The Frankfurt tax practice of German law firm Haarmann Hemmelrath will be strengthened in January 2005 with the arrival of Joachim Krämer and Roderic Pagel, two international tax partners.
Krämer, a tax partner at US law firm Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton since 2002, specializes in German and international corporate tax, company reorganizations and capital markets transactions. Pagel, who focuses particularly on the tax aspects of structured finance and derivatives transactions, will join Haarmann Hemmelrath from Clifford Chance.
"My move was based on my belief (and this is shared by most of the tax market in Germany) that Haarman Hemmelrath is the most prestigious firm for tax advice," said Krämer. "The spirit at the firm is very entrepreneurial and it offers a good opportunity for young lawyers to develop."
"The process for agreeing the move began at the beginning of July," Krämer added. "I have considered my position and conditions since then. It was a long process but that is a good thing because it gives us a chance to get to know each other and our expectations."
Both Haarman Hemmelrath's new tax lawyers expect to be kept busy when they make the switch at the beginning of January. There have been large-scale changes to Germany's tax system in the past year, which inevitably means more business for tax lawyers and accountants.
"There has been a lot of insecurity in the market...as a result of major tax changes in...German tax law, such as the thin capitalization rules and the taxation of investment fund income," said Pagel. "But with a number of interpretative statements of the tax authorities in the making, and the gradual establishment of a market practice with respect to the new German thin capitalization rules, I think that the fog will clear over the next few months."
ITR Week welcomes your feedback on this or any other story. Please email the author with your comments. Letters may be published online.
