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Moving on
Taxation editorial board member, Francesca Lagerberg is to join Grant Thornton as a partner to head up the firm's new national tax office, which is being created from both existing and new resources with the strategic objective of delivering technical excellence to the tax practice internally. Francesca was previously with Smith & Williamson. She is also the chairman of the Tax Faculty of the ICAEW.
Moving on
Taxation editorial board member, Francesca Lagerberg is to join Grant Thornton as a partner to head up the firm's new national tax office, which is being created from both existing and new resources with the strategic objective of delivering technical excellence to the tax practice internally. Francesca was previously with Smith & Williamson. She is also the chairman of the Tax Faculty of the ICAEW.
Legal fairness
The single most important element in establishing long term international business confidence in an economy is an independent judiciary, a poll of leading multinationals carried out by KPMG International has shown. In a survey of delegates representing 80 large international businesses, 45% said that an independent judiciary was the most important institution for a country wanting to generate the confidence necessary for long term investment.
Second was an independent central bank, with 22% of the vote, and third was good financial regulation, regarded as important by 12% of delegates.
The poll was taken during a KPMG conference in Argentina, where delegates were debating the impact of global taxation policies on the economies of Latin America, Spain and Portugal.
'This clear call from business for a level legal playing field as a prerequisite for significant investment may have been made with specific reference to Latin America, but it has real resonance for any country competing for corporate investment funds in today's global market', said KPMG's Loughlin Hickey.
The response confirmed that 'while headline tax rates and return on investment are important, what companies really care about is legal and regulatory predictability, and reform of tax administration'.
Tough tax scrutiny forces companies to upgrade tax policy and communication, says KPMG International.
At the same conference, Mr Hickey said that a combination of greater regulatory pressures and intense public scrutiny means that companies are having to decide whether they engage actively with the authorities on tax matters, monitor developments and comply or wait for the regulator to force changes. He described the current level of information exchange and collaboration between governments on tax matters as 'unprecedented'. Their determination to signal their intent to collaborate is illustrated by the high profile Joint International Tax Shelter Information Centre, the permanent international secretariat established by the US, UK, Canada and Australia to co-ordinate action against cross border tax planning. Companies concerned to maintain their performance and reputations have little choice but to accept and work with this new level of scrutiny, he said. Some clients even 'see this as an opportunity to work with regulators to help them develop a tax system that encourages people to invest and makes it easier to be transparent'.
STEP awards
Hundreds of the top private client lawyers, accountants, bankers, trustees and barristers gathered at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London for the STEP Private Client Awards 2006 on 26 September 2006, hosted by John Humphrys, presenter of BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.
Among the winners were Saffrey Champness which won Accountancy Team of the Year, and John Riches and Emma Chamberlain QC who won the Outstanding Achievement Award. The judges commented that 'through John and Emma's dedication, STEP was able to mitigate some of the worst effects of the Government's attacks on trusts. The resulting changes to BN25 achieved a key climb down on the spouse exemption and mitigation of new charges for accumulation and maintenance trusts'.
