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KPMG LLP is the accounting and tax firm that understands business, particularly the distinctive needs of market leaders. The firm offers clients a powerful combination of people, products, technologies and results-oriented strategies to help them meet their challenges and improve performance. The fastest growing Big Five firm, KPMG is uniquely positioned to help clients strengthen their position in changing marketplaces. KPMG LLP (www.us.kpmg.com) is the U.S. member firm of KPMG International. KPMG International's member firms have 103,000 professionals, including 6,500 partners, in 152 countries.

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Christian Stewart JP Morgan Private Bank has hired a Pricewaterhouse-Coopers tax partner to head its Asian wealth advisory practice. Christian Stewart, who was named one of the leading tax advisers in Hong Kong and Mainland China in a survey by International Tax Review, joined the firm on July 3 and is based in Hong Kong.

McDermott Will & Emery has hired a former Andersen partner for its Chicago office. Jeffrey Olin joined the Chicago office on June 10 this year and is focusing his practice on international tax including inbound and outbound planning and compliance, export incentives, computerized applications, e-commerce and tax planning for multinationals. At McDermott, Will & Emery, many of his clients are in the manufacturing industry. Olin, who is qualified as both a lawyer and an accountant, also handled due diligence and IRS controversy settlements during his time at Andersen. He approached Andersen about joining and was in discussions for almost a year.

White & Case, Feddersen has more than quadrupled its tax practice in the Czech Republic by hiring a team of 10 tax advisers from Andersen. The expansion will give White & Case 12 tax professionals in the Czech Republic, making it the largest department within a law firm in the country. Previously the firm had two associates practising tax.

As a result of the legislation to amend the Japanese commercial code, a new stock option system was approved in November 2001 (effective on April 1 2002).

Multinational companies may be able to set up a single, pan-European pension scheme for employees if a European lobby group is successful in its battle to remove tax obstacles. The group backing the move is pan-European pensions group (PEPGO), an association of 20 multinationals including Swiss Life and Kvaerner. Business and information technology consultants AMS Management Systems is making an application to the UK Inland Revenue to place one of its UK employees in its Netherlands company pension scheme. Being unable to establish a single scheme can cost multinationals with employees throughout the EU millions of dollars each year as they are left unable to pool either investments or administrative costs. But on account EU tax legislation is almost impossible to pass because of the unanimity requirement resulting from member states' concerns about losing revenue, the EU pensions directive signed earlier this year does not cover tax issues. AMS, at the suggestion of PEPGO, is therefore trying another tactic.

Tax planners should use the global knowledge contained in an enterprise -- perhaps through the creation of global knowledge holding companies -- to yield significant tax savings. By Marcus Collardin and Alexander Vögele, KPMG, Frankfurt

According to the recent ruling in the Morgan Grenfell case, the UK revenue authorities do not have the power to access legally privileged documents. Mark Kingstone and Dominic Winter, Linklaters, London report on the decision

With VAT fraud in the EU taking on forms never envisaged by the original legislators, concerted action to tackle the issue is urgently required. By Stephen Dale and Hélène Percie du Sert, Landwell – the correspondent law firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Paris, and Christine Sonneleitner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Vienna