More Big 4 tax appointments from in-house market

Source: Tax Careers

There are new faces in KPMG's tax practice following the appointment of Angus Wilson and Darren Mellor-Clark as Tax Partners.

Wilson, former European Head of Tax and acting European CFO at Babcock & Brown, joins the firm's infrastructure tax group.

Mellor-Clark, who was global lead for VAT and Sales taxes at UBS, joins KPMG's financial services practice as an Associate Partner.

Caitriona Hunt, joint head of corporate tax and head of the business services tax practice at KPMG in the UK, said: "These are important, strategic hires to our business. Our practice is enjoying strong growth in key areas, and these appointments will significantly enhance our capabilities in these parts of the tax practice"

SG comment: Within the last 12 months, there has been a spate of senior in-house tax professionals, particularly from banks, making the move to London Big 4 firms at Partner level. Whilst this makes good sense for the tax execs making this sort of career move, I find it quite surprising that the Big 4 have brought so many new Tax Partners given the general business and economic environment. Of course, bringing in senior tax expertise from industry / banking can be very valuable to the Big 4 practice, in that it immediately increases their client network in a particular sector (eg VAT / Funds), and the individuals themselves bring extremely valuable experience from the buyers perspective ie buyer of tax services. The downside, however, is that I sense the (new) Tax Partners coming in have got the enormous task of bringing in high tax fees from what is now a much smaller and increasingly fiercely competitive market. Very strong selling skills I imagine will be the order of the day.

Banking tax specialists move to E&Y as Tax Partners

Stephen Hoyle and Andrew Martel have been appointed partners at Ernst & Young’s tax practice and will be based in E&Y’s EMEIA financial services office in London.

Hoyle joins from Deutsche Bank AG where he was managing director in the bank’s
structured capital markets division. He trained and qualified as a lawyer with
Nabarro Nathanson in London and then moved to Freshfields where he became a
tax partner.

Martel joins E&Y from asset management group CQS, where he was head of tax and prior to this he was a partner at Deloitte.

In-House Tax Movers - December 2008

KBC Financial Products, a major subsidiary of Belgian banking group KBC Bank NV, has recently appointed Mahesh Lakhani as their new Global Head of Tax, based in London. Mahesh joins from Credit Suisse, where he was a Tax Director, responsible for front office advice to the equities and emerging markets teams. Mahesh is a very senior level tax executive, and joins KBC with a wealth of tax experience within investment banking.

Bridget Bolton has recently been recruited by Ricardo, a leading provider of technology and product innovation to the automotive industry, as Head of Tax & Treasury. Bridget joins from telecoms group Three, where she was Director of Tax & Treasury. Bridget is a very experienced tax executive, with 20 years’ experience in the field.

Glynis Moore has been appointed as Head of Group Tax with Fujitsu in the UK, the leading IT services group. She was previously Head of Group Tax with McBride Plc, the consumer goods manufacturer. Glynis has a broad tax background, having worked at a senior levels both within practice and industry.

Jumeirah in Dubai appoints Tax Director

Source: Tax Careers Magazine

Dubai-based luxury hospitality group Jumeirah, which encompasses the 7 star hotel, the Burj Al Arab, has appointed Mariel Yard as Director of Tax.

Previously a Senior Manager - international tax structuring with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dubai, she was previously based in Nicosia, Cyprus, she has also held roles with Eurofreight Logistics and NCR (middle east).

Yard told Tax Careers: 'Being an inhouse tax director in such a growing and dynamic group, I'm often asked to step outside my comfort zone and become more involved in business decision-making. It takes a willingness to work hard, but offers enormous challenges.'

Yard is fluent in Arabic, English and Greek.

ex-Andersen Tax Partners join Alvarez & Marsal

Source: AccountancyAge.com

Alvarez & Marsal Taxand has appointed a global advisory board as it looks to expand.

The US firm is looking to get a foothold in the UK tax market, taking up where Chiltern left off in providing tax advice independent of audit conflicts of interest.

Former Arthur Andersen senior tax partners Harry Ruffalo, Andre Fogarasi and David Murby will form the new board.

