Women in Tax Forum - Europe 2021

Anna Elphick

VP tax, global markets, Unilever

After studying English Law and French Law at the University of Manchester, Anna joined PwC, working in the energy and consumer goods corporate tax teams. Since joining Unilever in 2002, Anna has held a wide range of positions in the Unilever tax organisation, covering UK, regional and global tax matters. She has extensive experience in areas including global risk and reporting, international taxes, M&A and tax controversy management. In her current role as VP Tax, Global Markets, Anna is responsible for all tax matters in the markets in which Unilever operates, as well as leading Unilever’s tax transformation programme.

Anna is a member of both ICAEW and CIOT, and sits on the CBI Tax Committee.

 Speaking session 

Global tax update: 2021 and beyond

Tuesday, June 22 - 09.05 - 09.55 BST

Laura Greco

head of tax, Vodafone Italia

Laura started her career in various international law firms (mainly Baker & Mckenzie and Allen & Overy), then moving to Coca-Cola HBC as region Tax Manager and finally to Ariston Thermo Group, where she held the position of Head of Group Tax.

 Speaking session 

Global tax update: 2021 and beyond

Tuesday, June 22 - 09.05 - 09.55 BST

Clare Heard

Europe & Africa tax director, Diageo

After studying Physics at university, Clare trained with PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she worked for 5 years in the energy and consumer goods tax teams. She then taught the ICAEW qualification at Kaplan before moving in-house, first at the National Magazine Company and then at Diageo. Since joining Diageo in 2011 she has held a range of positions and has extensive experience of both global compliance and reporting, international taxes and transformation. Having spent considerable time looking after the African markets and then on major HMRC discussions on DPT and TP, she went on to lead Diageo’s Tax Transformation, a global project to transform the tax operating model, including technology and data improvements, process and control standardisation and people blueprint redesign. Having embedded the new operating structure for tax and moved to a continuous improvement model, Clare is now Europe and Africa Tax Director. In this role, she is leading the tax risk management and business partnering, working with a team spread across 14 markets, and with a wide range of stakeholders around the world.

 Speaking session 

Improving inclusivity and equality post-pandemic

Tuesday, June 22 - 11.25 - 12.15 BST

Nadine Massaro

head of tax technology & projects, Swiss Re

Nadine leads the digital transformation of the Group Tax function at Swiss Re. Swiss Re is a leading wholesale provider of reinsurance, insurance and other insurance based forms of risk transfer. With approximately 10 billion USD in net premium, Swiss Re has a a global presence and is based in Zurich.

Prior to joining Swiss Re in 2013, Nadine has over 20 years of experience in tax and finance functions across various sectors from financial services to technology start ups.  Originally from the United States, Nadine has been working and living in Switzerland for 20 years.

 Speaking session 

Tax technology and automation

Tuesday, June 22 - 12.35 - 13.25 BST

Sanna Jäälinoja

head of transfer pricing, Outokumpu

Sanna Jäälinoja is Group Head of Transfer Pricing at Outokumpu Group, a global stainless steel-manufacturer present in EMEAI, Americas and ASIA-Pacific (www.outokumpu.com).

Sanna’s 20-year experience in transfer pricing and international corporate tax rests on working for Outokumpu Group, tax authorities and a big4 (EY).

Prior to joining Outokumpu in the beginning of 2017 Sanna worked for some years at Finnish competent authority (transfer pricing) and negotiated bi/multilateral APAs and MAPs. In addition, during those years, Sanna was Finnish delegate to EU Joint Transfer Pricing Forum, OECD MAP Forum and Nordic cooperation in transfer pricing (TP-Gruppen).

 Speaking session 

Global transfer pricing developments

Wednesday, June 23 - 09.05 - 09.55 BST

Carolina Graterol

global head of company tax & transfer pricing, Rosen Group

Maria Carolina Graterol is a lawyer, specialized in International taxation, with an LLM at London University, Queen Mary and Westfield College, and Master in Business Administration MBA-CESA at HEC Paris (École des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Paris) She has more than 25 years of experience in the tax and transfer pricing area.

