Quotes of the month

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Quotes of the month

"There is a certain section of civil society that undoubtedly believes that all transparency is good and the more the better. But it has to be remembered that information on, for example, product pricing models can be competitively sensitive, and should be protected as such."

Alan McLean, executive vice president of taxation and corporate structure at Shell, sounds a note of caution in the tax transparency debate.

"Guernsey is ahead of the curve and we look forward to other jurisdictions stepping up to the mark so that we can help create a level playing field on beneficial ownership."

Fiona Le Poidevin, chief executive of Guernsey Finance, raises the bar by thinking outside the box and digging down to break the world record for number of PR clichés in one sentence.

"Some high profile digital companies have indulged in BEPS strategies... [But this] does not make the digitised economy itself a cause of BEPS, but [the OECD] has yet to take the sensible step of entirely decoupling the subjects."

Glynn Fullelove, group director of tax at Informa, urges clarity in discussions of the OECD approach to tackling the tax challenges associated with the digital economy.

"Over half of the Conservative party's funding comes from the financial sector and our worry is that [UK Chancellor, George] Osborne is defending the city against the wider interests of Britain."

Simon Chouffot, of the Robin Hood Tax campaign, airs his fears in relation to progress on a European financial transaction tax.
more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

ITR’s data has highlighted the US firm’s ambition to become America’s ‘premier’ tax player via a concerted partner recruitment strategy
Jaap Zwaan’s arrival continues a recent streak of A&M Tax investing in the region; in other news, the US and Japan struck a deal that significantly lowered tariff rates
In a world where international tax concepts rely on human activity, Leonard Wagenaar poses existential questions about the future of such ideas when AI is ever-present
France v Axa provides a practical illustration of how the burden of proof is applied in TP matters under French law, ITR also heard
In an exclusive interview with ITR, Ian Gary calls for a central public CbCR database and bemoans the US’s lack of involvement in international tax transparency
Reckitt Benckiser is to divest its Essential Home business, which includes more than 70 brands, to private equity firm Advent International
In the first of a new series of weekly opinion pieces, ITR Editor Tom Baker reflects on the OECD’s attempts to sanitise the US’s brazen pillar two negotiations
The threat of 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods coincides with new Brazilian legal powers to adopt retaliatory economic measures, local experts tell ITR
The country’s chancellor appears to have backtracked from previous pillar two scepticism; in other news, Donald Trump threatened Russia with 100% tariffs
In its latest G20 update, the OECD also revealed tense discussions with the US where the ‘significant threat’ of Section 899 was highlighted
Gift this article