As senior advisers, they will advise the firm on global marketing, training initiatives and delivering outstanding client service, the firm said.

'We are thrilled to have Harry, Andre and David, who were instrumental in the growth and success of Arthur Andersen's tax business during its heyday, working with us,' said Robert N. Lowe JR, head of Alvarez & Marsal Taxand.

'A&M's tax advisory business in the US and UK and across the globe through the Taxand network continues to experience exponential growth due to the demand by corporations for independent tax advice. This global advisory board lends a practiced, insightful point-of-view on executing our strategy of providing the market with a high quality fifth global tax firm.'

'The experience these individuals bring to our firm is invaluable,' said David Pert, head of Alvarez & Marsal Taxand UK. 'Their passion for the tax business is inspiring to all of our people.'


SG comment: This is definitely a firm to watch. They have recently taken on a number of ex-Arthur Andersen tax partners in the US and now the UK. Considering how Arthur Andersen built a Top 6 accounting firm from nothing in the 1960s through to the 2002, this could be the next Andersen type firm in the making.

Tax & Treasury man gets Group FD role

Capital & Regional plc, the co-investing property asset manager, has appointed Charles Staveley as group finance director, he will join the board with effect from 1st October, 2008. Before joining the company in September 2007 as finance director, he was head of tax and treasury at COLT Telecom Group and prior to this he held roles with various other companies, including at security printer De La Rue Group plc, US-based aircraft and financial services group Textron Inc, and secure printing and industrial group Novar plc. Staveley qualified as a chartered accountant with Arthur Andersen and has additional tax and treasury qualifications.

High flying ex-Head of Tax joins FTSE 100 board

3i Group plc has announced that Julia Wilson, the group’s deputy finance director will join the board on 1st October 2008 as Finance Director designate. She will succeed Simon Ball, who has decided to resign as finance director, and he steps down from the board with effect from 30th November 2008. Wilson joined 3i in January 2006 as deputy finance director, with responsibility for the group’s finance, taxation and treasury functions. She was previously group director of corporate finance at Cable & Wireless, which she joined in 2000. She originally trained as an ACA in corporate tax with Arthur Andersen in London in the early-90s.

Read the full announcement on the 3i website

Head of Tax - some new appointments

GlaxoSmithKline has recently appointed Helen Jones as their Senior VP Tax, based in the Brentford HQ. Helen is a very senior industry tax figure, joining GSK from Reuters where she was Group Head of Tax.

Laing O’Rourke, the UK’s largest privately owned construction company has recently appointed John Gearing as their new Head of Tax. John joins from Standard Bank in London, where he was International Tax Manager. John has an extensive commercial tax background, his previous roles include a successful 15 year period as Head of Tax in London for DKW, the investment bank.

Quintain Estates and Development PLC, the FTSE 250 property development group, has recently appointed Roy Flood as Head of Tax. He joins from property services company Erinaceous Group Plc, where he was Group Tax Manager. Roy has previously worked in tax for a number of other big name corporates, including BP, Whitbread and Cemex.

Senior in-house Tax Man appointed as FD

The board of Brinkley Mining Plc has appointed Mark Fresson as finance director of the company with immediate effect. Fresson is a chartered accountant, having qualified with Touche Ross in 1989. He spent ten years in various tax-related roles before joining Nomura’s principal finance group in 2000 as Head of Tax and Accounting. He formed part of the team that left Nomura to establish the Terra Firma Capital Partners private equity operation in 2002, where he ultimately held the position of senior tax and structuring counsel.

Ex-Andersen Tax man appointed Director in oil group

Source: OilVoice.com

Kam Fard, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Groundstar Resources Limited announces the appointment of John van der Welle to the Board of Directors of the Company.

