March 2006

An Indecent Proposal

Cost sharing arrangements between American Multi National Corporations (MNCs) and their foreign affiliates and subsidiaries, have, for some time provoked the concern of the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Deporatment. Were MNCs engaging in complex cross-border transactions for the sole purpose of reducing their overall tax liability? A 2006 Treasury proposal which seeks to stem abuses, though well meaning, may ultimately undermine U.S. competitiveness because the application of the so-called Investor Model to arms-length transactions provides strong incentives for MNCs to conduct their research and development activities off shore.

What Keeps Tax Directors Up at Night

A perfect storm has materialized for tax directors of Fortune 1000 companies. Greater disclosure of segment data as a result of the Sarbanes Oxley Act, increasingly prehensile foreign tax authorities, and growing use of a shared services concept for managing global expenses, has made the allocation of headquarters’ expenses fraught with risks, and if managed correctly, opportunities too. I helped author this monograph along with a PriceWaterhouseCoopers international tax partner to generate awareness on strategies and tactics which can be used to manage risks associated with allocation of headquarters’ expenses and minimize the corporation’s marginal tax rate.

Trust & Estate Planning Basics

As wealth management continues to evolve, greater emphasis is placed on a wider range of related disciplines. I was hired by SEI Investments to help craft a series of plain-spoken, short monographs on discreet topics in estate planning which ranged from medical directives to selecting a guardian for your children.

Optimizing Annuity Values in the Secondary Market

As a secondary market takes hold for annuities,new questions arise as to which annuities canbe sold into it. This article explains which annuities investors are most likely to recognize value with and which ones they are not.

Going Upstream With Annuities

This article was written on behalf of J.G. Wentworth as a by-lined article. It serves as a primer piece for so called Brokerage General Agents and was part of a broad market education initiative associated with J.G. Wentworth’s launch of their Annuity Purchase Program, which offered investors liquidity for their annuities.

Scroll to Top