of those engagements came from Marcum; the merger of the two billion-dollar firms had driven massive numbers of audit changes in the first two quarters of the year, but the ripples of that are dying down, leading to a reversion to more normal levels of client transfers.

Among the largest firms, meanwhile, KPMG led the way, adding nine new clients and netting five. (See "Q3 2025 client gains & losses.")

New client leaders

KPMG swept the league tables for the quarter in terms of new market capitalization audited, new assets audited, and new audit fees, thanks largely to a single client — Lam Research Corp. A major producer of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, the company accounted for $123.8 billion of KPMG's $125.7 billion in new market cap, $18.4 billion of its $25.3 billion in new assets, and $7.9 million of its $18.6 million in new audit fees. (See "New client leaders.")

PwC, meanwhile, came in second in new market cap, thanks largely to electronic components distributor Avnet Inc., which brought in $4.5 billion of the firm's $4.8 billion.

Deloitte came in second in new assets, with the Capital Group Growth exchange-traded fund accounting for the largest chunk, at $12.2 billion out of a total $14.7 billion.

And finally BDO USA came in second in new audit fees, with by far the largest contribution — $10.5 million — coming from financial services platform B. Riley Financial.

Data for the quarterly rankings are provided by Ideagen Audit Analytics, a premium online intelligence service delivering audit, regulatory and disclosure analysis. Reach them at (508) 476-7007, info@auditanalytics.com or www.auditanalytics.com.