Mr. van der Welle has been actively involved in the oil industry for twenty-five years. He began his career in auditing and oil tax consultancy with Arthur Andersen LLP. In 1984 he joined Enterprise Oil plc, the largest independent exploration and development company in the U.K., where he rose to the position of Group Treasurer. Mr. van der Welle later served as Finance Director of Hardy Oil and Gas plc and Premier Oil plc. In addition, he has served as Chief Financial Officer and Director of First Calgary Petroleums Limited and as Head of Oil and Gas in the Sector Corporate Finance Group for the Royal Bank of Scotland. Most recently, he has joined Stratic Energy Corporation as Chief Financial Officer and Director.

Throughout his career Mr. van der Welle has had extensive experience in many corporate areas of business including business development and planning, investor relations, corporate governance, rebuilding management teams, and banking and finance. He has been involved in major business transactions including mergers, acquisitions, and major financings and restructurings of large public companies.

Mr. van der Welle graduated in Engineering from Southampton University and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and the Association of Corporate Treasurers.

Upon announcing his appointment Mr. Fard said, "We at Groundstar are extremely pleased that a person of Mr. van der Welle's stature and experience has joined our Board. Not only has he proved that he is a dynamic and successful leader in the oil industry, he brings to the table a wealth of knowledge in respect of the corporate finance and the international aspects of the business. He will undoubtedly prove to be a great asset in the growth and success of Groundstar in the years ahead."

Insurance Tax man appointed by Marsh

Source: Tax Careers Magazine

Praveen Sharma is to head up the newly-created insurance regulatory and tax consulting practice of Marsh, the leading insurance broker and risk adviser.

The practice will provide multinational clients with support and information to help them evaluate regulatory and premium tax risks arising from their insurance and alternative risk-financing programmes in all parts of the world.

Sharma joins from Aon, where he was head of Regulatory & Compliance for the EMEA region, a post held since 2001. He also advised multinational companies on insurable risk optimisation strategies , including accounting, regulatory and taxation issues.

A qualified chartered accountant, Sharma was a tax adviser for both KPMG and Ernst & Young for 14 years in total, where he was involved with the management of UK corporate tax issues for some of the world's largest insurance companies.

Timothy J Mahoney, president of global risk management for Marsh, said: 'As multinational businesses continue to look for better ways to manage risk and achieve efficiencies, they have sharpened their focus on understanding the array of country-specific insurance and related tax regulations that affect their programmes.'

In-house Transfer Pricing leader moves back to consulting

Source: International Tax Review

NERA Economic Consulting, an independent international firm of economists, has appointed a veteran of Deloitte and Andersen as head of its UK transfer pricing group. Graham Poole, a specialist in advanced pricing agreements and transfer pricing for intangibles, joins the firm as an associate director. He has been active in transfer pricing for 14 years in the consumer goods, professional services, automotives, oil and gas, shipping, high-tech manufacturing, software and financial services sectors.

Before joining NERA, Poole was responsible for group-wide transfer pricing at Cadbury Schweppes, where his responsibilities included the design, implementation, documentation, and defence of transfer pricing policies in all areas of the business. He previously helped establish new practices and practice areas in transfer pricing while working for Arthur Andersen and Deloitte in the UK.

In-House Tax People Moves - 2nd Quarter 2008

Asset management group Threadneedle has recruited Holly Page as a Senior Tax Manager into their London in-house tax function. Holly has a banking tax background, joining from Gulf International Bank, where she was stand-alone Tax Manager in London. Holly initially trained as an ACA in tax with RSM Robson Rhodes.

Retail shopping centres group Westfield has hired Amanda Clarke as a new Tax Manager into the UK tax team, reporting to the Head of Tax. Amanda has relocated to London from Manchester, where she was the stand-alone Group Tax Manager for Tote, the betting group. Amanda is ACA and CTA qualified.

SHL Group, the leading authority on psychometric testing and people performance, has recently brought in David Jackson as their Head of Group Tax & Compliance. David is a highly experienced commercial Head of Tax, having led tax functions for international groups such as Foster Wheeler, London International Group and Ocean Group Plc.

Tax Lawyer McKenna returns to practice from in-house

Source: Taxation 2 magazine

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has recruited leading tax lawyer Michael McKenna as a Partner in its strategic drive to enhance its tax capabilities.

