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The energy sector: a marketplace in flux

Multinational companies’ calls for cross-border pension contributions were given a boost last week when the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that pension contributions should be tax deductible when paid to pension providers in other member states.

Swiss firm Pestalozzi Lachenal Patry has expanded its tax practice by hiring a former Andersen partner. Maja Bauer-Balmelli is joining the firm in Zurich on November 1 after more than 17 years at Andersen.

NetIQ acquires Pentasafe for $255 million Sunday, 6-Oct-02 00:00:00 GMT NewsInBrief 11211 NetIQ Corporation has bought Pentasafe Security Technologies Inc for $255 million in cash and stock. The deal was announced on October 1 this year and includes $192.5 cash and $63.4 million in stock. NetIQ, which is based in California, is a provider of cross-platform systems management, security management and web analysis solutions. Houston-based Pentasafe provides integrated network security management solutions designed to ensure compliance with corporate security policies.

Olson becomes first female treasury assistant for tax policy Sunday, 6-Oct-02 00:00:00 GMT NewsInBrief 11190 Pamela Olson has been sworn-in as US treasury assistant for tax policy. Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill swore-in Olson on September 26 this year. Olson has supervisory responsibility for providing the treasury secretary with policy analysis, advice and recommendations relating to all aspects of domestic and international issues of federal taxation including legislative proposals, regulatory guidance and tax treaties. She will also deal with official estimates of government receipts for the president's budget, fiscal policy decisions and treasury cash management decisions.

The EU is gearing up this week in its struggle with the Swiss government in its fight to bring in the Savings Tax Directive by the end of this year.

Terumo wins Vascutek for $170 million Sunday, 6-Oct-02 00:00:00 GMT NewsInBrief 11212 Japanese medical device company is acquiring Vascutek vascular grafts business from Centerpulse for $170 million. The deal was announced on October 4 and is due to close in November. Terumo is expanding its cardio vascular departments including catheter systems for vascular diagnosis and treatment and artificial pulmonary systems. Its acquisition of Vascutek will been used to develop treatments for conditions including aneurysms.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has closed the sale of its consulting business to IBM. The sale was completed on October 2 after being approved by the PricewaterhouseCoopers member firms and partners globally and receiving all regulatory clearances. IBM paid approximately $3.5 billion for the business, which had previously been considered for an IPO under the name "Monday".

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi tried to please everyone with his draft budget announced last week. But despite its intention to trim the state deficit and promise of more than €7 billion in tax cuts, tax advisers claim it will do little for big business.