Erkin Atakhanov set up an accounting firm in Bermuda to take advantage of what he saw as a bottleneck in the market.

“The service cost in Bermuda for captives and insurance companies is increasing,” he said. “That includes compliance expenses and audit fees.”

Mr Atakhanov is the founder and managing partner of PKF Antares, a Canadian tax and auditing firm. He opened an office in Bermuda in March 2023.

He was initially expecting to have people in insurance, captives and funds as his clients, but has found some unexpected opportunity in the digital assets sphere.

Prior work with digital asset companies has helped the firm win business from Bermudian‑registered entities.

“If you look at the registration list, there are multiple companies that are either in the process of registering with the Bermuda Monetary Authority, are in the regulatory sandbox or who are becoming fully fledged BMA registrants,” he said.

Mr Atakhanov emphasised that the digital assets category in Bermuda is broad.

“They could be crypto, stablecoin, crypto settlement companies or crypto funds,” he said.

Bermuda’s adoption of digital assets business has outstripped his expectations.

Now settled here, he wants to help Bermuda attract business.

However, he said some lawyers are advising corporate clients to go to Cayman Islands instead, where the list of registered audit firms is much bigger.

“Cayman tried to attract more insurance businesses from Bermuda,” Mr Atakhanov said.

However, he has seen some big names leave Bermuda for Cayman, only to return a few years later.

“Most of the lawyers helping those captives have already been introduced to Cayman and feel comfortable with it,” he said. “Changing their mind to Bermuda is big homework.”

The executive sees Bermuda’s regulatory environment as its advantage, with Bermuda continuously working on its transparency and collaboration with the market.

“Companies here have a closer connection with the regulator, helping them to move faster in the registration and addressing their compliance requirements,” he said.

With the growing instability in the Middle East, he thought Bermuda had an opportunity to become a safe harbour for more capital.

He is concerned about the need for more accounting staff in Bermuda, and fears the island loses many potential accountants to the insurance industry.

He sees artificial intelligence as an alternative to Bermuda’s high labour costs and limited human resources.

“AI could help Bermuda grow the economy with the same quantity of staff,” Mr Atakhanov said.

PKF Antares is setting up an internship programme, mainly for young people studying accounting at Canadian universities.

“We are interviewing a few interns,” he said. “A few offers have been sent for summer internships.”

He would accept applications from accounting students in universities in Britain, but they have to be willing to do the internship in Canada or Bermuda.