Michael was a tax counsel at Goldman Sachs International, where he advised its divisions on the tax implications of all aspects of their businesses and transactions outside the US. Before that he spent seven years within the tax team at Clifford Chance, where he advised on a broad range of corporate tax issues with a particular focus on real estate clients as well as finance and securitisation transactions.

SG comment: I do not know Michael McKenna, but from this news flow, this seems a good example of a highly astute tax lawyer who is managing his tax career extremely well - 7 years with Clifford Chance (incredibly good name), at which point he is perfectly well placed to move in-house as a tax counsel. Following a period of time with Goldman Sachs (incredibly good name), not sure how long, he makes a return to practice as a Tax Partner. I am guessing (and I have no evidence to show this) that he has made it to Partner level with a leading law firm quicker that if he had stayed with Clifford Chance, because of the very valuable and CV enhancing role with Goldmans. As with a lot of things, timing (and high quality experience) could be everything for a great tax career.

In House Tax People Moves - February 2008

By Simon Godley

International Power Plc has recently appointed David Smith as the new Head of Group Tax. David joins from Reuters Plc, where he was Head of International Tax. David has an impressive background, and has progressed quickly in his career, having originally trained with Arthur Andersen in the mid-90s before his first move into industry with Reuters.

Tesco has recently appointed Bob Fitzsimmons as their new Global VAT Director, based in the Cheshunt headquarters. Bob’s previous position was as Head of Indirect Tax (Rest of World) for Japan Tobacco, based in Geneva. With an initial background in HMC&E, Bob has worked as an in-house international VAT adviser since 1990.

BP Plc's group tax function has recently hired James Dennison as a Senior Tax Adviser. James joins from Unilever, where he developed his tax career over a 10 year period, joining as a UK Tax Accountant in 1997 and progressing to Head of Tax for Asia, Africa, Middle East & Turkey, based in Singapore. James originally qualified as a CTA with KPMG in 1996.

Leading Central London office property specialist Derwent London has hired David Westgate as their new Group Tax Manager. David originally comes from a finance background in industry before specialising in corporate tax. David was previously Tax & Treasury Director for Sunguard, a financial services software company.


Please contact Simon Godley on 07771 762353 or e-mail to: sg@talentpoolselection.com if you would like to announce a new tax appointment for someone or for yourself on this blog.

New Tax Counsel at Diamond Resorts

Source: Tax Grotto

Diamond Resorts International® (DRI), a global leader in the vacation ownership industry, has appointed Keith Holmes as Vice President & Tax Counsel. Holmes will be reporting to David Palmer, Chief Financial Officer of DRI.

Prior to joining DRI, Holmes held the position of Vice President and Tax Counsel with Caesars Entertainment, Inc., providing tax and legal counsel on development, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, federal, state and international tax planning, structuring, audit defense & compliance. Holmes also served as a tax consultant to international clients in the gaming and lodging industries during his nearly 10 year tenure with Arthur Andersen LLP.

"Keith brings with him a wealth of experience in all areas of tax law, M&A and corporate finance," says Simon Crawford-Welch, President and COO of DRI. "We welcome his expertise and experience to ensure that every transaction and opportunity is fully researched and structured in such a manner as to ensure compliance and optimal benefits to Diamond Resorts International."

Holmes received a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Nevada, Reno, Juris Doctor at Pepperdine University Law School and L.L.M. in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center. He is a member of the State Bar of California.

"Keith's experience will be leveraged to create and enhance tax efficiencies in existing operations and evaluate tax aspects of expansion opportunities," says David Palmer, Chief Financial Officer of DRI. "Having an internal resource will ensure timely decisions and consistent communications with our external tax service providers to support our plans for sustained growth and profitability."

Senior In-House Tax Appointments in the US

Source: Tax Careers Magazine

At Marathon Oil, Stephen Landry replaced tax veteran William Meara as tax VP. Landry, who was director of tax, compliance and reporting for Marathon, succeeded Meara on 1 January 2008. Landry joined Marathon in January 2007. Previously, he spent 22 years with Ernst & Young. He became tax partner for E&Y in 1998 and transferred to the Houston energy practice in 2000.