Mrs. Graterol has advised multinational companies in different industries, first in Latin America where she had her own law firm dedicated exclusively to tax practice specially, international tax litigations. In Europe, she has worked as in house tax and transfer price Senior Manager, for leading companies in the pharmaceutical, automobile, fast moving consumer good (FMCG)’ Industry, and oil and mining sector. She has leading multiples Business Restructuring projects all along her professional experience in Europe, including, conversion of full-fledged distributors into commissionaires, conversion of full-fledged manufacturers into toll manufacturers, centralization of procurements functions and supply chain reorganizations. Mrs. Graterol is a frequent speaker at International Tax and TP Conferences in Europe, Latin America and USA.

 Speaking session 

Global transfer pricing developments

Wednesday, June 23 - 09.05 - 09.55 BST

Sylvia Schmatz

head of group tax/group tax manager, Prinzhorn Group

Sylvia Schmatz heads the Group Taxes at Prinzhorn Group. She is certified Austrian tax advisor and holds a “Magister” degree in International Business Administration as well as a LL.M degree in International Tax Law from WU Vienna. In the last 15 years, she was able to gain in-depth experience in tax by working in different tax consulting firms in Vienna (including KPMG). Her main areas of expertise are national, international and reorganization tax law, transfer pricing, tax planning and accounting. In December 2017, she joined the Prinzhorn Group as a Group Tax Manager in Vienna where she established an in-house tax department. 

 Speaking session 

Global transfer pricing developments

Wednesday, June 23 - 09.05 - 09.55 BST

Laura Warren

senior counsel/head of tax, Hamilton Lane

Laura is a Senior Corporate Counsel and Head of Tax on Hamilton Lane's Investment Team, where she provides tax review and structuring in fund formation as well as for investments recommended to the firm’s funds and separate account clients.  Laura works with prospective clients regarding specific tax sensitivities and overseas tax process and policies including DAC6, tax diligence and FATCA/CRS. Prior to joining Hamilton Lane, Laura worked at Pepper Hamilton LLP in Philadelphia, where she was responsible for structuring and tax counseling for private equity funds and their investors, as well as private equity general partners and management companies. Laura has published articles on tax issues in structuring private equity investments in the natural resource area, venture capital transactions, carried interest legislation, and self-employment taxes in the fund sector. Laura recently taught Partnership Tax as an adjunct professor at Villanova University School of Law and has moderated panels for the Investment Management Committee of the ABA Tax Section.   Laura received an LL.M. in taxation from Villanova University School of Law, a J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law with Tax Honors, and a B.A. from Rutgers University. She is a member of the state bars of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

 Speaking session 

Professional development workshops

Wednesday, June 23 - 10.15 - 10.55 BST

Shashi Sharma

Head of Global Tax and Treasury, BRUSH Group

Shashi is Head of Global Tax and Treasury at BRUSH, part of Melrose plc (FTSE100).  This builds upon a senior level career in oil and gas at Phillips 66 (Fortune 5), and follows her role of VP Tax, Europe at Molson Coors (Fortune 300).  She is comfortable being the “first” in the room and against this backdrop has achieved millions in cash savings, established new capabilities and integrated tax as a vital part of the business – she changes minds and hearts.

Shashi is highly regarded as a leader and change agent, specialising in greenfield and brownfield tax transformation and performance by integrating knowledge, emotional intelligence, and data. In plain English, she identifies what needs to change, sets direction, and makes it happen:  transforming people and places.   This is her consistent attribute from creating a new tax function to co-creating PwC UK’s first diversity forum to improving sub-optimal performance in teams and working relationships.

Her incomparable professional experience is matched by her public service:  her work in social inclusion and justice spans empowering others at a grassroots level through to organisational strategy and guidance in her non-executive director roles at LionHeart RICS (the only charity supporting Chartered Surveyors and their loved ones) and China Plate Theatre (challenging the way performance is made, who it’s made by and who gets to experience it).

She demonstrates leadership which is about clear insight and meaningful action, not just “passion”.   She is More Than Tax.

 Speaking session 

Professional development workshops

Wednesday, June 23 - 10.15 - 10.55 BST

Sarah Sheldon

AVP tax, MetLife

Ms. Sheldon concentrates on indirect tax planning, transfer pricing, and state and local controversy. Sarah’s experience is in procedural, corporate, and international tax with both the private and public sectors.

Prior to MetLife, Sarah worked for the IRS Office of Chief Counsel in Washington, DC where she served as a subject matter expert in National Office before joining Large Business and International Division Counsel.

