A New Dawn for Taxation (Or Another False Start)?: 3rd Annual Budget and Tax Updates Seminar

Speaker

Leow Mui Lee is the Managing Director of Axcelasia Taxand Sdn Bhd. She graduated from Monash University, Australia with a Bachelor of Economics degree, majoring in accounting and finance. She is a member of CPA Australia and the MIA, and a council member of Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia (“CTIM”).

Mui Lee has many years of tax experience with leading international accounting firms in Malaysia. She leads Taxand’s transfer pricing service line and has serviced a broad spectrum of clients, including large multinational corporations and public listed companies. She has also managed projects relating to tax audits and investigations, tax risk management as well as Goods and Services Tax (“GST”) and SST reviews.

Under Mui Lee’s stewardship, Taxand has won numerous awards, including Best Tax Advisory Firm 2018 and Most Outstanding for Transfer Pricing 2016. She co-authored the 2012 CCH publication’s Guide to Transfer Pricing – Rules, Planning and Compliance Strategies. She has also spoken at various tax conferences in Malaysia and abroad.

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Thenesh Kannaa is a partner at TraTax, a firm of independent tax advisers rated as Top 10 in Malaysia for transaction tax. He specialises in indirect taxation and international taxation, encompassing transactional tax, tax due diligence, tax incentives, withholding tax, business structuring and transfer pricing.

Thenesh is a Council Member of CTIM, and a member of various committees that provide input to the Government on policy and technical aspects of Malaysian taxation. He has been recently appointed into ACCA’s Expert Panel for Taxation. He has been interviewed on contemporary tax matters by RTM 2, Traxx.fm (RTM 4), V’Buzz (Astro TV), Malaysia SME, New Straits Times and the Sun.

Thenesh is a licensed tax agent, fellow member of ACCA, UK, and member of MIA, CTIM and IFA. He is also co-author of various books and articles on Malaysian taxation.

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Yohan Francis Xavier is Executive Director (Transfer Pricing) at Baker Tilly (Malaysia). Yohan obtained his Bachelor of Business (Commerce) degree from Charles Sturt University in Australia. He is currently a member of CTIM. Prior to joining Baker Tilly, he served in KPMG and Deloitte. He has more than 15 years of experience in tax advisory and compliance. His primary focus is on transfer pricing, specifically with matters that involve documentation, tax planning, supply chain restructuring and audit defence. In addition to the above, he has also been involved in tax audits and investigations as well as personal tax compliance and advisory. He is experienced in tax incentives planning, which involves feasibility studies and evaluation of tax incentives, and application for government grants / incentives for strategic projects.

His experience spans across industries and functions, from manufacturing and distribution to services, in FMCG, IT & ITES, technology-related products, branded apparel, lifestyle goods, food and beverages, automotive, construction, forestry, plantation, and oil and gas. He has also serviced some of the most valued MNCs as well as the biggest local clients. He is a frequent speaker in tax and annual budget seminars, and has conducted seminars for clients on transfer pricing.

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Irene Yong was admitted as an advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in 1999 after obtaining an LLB (Honours) degree from the University of London in 1997. In 2003, she completed her MBA degree at Warwick Business School, UK. Irene is a member of Messrs Shearn Delamore & Co.’s Tax and Revenue Practice Group, and became a partner of the firm in 2008.

Irene has been recognised as a Leading Advisor by the International Tax Review (“ITR”)’s Tax Controversy Leaders (2013–2018) and Indirect Tax Leaders (2017–2018), and recognised as Tax Counsel in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific (2008/2009, 2011/2012, 2013/2014 and 2014 editions). She is a member of the International Fiscal Association, Malaysia Branch and the Bar Council’s Tax Subcommittee.

Irene has presented papers on Malaysian tax and revenue law, and written articles for the IBFD’s Asia-Pacific Tax Bulletin. She is one of the authors of Bloomberg BNA’s Business Operations in Malaysia. Irene has also won the International Tax Contributor of the Year Award by Bloomberg Tax for her article “Malaysia’s New MAP Guidelines — Potential Impact on Taxpayers” in the Tax Management Transfer Pricing Report.

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Vijey M Krishnan, Partner, Tax Practice Group, heads the revenue law practice group at Messrs Raja, Darryl & Loh, which he joined in 1999. He has over 20 years of experience in tax matters. He was previously a consultant with the Tax and Business Advisory Division of the then-Arthur Andersen in Kuala Lumpur.

He has consistently been recommended in the area of tax in publications such as The Asia Pacific Legal 500, the Tax Directors Handbook, and Chambers Asia Pacific. He is listed as a Leading Individual in the area of tax in Chambers Asia Pacific and as a Leading Lawyer in Asialaw Profiles.

Vijey is an Associate of the Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia, and has been involved in various committees, including the Bar Council GST and Tax Subcommittee; the Tax Committee of the American Malaysia Chamber of Commerce; the Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia Technical Committee – Indirect Taxation and Stamp Duty; and the CTIM GST-SS Tax transformation group.

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Wong Tat Chung was admitted to the Bar of England and Wales in 1986, and as an advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in October 1988.

His fields of practice include corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and capital markets, and other corporate and
commercial matters. He has been involved in both domestic and cross-border transactions. His experience and practice also include, for example, debt and equity securities offerings, corporate restructurings of insolvent companies, takeovers, initial public offerings, infrastructure, privatisations, and debt restructurings.

He is the Co-Chairperson of the Bar Council Corporate and Commercial Law Committee, and chairs various of its subcommittees. He is one of the vice chairs of the banking finance and securities committee of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association, and a member of the Company Secretarial, Practice Sub-Committee; the Accounting and Audit Sub-Committee; and the Insolvency Sub-Committee under the Corporate Practice Consultation Forum established by the Companies Commission of Malaysia.

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Anand Raj was admitted as an advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in 1996 and has been a partner of Messrs Shearn Delamore & Co. since 2003. Anand’s practice areas include all aspects of tax and transfer pricing disputes and litigation, as well as competition law and antitrust. Anand is the Co-Head of the firm’s Antitrust Practice.

Anand was recognised as the 2017 Asia Tax Disputes and Litigation Practice Leader of the Year by ITR. He is consistently ranked in Tier 1 of ITR (2013–2018) and Chambers (2011–2018) tax law practitioners, and has also been listed in Who’s Who Legal: Corporate Tax Lawyers 2016, 2017 and 2018. Anand has also been recognised in the International Who’s Who Legal: Competition Lawyers for 2013–2018 and has also been recognised as a leader in his fields by the Global Competition Review, Chambers Asia Pacific, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Asialaw Profiles, and other directories.

Anand is the Chairperson of the Bar Council Tax Subcommittee, and a member of the Competition Law Subcommittee. He is Chair of the International Fiscal Association, Malaysia Branch; the Co-Chair of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association’s Competition Law Committee; and inaugural Chair of LAWASIA’s Antitrust and Competition Law Subcommittee.