International Tax Case Studies

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• Case study 1: Saudi Family Investment Fund

  We acted for a Saudi family in setting up a suitable structure to allow private capital to be invested in new / disruptive technology start-ups and JV’s in Africa, ME, India, Europe and the US. Our advice took into account the relevant double tax treaties to permit minimum tax leakage on the return on investment (mainly gains on exit, dividends and bond interest). We chose Jersey and the top holding company with a Singapore Variable Capital Company as the pooling vehicle and strategically located sub-holding companies for regional investment. We also advised on and assisted with the establishment of a suitable management vehicle to receive fees and carried interest for the partners who were resident in the ME and U.K.

• Case study 2: Luxembourg Bridging Finance

  We advised our client (a Luxembourg SICAV RAIF) on the best way to provide debt facilities to U.K. borrowers in the form of bridging finance. We considered the interposition of a Luxembourg Sarl finance company to obtain treaty benefits. In addition we considered deeply discounted securities and Quoted Eurobonds as a means of mitigating the U.K. withholding but both were not viable commercially.

• Case study 3: Finance House – Acquisition and Restructure

  Our client is a privately held finance house headquartered in Mauritius. We acted as lead tax adviser in the acquisition of a competitor based in Cyprus with regulated activities in Africa, Thailand and the Caribbean. Our advice included creating a new group holding structure, transfer pricing and managing permanent management exposure.

• Case study 4: Adriatic Casino

  We acted for a Las Vegas casino in its acquisition and build out of a new multi-use entertainment complex and hotel on the Adriatic coast. We identified the UK as a suitable “bridge” between the UK and target jurisdiction and had to consider local real estate tax implications, withholding tax exposure on interest and dividends and the U.K. dividend and substantial shareholding exemptions.

• Case study 5: Latin American Restructure

  We are retained by a Bermuda family office to review an existing investment into a Latin American farming operation. The existing structure comprised BVI, UK and Swedish holding companies that were inefficient and costly to maintain. We advised the trustees and stakeholders to rationalise the structure and accept marginally higher effective tax rates in exchange for a simpler, more efficient corporate structure.

• Case study 6: African Call Centres

  Our client is a Mauritius head quartered call centre business with facilities in South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana and Uganda. Due to a change in Mauritius law and EU blacklisting we restructured the holding and operating functions into UAE, choosing the DMCC free zone after detailed comparative analysis of four other jurisdictions.

• Case study 7: Family Office Start-Up

  Our client is a serial US tech entrepreneur, currently resident in Malta but in the process of relocating with his German wife to Portugal under the Non-Habitual Resident regime. We advised on the transfer of assets from husband to wife under a California law transmutation agreement, allowing the wife to sell assets (shares, tokens etc) to a family investment company in return for a loan note prior to arrival in Portugal. We considered the holding company and private investment fund regimes in Luxembourg, Ireland, Jersey and the UK.