Ms. Sheldon earned an LLM in Taxation, Cum Laude, from the University of San Diego, and J.D. from California Western School of Law. Sarah is admitted to practice law in the State of California, before the US Tax Court, and as in-house counsel in the State of New York.

 Speaking session 

Professional development workshops

Wednesday, June 23 - 10.15 - 10.55 BST

Jenny Turner

tax advisor, UBS

JENNY TURNER is an Executive Director in Group Tax at UBS AG providing tax technical support to UBS's group wide FATCA and Automatic Exchange of Information programmes and EU DAC 6 implementation. She has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Jenny serves on the tax committees of a number of industry bodies where she is involved in consultations with tax authorities on legislative initiatives impacting the financial services sector in the field of Automatic Exchange of Information and EU Mandatory Disclosure regime.

 Speaking session 

The Tax Transparency Agenda

Wednesday, June 23 - 11.35 - 12.25 BST

Pamela Palazz,

head of tax, Sky Italia

Currently Head of Tax of Sky Italia group and EU Tax Policy Comcast Director, Pamela is a Professional Expert with strong experience in Domestic and International Taxation and Transfer Pricing fields in the industrial, financial and Tax public sectors.

 Speaking session 

The Tax Transparency Agenda

Wednesday, June 23 - 11.35 - 12.25 BST

Ola Barreto-Morley/b>

interim head of tax, GFG Alliance

Seasoned tax professional with over 21 years of core tax experience both Inhouse and in Practice. Experienced in international tax issues, acquisitions and disposals, restructuring, strategic and operational tax planning, tax reporting and tax compliance. Previous roles in both FTSE and Fortune 250 listed companies.

Passionate about equality and diversity both inside and outside of organisations.

 Speaking session 

Improving inclusivity and equality post-pandemic

Tuesday, June 22 - 11.25 - 12.15 BST

Kate Cornelius

head of new markets & strategic projects – tax, Costa Coffee

Kate is Head of New Markets and Strategic Projects – Tax at Costa Coffee, part of the Coca-Cola Company.

As an experienced tax leader, Kate provides strategic advice and technical expertise to support new market entry and business transformation, specialising in operating model design, international tax, transformation, risk and regulation. Kate is a skilled business partner, collaborating with finance, legal and commercial teams internationally to drive rapid growth.

Having built her career at PwC in London, advising privately owned and FTSE250 businesses, Kate also spent two years as the Chief of Staff to PwC’s London Chairman where she developed and led execution of strategic priorities to grow the business.

Kate is passionate about supporting women across intersectionalities and has founded a Female Executive Mentoring Programme to create future boards and leadership teams which are diverse and representative of our communities.

 Speaking session 

Professional development workshops

Wednesday, June 23 - 10.15 - 10.55 BST

Florence Biraud

group VP tax, Sodexo

Florence is an international corporate tax professional with 25 years of experience working across areas of tax advisory, M&A, tax accounting, transfer pricing, restructurings and refinancing in her previous roles. She acquired her tax expertise through a breadth of experiences acquired in different industries and large corporations including Exxon, Aventis, LVMH, Lafarge, Engie before joining Sodexo  2 years ago as the Group VP Tax. She reports to Sodexo’s Group Chief Finance Officer and leads a tax team of more than 30 tax professionals worldwide. Along her assignments, she has been exposed to various geographies including the Americas, Europe, Africa and China.

 Speaking session 

Professional development workshops

Wednesday, June 23 - 10.15 - 10.55 BST

Marta Pankiv

senior director of tax, Tricentis

Marta Pankiv leads the global tax function at a tech company. She is an international tax and transfer pricing professional with over 17 years of practical experience on a managerial level in-house and in various jurisdictions at PwC and Swiss multinational group. Her specialties include transfer pricing, M&A taxation, and tax risk management in Europe, NORAM and APAC regions. Dr Pankiv is a guest lecturer in the Executive Program in Transfer Pricing at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland), a member of IFA - International Fiscal Association (Austrian Branch), and regularly speaks at international tax conferences and publishes in professional tax journals. Her book “Contemporary application of the arm’s length principle in transfer pricing” (IBFD, 2017) was cited in the 2018 Tax Court of Canada decision on transfer pricing. She holds a PhD in Taxation from the Vienna University (WU) and LL.M. in International Tax Law (WU).

