DLA Piper has announced that two economists have joined its Amsterdam office as transfer pricing experts. Ágata Uceda and Frank Schwarte have joined the tax group as economists.Ágata joins DLA Piper from the Amsterdam office of KPMG where she worked for almost nine years, advising multinationals on the management, design and implementation of their transfer pricing policies. She has extensive experience in all aspects of transfer pricing planning, dispute resolution and compliance, and has managed a wide range of assignments covering economic, management and fiscal aspects of transfer pricing. Ágata’s has extensive experience advising pharmaceutical and chemicals companies, but has also undertaken projects for high-tech and software, food and general industrial multi-nationals. Earlier in her career, Ágata spent two years in industry working as a consultant at the World Trade Center in the US and subsequently at the Argentinean Ministry of Economy in Los Angeles.

Frank also joins from KPMG where he worked as part of Ágata’s team. He specialises in transfer pricing, preparing transfer pricing documentation, defending clients in transfer pricing tax audits, and advising on the transfer pricing aspects of valuations and business restructurings. Frank’s main area of expertise is financing transactions, including interest rate analyses, spread analyses for intermediate financial services companies, debt capacity analyses and guarantee fees.

Ágata and Frank join the global transfer pricing team within the Tax group, and will work closely with co-heads of the US Transfer Pricing team, Bernhard Von Thaden and Clarke Norton. Their arrival brings the total number of economists within DLA Piper’s Transfer Pricing team to ten.

DLA Piper has stepped up its commitment to provide integrated, contentious and non-contentious tax advice in Italy with the appointment of a partner and two associates. Tax litigation specialist, Antonio Tomassini, will join the Tax practice in Milan as a partner, together with two associates.Antonio was partner and Head of Tax at Sciumé Zaccheo & Associati prior to joining DLA Piper.

He has an excellent reputation for handling tax litigation matters in Italy and has represented both national and international corporates and financial institutions on tax planning, compliance and litigation. Antonio has also advised on a range of international tax matters including transfer pricing, cost sharing policies, taxation treaties and tax havens. He joins DLA Piper with two associates also from Sciumé Zaccheo & Associati.

The arrival of Antonio and his team will add considerable strength to DLA Piper’s offering in Italy. In October last year partner Maricla Pennesi and five fee earners joined the Tax practice in Milan from Deloitte, expanding DLA Piper’s capabilities on the non-contentious side. Antonio’s appointment will complement the skills of the existing team, providing clients with a broader tax offering.

“We are committed to expanding our tax team in Italy and the arrival of Antonio and his team is crucial to our plans to build a strong, integrated Tax practice able to look after clients’ tax planning, and related contentious and non-contentious matters,” said Roderik Bouwman, EMEA Head of Tax at DLA Piper. “Our clients will increasingly face complex tax issues as tax authorities become more aggressive and with the team that we are establishing we will be able to meet these needs nationally and internationally.”

“I am delighted that Antonio is joining us. He has the skills and experience that we need to help us achieve our goal to build a tax team with a broader offering,” said Maricla Pennesi, Head of Tax for DLA Piper in Italy. “The arrival of Antonio and his team will be a huge asset, not just to clients in the Italian market but those supported by our colleagues around the world.”

Antonio has degrees in both law and economics from the University of Rome and is due to finish his PhD in tax law from Rome University at the end of 2009. Prior to working for Sciumé Zaccheo & Associati, Antonio was a tax advisor at Ernst & Young for six years and before that he was a tax officer with the Italian tax police.

Antonio officially joins DLA Piper on 30 June 2009.

Reed Smith LLP has announced the addition of Craig P. Tanner to its firmwide Tax, Benefits & Wealth Planning Group.  He is resident in the firm’s San Francisco office, where his practice focuses on global compensation and human resources matters for multinational corporations.

“Craig is among the pioneers in the global compensation field,” said John Martini, Head of Reed Smith’s Tax Benefits and Wealth Planning Group.  “His significant experience in the global compensation field is ideally suited to meet the needs of our expanding global client base with operations in numerous countries, at a time when demand for expertise in this area is definitely increasing.”

On global compensation matters, Mr. Tanner works with clients on the design and implementation of equity-based compensation programs, including options, purchase rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, and stock appreciation rights, as well as salary and cash bonus programs.  He regularly advises on the tax, securities, employment, currency exchange, and communications issues that the companies encounter when offering these programs to employees, directors, and consultants throughout the world.  He also advises clients on U.S. and cross-border compensation issues arising in mergers and acquisitions.

On human resources matters, Mr. Tanner advises companies on a wide variety of issues including codes of conduct, data privacy, employment agreements, entitlements, leaves of absence, reductions in force, and works councils.  These human resources matters typically involve transferring employees, cross-border employees, contingent workers, and consultants.

“The opportunity to play a key role in further developing a top tier global compensation practice comes along once in a lifetime,” said Mr. Tanner.  “As Reed Smith expands into major markets worldwide, providing this kind of support and helping its clients ensure their compensation programs and related resources are competitive in the global economy is going to add tremendous value.”

Mr. Tanner began his career as a litigator before transitioning his practice to the global compensation field.  He was a member of the team at Baker & McKenzie in San Francisco that launched one of the first global compensation practices in the nation. Prior to joining Reed Smith, he was a partner in the Corporate and Securities practice group at DLA Piper.

“Craig is a well-respected leader in the executive compensation field,” said David A. Thompson, Reed Smith’s San Francisco Managing Partner.  “He is another great addition to the exceptional team we have in the Bay Area.”

Mr. Tanner earned his JD from the University of San Francisco in 1993, and his BS from the University of Colorado at Boulder, in 1988.  He is a member of National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP), the Global Equity Organization (GEO), WorldAtWork, and the Bay Area Compensation Association (BACA).  Mr. Tanner has published and presented widely on topics related to global compensation and human resources issues.

He is the second attorney to join Reed Smith’s firmwide Tax, Benefits and Wealth Planning Group this month.  Angelo Ciavarella, a federal income tax specialist, joined the firm’s New York office on March 3.

About Reed Smith

Reed Smith is one of the 15 largest law firms in the world, with more than 1,600 lawyers in 23 offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.  Founded in 1877, the firm represents leading international businesses from Fortune 100 corporations to mid-market and emerging enterprises.  Its attorneys provide litigation services in multi-jurisdictional matters and other high stake disputes, deliver regulatory counsel, and execute the full range of strategic domestic and cross-border transactions.  Reed Smith is a preeminent advisor to industries including financial services, life sciences, health care, advertising and media, shipping, international trade and commodities, real estate, manufacturing, and education.  For more information, visit reedsmith.com

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