Conference programme

But what does that mean for tax policy in 2025 and beyond? The roundtable will discuss recent and potential developments regarding the following topics:

• taxes on the wealthy (eg, billionaires’ tax, carried interest, capital gains, etc);
• Pillar Two implementation;
• Pillar One, digital service taxes and other bespoke excise taxes;
• the relationship between the branches of government;
• tax competition – is it alive or dead;
• the US is special – the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expirations; and
• energy taxes (green and fossil sources).

• does treaty (withholding tax) relief on dividends, interest, royalties and capital gains really work?;
• increased difficulty to meet the beneficial ownership test;
• substance thresholds: a comparative survey;
• new waves on general anti-avoidance rules (GAARs) and specific anti-avoidance rules (SAARs);
• tax risks deriving from potential recharacterisations; and
• withholding tax risk assessment and reporting obligations for listed companies.

• intercompany reorganisations
• structuring and contractual allocation of risks in sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) and shareholder agreements
• financing/securitisation transactions
• specifics of private funds
• private equity aspects
• what’s next in the US, China, India…;
• states moves to keep attracting companies in the Pillar 2 environment

The panel will focus on the new frontiers of securitisation of assets other than receivables, such as real estate, renewable energies and movable properties. Do taxes play a role in the effort to render liquid traditionally illiquid assets? The panellists will discuss the new trends on the market in different jurisdictions.

This session will consider the following topics:

• the relevance of anti-tax haven/black list regulations;
• tax aspects of direct lending funds;
• anti hybrid rules – experience with administrative guidance; and
• beneficial ownership in equities transactions.

• best jurisdictions (fact vs fiction): Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the UK;
• general anti-avoidance rules (GAARs) and specific anti-avoidance rules (SAARs) in the holding company context;
• substance requirements: update on Unshell and domestic substance requirements in the UAE and US; and
• US developments: treaty structures, status of the Trump tax reform and its impact on holding companies and the effect of Pillar 2.

• explore the tax implications of cross-border restructuring transactions, including acquisition or transfer of assets and shares and carve out of assets and/or minority shareholders/investors;
• international relocation of assets and companies; and
• bankruptcy tax planning.

Whether motivated by activist pressures, management focus or balance sheet clean ups, spin offs and demergers are an actively employed management tool to dispose tax efficiently of a line of business

• the impact of cross-border distributions in division of multinational business;
• divisional carve-outs or hive downs;
• restructuring of debt and contingent liabilities among retained and disposed businesses;
• tax aspects of divisional carve-outs or hive downs;
• sales or initial public offering (IPO) combined with spin-offs or other dispositions, such as spin merge transactions;
• allocation of intangibles; and
• the impact of EU directives on both corporate law structures and tax consequences.

Brief overview of the latest trends and challenges in private equity fund structuring. Highlight shifts in investor expectations and regulatory pressures that are driving changes in fund structures.

• how are funds structured nowadays?
• onshoring or offshoring
• GP mobility
• holding or not - the rise of BYOT and direct holding structures?
• Q&A and conclusion

• current transfer pricing audit trends – practical experience in dispute resolution
• how new local, EU and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) transfer pricing rules may affect the resolution of transfer pricing disputes;
• assertions of embedded royalties by tax authorities;
• increasing challenges to intercompany financing transactions in the US and Europe;
• managing transfer pricing issues in a remote-working world; and
• how Loper Bright and other court cases may affect transfer pricing rules.