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Four tax lawyers from Thelen, Reid & Priest have joined McDermott, Will & Emery's New York office. The group, headed by partner and former chair of Thelen Reid's tax practice, David Hardy, includes partner Laurie Marsh, and associates Philip Francis O'Reilly and Laura Brandt. Their practice will continue to focus specifically on the energy and utility industries.

The advocate general of the ECJ has opined against ACT payments and in favour of Hoechst and Metallgesellschaft under the freedom of establishment principle

Oonagh Whitty, a tax partner with Watson, Farley & Williams, is joining the London office of Latham & Watkins in October. Latham & Watkins is an international firm with over 1000 lawyers worldwide, but this is the first tax partner for the 50-strong London office.

Deloitte & Touche has again been busy handpicking big names from government. Following the high-profile appointment of John Lyons from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) earlier this year (see ITR May 00), the firm has recruited a further three ex-government professionals from around the world. The firm's transfer pricing and competent authority capabilities are strengthened with the appointment of Prof. Dr Berndt Runge, former head of the international tax division in the Ministry of Finance in Berlin, and Daniel O'Mahony, a former competent authority specialist with the UK Inland Revenue's International Division. Runge will be working out of WEDIT Deloitte & Touche's Düsseldorf office, while O'Mahony will be based in London. The third appointment is that of Michael Danilack, former associate chief counsel (international) for the IRS, who assumes the role of principal and director of International Tax Services in the National Tax Office in Washington DC.

US law firm Dewey Ballantine has expanded its London office with the recruitment of 11 new lawyers.

Davis Polk & Wardwell is advising Enersis on a rights offering to its shareholders of up to $1 billion in newly issued ordinary shares. The Chile-based Enersis is the leading private sector electric utility company in Latin America. Partner Michael Mollerus and associate Lin Shaw, of the New York office are providing tax advice on the issue.

Michael Ryan, a tax consultant at KPMG Dublin, has joined Dublin solicitors McCann FitzGerald as head of tax. Ryan had been at KPMG for 20 years and had not been looking to leave when McCann approached him. According to Ryan, the chance to head up the tax division at a firm with such a high reputation as McCann was too tempting an offer to refuse, particularly as he had not reached full partner at KPMG. "I'm not the type of person who moves around a lot. I'd been with KPMG for 20 years and it was a difficult decision to make. KPMG did their best to hold on to me. But this was a new opportunity and one that I will excel at ? that's what it's about. "Coming from accounting, the benefit is that you approach problems with a view to coming up with solutions, whereas lawyers are more interested in establishing the legal position of a transaction. I offer a different perspective," he said.

The Credit Suisse group has struck a deal to acquire US investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette for $11.5 billion in cash and stock.

Four UK building societies that converted to banks in the late 1990s claimed tax deductions for the costs of converting. The Inland Revenue disputed this, but the Special Commissioners of Tax found in the building societies’ favour. Hartley Foster of Clifford Chance reports

International retailer Kingfisher has chosen Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to advise on the demerger of its general merchandising activities. Woolworths, Superdrug and Kingfisher Entertainment Group are among those members to be demerged. The DIY and electricals businesses, including B&Q, Castorama, Comet and Darty are to be retained. Tax partners, Richard Ballard and Helen Lethaby, both of the London office, are working on the £1 billion ($1.45 billion) deal. Partners James Vaudoyer of Paris and Robert Scarborough of New York are also advising on tax aspects.