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Filipe Romão is the sole partner in Uría Menéndez's nine-lawyer tax department which is divided between Lisbon and Oporto. His experience in international M&A and real estate in particular has attracted a host of well known companies to the firm for ... [more]

Filipe Romão is the sole partner in Uría Menéndez's nine-lawyer tax department which is divided between Lisbon and Oporto. His experience in international M&A and real estate in particular has attracted a host of well known companies to the firm for advice such as Merrill Lynch, Banco Atlântico Europa, Unilabs Group and Saint-Gobain Group. Kodak sought Uria Menendez's services this year to assist in a restructuring of its operations in Portugal. Romão and senior associate António Castro Caldas coordinated the process of restructuring of both Portuguese and foreign companies to ensure favourable tax treatment for the Kodak group. Romão is respected by his contemporaries for his ability in cross-border structuring and is said to be among the best advisers in Portugal for such matters. The firm has capability in a full range of tax issues including M&A, transfer pricing, indirect taxes, restructuring and tax ctonrvoersy. While its reputation was built around its international M&A and real estate work, other areas have provided much work for the firm this year. Indirect taxes were the core issue in the advice provided to Unilabs in their dispute with the tax authorities. Unilabs is challenging the interpretation of the authorities of the rules waiving the VAT exemption on health services. Since the case centres on differing interpretations of the European Commission's VAT Directive, it is expected to be referrred to the European Court of Justice.

Uría Menéndez's tax practice is led by Rafael Fuster with nine other partners and 50 fee earners completing the department. Competitors rate the firm very highly and one noted: "They deserve to be recognised among the top tax practices in Spain. They ... [more]

Uría Menéndez's tax practice is led by Rafael Fuster with nine other partners and 50 fee earners completing the department. Competitors rate the firm very highly and one noted: "They deserve to be recognised among the top tax practices in Spain. They have great quality across all of their partners." The firm has capability across all areas of tax, though much of its recent work has involved M&A, cross border structuring, restructuring work and tax controversy. The firm this year advised La Caixa on its group restructuring. This involved transferring its banking business to group company Criteria CaixaCorp in exchange for that company's industrial assets. Careful tax planning and liaison with the Spanish tax authorities was necessary to ensure efficiency and compliance for the different transactions involved which included contributions-in kind, share exchanges, a merger and an issue of convertible debentures. Jesús López Tello is recommended by competitors for his ability in several areas of tax and his expertise was central to Banco Santander's disposal of part of its Brazilian subsidiary to Qatar Holdings. The deal was intended to be a straightforward sale, but Banco Santander's decision to delay the sale for three years meant that the purchase had to be financed using mandatorily exchangeable bonds of Banco Santander due in 2013 and exchangeable for shares in Banco Santander Brasil, representing 5% of the company at the date of the transaction. As Qatar Holdings wished to use the bonds as collateral for its borrowing, the firm had to ensure that a subsequent acquirer would be able to immediately recover the Spanish withholding tax the bonds attracted so that lenders would accept them as security. This entailed substantial negotiation and liaison with the tax authorities to ensure that both parties' commercial requirements were accommodated in a tax efficient way.