 Speaking sessions 

Global tax update: 2021 and beyond

Tuesday, June 22 - 09.05 - 09.55 BST

Professional development workshops

Wednesday, June 23 - 10.15 - 10.55 BST

Elisha Neethling

tax director, tax director, CNA Hardy

After studying History at the University of Cambridge, Elisha trained with PricewaterhouseCoopers where she worked for 4 years in the Insurance Tax team. She then left to join Royal and Sun Alliance, before joining CNA Hardy in 2014 to set up the tax department which she now leads.

Elisha is responsible for building strong internal and external relationships to ensure clear strategic and technical advice is communicated to stakeholders, and tax obligations met effectively. She is also part of the CNA Hardy Finance Leadership team. Elisha works 4 days a week, negotiating her part-time arrangement at her interview, and was recently included on Timewise’s 2021 Power List which celebrates senior individuals and organisations who are making a success of flexible working. She spends some of her time away from work as a trustee for a charity promoting women’s involvement in the security sector, and is training for a diploma in Personal Performance Coaching. She was one of 15 women in insurance selected for the 2020 Lloyd’s of London Advance course, to develop the industry’s next generation of female leaders.

 Speaking session 

Improving inclusivity and equality post-pandemic

Tuesday, June 22 - 11.25 - 12.15 BST

Kamila Szydlowska

senior tax director EMEA, Bausch Health Companies 

Kamila Szydłowska is a Senior Tax Director for EMEA in Bausch Health Companies.  She has 18 years of tax experience working in the areas of international tax planning, international tax structuring, mergers and acquisitions and transaction tax structuring.

Kamila joined Bausch Health Companies (aka Valeant Pharmaceuticals) in May 2014. She is a Head of Tax for EMEA, reporting to Senior VP of Tax in the US headquarters.

She partners with legal, accounting, finance, human resources, and other areas within Bausch to optimize results and to implement multi-country tax and business initiatives. She is responsible for setting up regional tax strategies, project management, valuations and modeling review.

Kamila began her tax career with Ernst & Young in 2003 where she spent 11 years working with multinational companies. Her industry focus was Life and Science. She was responsible for building and leading (in the area of taxes) the EY expert team dedicated to MLTN companies operating in the pharmaceutical sector.

Kamila is a co-author of the Polish commentary to the Model OECD Tax Convention. She has also taken part in different book and press publications on international tax aspects.

 Speaking session 

Tax technology and automation

Tuesday, June 22 - 12.35 - 13.25 BST

Marie-Theres Ramer

partner, DLA Piper

Dr Marie-Theres Rämer advises on all matters of domestic and international tax law. She advises in particular regarding all tax aspects of financing, structured finance and leasing transactions as well as tax aspects in relation to the structuring of real estate investments, including portfolio and non-performing loan transactions. Marie-Theres also advises on all tax aspects of restructuring and distressed scenarios. Furthermore she advises on FATCA and CRS compliance. Marie-Theres heads the German Tax group of DLA Piper.

 Speaking session 

The Tax Transparency Agenda

Wednesday, June 23 - 11.35 - 12.25 BST

Érica Morena

head of tax, AES Brasil

Lawyer and accountant with 13 years of tax experience, being 5 years at Big4 and 8 years at American multinational companies (Consumer Goods and Utilities segments). Strong Background in domestic and international tax planning, tax reporting (USGAAP), tax accounting (IFRS and USGAAP), global corporate restructuring, M&A, tax compliance, transfer pricing and cross-border transactions under worldwide legislation. Experience in supporting/leading teams abroad (i.e., USA, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Ecuador, Italy, Slovakia, Russia, China, Netherlands and Luxembourg).

 Speaking session 

Tax technology and automation

Tuesday, June 22 - 12.35 - 13.25 BST

Carron McKinney

senior director, statutory accounting and controlling, Viatris

Carron McKinney is senior director statutory accounting and controlling, for Mylan in Dublin. She has over 20 years international tax experience in both indirect and direct taxes; as an advisor and in-house. Carron specialises in all taxes in EMEA and APJ including VAT, tax controversy, CT, compliance and planning, plus has experience in the use of data analytics and now RPA (Robotic Process Automation ) in tax. She has significant experience managing large tax teams both locally and virtually, and has overseen significantly large scale financial transformation projects. Carron has previously held senior in-house tax positions with PaddyPowerBetfair, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, AT&T, Whirlpool and Pfizer, along with senior tax consultancy roles with BDO, Deloitte, PwC & KPMG.  She has established two tax networking groups - Women in Tax in Ireland and VAT Professionals in Industry, plus lectures on the ADIT course with the Irish Institute of Tax in Transfer Pricing.

