Though it is smaller than the other Tier 1 firms, Russell McVeagh has earned a leading reputation for tax advice in New Zealand, building on strong relationships with tax policy officials and advising on matters for clients such as five large trading ...
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Though it is smaller than the other Tier 1 firms, Russell McVeagh has earned a leading reputation for tax advice in New Zealand, building on strong relationships with tax policy officials and advising on matters for clients such as five large trading banks. The firm also regularly advises financial institutions such as Deutsche Bank, UBS, Macquarie, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.
Partner Brendan Brown leads the team of four partners and 15 fee earners. In November 2010, he advised the Bank of New Zealand on structuring the country's first covered bond programme, worth NZ$3 billion ($2.5 billion). This included the initial issues by the bank worth NZ$425 million and by BNZ International Funding worth €1 billion ($1.43 billion). Since New Zealand has no legislation on covered bonds, the transactions had to be structured on contractual principles, making use of securitisation techniques. As a result, the documentation procedures and the tax consequences were more complex.
Fred Ward advised in the Auckland Transition Agency's $21 billion+ merger of the councils across the Auckland region into the new Auckland Council. This is New Zealand's largest-ever merger. The advice involved legislative solutions to facilitate the tax-optimal treatment of the merger. Ward also advised on the appropriate tax treatment of the various newly created council organisations, and on suitable funding structures.
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