The Bermuda office of global accounting giant has announced , and are the winners of its 2005 J. Russell Steinhoff Scholarship.

The scholarship, which is named for a founding partner of the firm, has been issued in the past to one student a year, interested in pursuing a career as a Chartered Accountant or Certified Public Accountant.

In 2004, the firm ramped up its scholarship giving to two recipients and this year, chose three scholarship winners.

KPMG partner and scholarship committee chairman Craig Bridgewater said the company offers the scholarships in the interest of encouraging young Bermudians interested in pursuing a career in accounting.

?This year we received a number of outstanding applications and in the end we decided the top three applicants were all more than worthy of the award,? he said.

KPMG senior partner Greg Haycock said it was more an more challenging to recruit talented qualified accountants.

?In Bermuda it is difficult to find local talent to fill the many positions available in the public accounting firms... it is incumbent upon all of us to collectively promote the industry and encourage young Bermudians to enter the profession,? he said. ?If this means increasing our scholarship budgets, then it is well worth it.?