 Speaking session 

Taxation of the digital economy: where are we now?

Wednesday, June 23 - 10.15 - 10.55 BST

Rebecca Roes

head of tax, Vodafone GmbH

Rebecca is the Head of Tax for Vodafone in Germany, the largest market of the Vodafone Group.  In a career spanning industries, geographies, tax and finance roles, prior to joining Vodafone Rebecca worked with EY, Shell and Maersk Line in several European countries.  US educated and UK qualified, Rebecca also holds Board positions with Vodafone GmbH and the IBFD.

 Speaking session 

Professional development workshops

Wednesday, June 23 - 10.15 - 10.55 BST

Laura Hoyland

partner, White & Case

Laura has a wide range of transactional and advisory experience advising corporate clients on direct and indirect tax aspects of financing and corporate transactions, including asset and share transfers, corporate structuring, accessing the capital markets, securitizations and the granting of alternative capital and bank finance.

Her clients include financial institutions, multi-national companies, private equity houses and sovereign wealth funds. She has advised governments on the crafting of new legislation, in particular, the UK Government on the introduction of a UK withholding tax exemption for privately placed debt.

Laura was seconded for 14 months to Standard Chartered Bank where she specialized in financial services VAT. As a junior lawyer, she spent six months in Moscow and, in summer 2018, was seconded to our Frankfurt office. She advises on UK criminal corporate tax offence prevention procedures, is co-devising policy and procedure to ensure White & Case's compliance with EU tax disclosure rules (DAC 6) and often responds to UK tax authority consultations.

 Speaking session 

Professional development workshops

Wednesday, June 23 - 10.15 - 10.55 BST

Aleksandra Bal

indirect tax technology and operations lead,Stripe

Aleksandra Bal is Indirect Tax Technology & Operations Lead at Stripe. She has over 10 years experience in the software and information services industry, leading the development of digital solutions and software for tax professionals. She holds a PhD in International Taxation (Leiden University) and Executive MBA (Rotterdam School of Management).

 Speaking session 

Taxation of the digital economy: where are we now?

Wednesday, June 23 - 10.15 - 10.55 BST

Jennie Fisk

head of tax infrastructure & platform project owner, A.P.Moller - Maersk

Head of Tax Infrastructure & Platform Product Owner for Tax, A.P. Moller Maersk, the global leader in shipping services and integrated container logistics, headquartered in Copenhagen.

Jennie is a Chartered Accountant with a background in corporate income compliance, reporting and advisory, both domestic and internationally. She has specialised for over 20 years in tax technology, transformation, risk management and tax operating models, previously as an advisor at Big4 firms, working with multinational companies across multiple industries, and for nearly 6 years in her roles at Maersk.

She is responsible for tax technology globally for Maersk, with a major focus currently on ensuring tax is integrated end to end in the new finance platform and digital transformation programmes. She is experienced in leading multi-function teams spread across the world and is passionate about breaking silos between technology and business functions.

 Speaking session 

Tax technology and automation

Tuesday, June 22 - 12.35 - 13.25 BST

Ruby Buckland

Sales Director EMEA, Avalara

Ruby Buckland has over 20 years of experience in indirect taxes and tax management consulting. She is a Director in the EMEA practice and works with Enterprise and Mid-Market businesses to determine their needs and potential fit with Avalara global solutions. Prior to joining Avalara Ruby worked at two of the Big 4 accountancy firms on tax technology implementations, indirect tax strategy and outsourcing engagements.

 Speaking session 

Tax technology and automation

Tuesday, June 22 - 12.35 - 13.25 BST

Suzanne den Breems

principal and practice leader, VAT in Europe,Ryan

With more than 20 years of experience in VAT, Suzanne leads the European VAT Consulting and Recovery practice at Ryan, which includes an integrated team of tax professionals serving multinational corporations across Europe. Specialising in VAT recovery, she provides consulting expertise and best practices in European Union tax laws, regulations, and jurisdictional requirements. Suzanne has successfully worked with large multinational clients to reduce tax liability, recover capital, and remain compliant in the countries in which they operate.

 Speaking session 

Improving inclusivity and equality post-pandemic

Tuesday, June 22 - 11.25 - 12.15 BST