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 2026

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

Despite the shortfall, effective tax rates of multinationals have seen a ‘statistically significant rise’
After joining Milbank from Akin Gump, the fund tax specialist discusses sponsor demand, practice building, and the tax challenges facing asset managers
Partner payouts could also be reduced by a fifth, it has been reported
There is no logical reason not to extend an exemption from EU CFC rules to multinationals headquartered in side-by-side jurisdictions, USCIB said
While rarely the sole driver of a combination, tax is becoming an increasingly important part of firms' efforts to keep up with client expectations
New research, which suggests LLMs can silently corrupt complex documents, should alert tax and legal teams relying on AI to handle iterative drafting and compliance workflows
Maintaining increased funding for HMRC is a ‘high possibility’ if he becomes PM, ITR has also heard
Awards
ITR is delighted to reveal all the shortlisted nominees for the 2026 Europe Tax Awards
The firm has hired a team of private client lawyers from Withers to launch in New York and Connecticut, though ITR analysis suggests it faces stiff competition
The ability of tax authorities to receive and analyse data is becoming ‘quite advanced’, warns Stuart Lang, head of EY’s compliance co-sourcing solution
Gift this article