Viacom has appointed Jay Kushner to a newly-created role as senior vice-president of global taxation and treasury. He will report to Thomas Dooley, CFO of Viacom. Kushner joined Viacom in June 2005 as the company's vice-president and general tax counsel. Before joining Viacom, he was treasurer and general tax counsel at Young & Rubicam, a global advertising agency and marketing services company. Prior to that he led the international tax operations at PepsiCo and was an executive with Coopers & Lybrand.


SG comment: Whilst the general perception is that tax skills are easily transferable between different sectors, I think the above two appointments show that perhaps the very top tax jobs will be taken by tax execs who have deep understanding and experience of a company's sector.

Coke appoints new Tax Counsel

Source: International Tax Review

William Hawkins has been elected general tax counsel and a vice president of Coca-Cola. He has worked in the company's Office of General Tax Counsel since 1998 and will now lead Coca-Cola's tax policy and strategy team.

Before Coca-Cola, Hawkins was a partner in two law firms in Washington, DC.


SG comment: I have not heard of William Hawkins before, but I remember that around the 1998 period, Coca-Cola merged in Europe with the Hellenic Bottling Company, and relocated the European Head Office to Athens in Greece, which was an interesting choice of location. As a result, a number of senior people left including Peter Culver from tax, who I believe is still UK Head of Tax for Nestle.

Paradigm hires new Tax VP

Source: taxcareers magazine

Paradigm, a software supplier to the global oil and natural gas exploration and production industry, has appointed Eileen Howell to its executive management team as vice-president of tax. In this role, she will manage and develop tax strategies across the world, including the examination and strategic planning of Paradigm's entity structures, staffing levels and branch operations.

Howell has more than 20 years' global accounting in the energy industry. She joins Paradigm from Schlumberger, a global oil field services company, where was oil field services US tax manager. At Schlumberger, she managed all US tax matters for the company's oil field sector and held several managerial positions in its divisions and joint ventures, including worldwide tax manager of both WesternGeco (a JV between Schlumberger and Baker Hughes) and Schlumberger Network Solutions.

Howell also worked for four years in Singapore as Schlumberger's accounting manager responsible for the Pan Pacific basin.

E&Y bags Thames Water's tax head

Source: taxcareers magazine

The former head of tax at Thames Water has joined Ernst & Young's Manchester operation - Helen Reid enlists as a senior manager.

Reid was recruited from Thames Water following four years of her career spent in the water sector. In her new role, Reid will be responsible for providing corporate tax advisory services to north-west quoted companies and large privately-owned businesses.

Her appointment is also part of Ernst & Young's ongoing investment in its UK utilities practice, and she will continue to be involved in the water industry through the firm's water network. Commenting on the appointment, Manchester head of tax Tracy Wood said: 'Helen Reid's specialist expertise in the tax advisory field will bring extra value to our clients across the gamut of industry sectors here in the North West.

'In addition, she is one of the UK's senior water specialists and will bring significant capability to the firm's fast-growing utilities water team, contributing to our UK credentials and helping us to increase our presence in the water sector.'

A graduate of Oxford University, Reid was born and raised in Burnley and lives in Manchester - she recently relocated to the North West from Reading.

In-House Tax Movers - July 2007

Niche professional services group Jefferson Wells has recently recruited John Gearing as a senior hire within their London tax practice. John joins with a wealth of experience from the banking sector, having spent a successful 15 year period as Head of Tax in London for DKW, the investment bank

Commercial property specialist Derwent London Plc has recently appointed a new Group Tax Manager Trevor Ling. Trevor joins the group after a 5 year period as Tax Manager with Luminar, the leisure / nightclubs owner where he had gained extensive exposure to UK property sector tax issues.

Global insurance and reinsurance group XL Capital has recruited Sandra Carrillo Hernandez into the London based tax department, and who will lead the tax work for the German operations. Sandra takes up the appointment after a career break, and previously was International Tax Manager with Morgan Stanley in London