Russell Bedford International Tax and EMEA Conference 2019 held in the heart of Nice, at the great Aston La Scala Hotel, on days 17–18 May.
Conference, which reached a record number of participants with over 100 Delegates, included thematic sessions, workshops led by high-class industry speakers as well as networking for our member companies from around the world.
Following a welcome presentation by the CEO of the Stephen Hamlet Group, and a presentation by the regional director of EMEA, Klaus-Peter Hillebrand, the conference began with a session on the challenges of the digital tax economy by Paul Gisby, senior manager in Accountancy Europe.
Xavier de Sarrau, a general partner at Gordon S. Blair, then discussed the future of Monaco's tax havens and tax benefits.
Aynsley Damery, CEO and founder of Clarity, sponsor of this year's conference, shared advice on how to become an IT advisory company.
The newest member companies Russell Bedford of Tirana (Albania), Groningen (Netherlands) and Chicago (United States) presented their companies and presented plans for the future related to membership in the group.
Jeremy Mindell, Principal Primondell, began the afternoon program with a summary session on "Current International Tax Problems". Hari Hundle and John Pantekkidis of TwinFocus Capital then held a discussion on "Representing the global family office of UHNW in the 21st century – challenges and prospects for the future".
The last session of the day was led by Laëtitia Villain and Jean-François Chronowski of Pyramid Conseils, of Lyon. Laëtitia and Jean-François discussed taxes in France and the consequences of non-residents investing in French properties.
Friday's social program revealed to the guests the true taste of Nice, giving them the opportunity to make contact with their colleagues in a relaxing atmosphere, with drinks and dinner, in a climatic French restaurant by the beach.
Saturday morning began with a fun and insightful session: "Turn relations on income, references and results" by Itzik Amiel, world leader in the field of network, personal branding and relationship capital. Itzik combined the inaugural session with the workshop: “Become Author: stand out, expand your reach and develop your practice.”
Other workshops included ‘DAC[6]: implementation of new EU tax disclosure rules”, provided by Stephan Strothenke and Victoria Willcox-Heidner from member company Russell Bedford in Halle Westfalen, Germany, and Jose Luis Gomez, from a member company from Madrid, AG Consultants.
After a coffee break, Paul Thompson, director of the EFAA, led the workshop "SME audits – challenges and insights", while Steve Horn of Williams Benator & Libby, Atlanta and Jas Dhillon of London's member company Lubbock Fine, organized workshops during which delegates attended an international tax case study on consumer taxes.
After dinner, further workshop sessions were held to choose from, including Angus Farr's Training Counts: "Do you have what you need?", as well as "Tax changes in the US and Canada affecting global taxpayers", the idea of Domingo Alonso, Alonso & Garcia (miami) and Armando Iannuzzi of KRP (Toronto).
Angus Farr closed a professional session entitled “Life is a field game – six the elements to be managed in the presentation scenario”, where he shared the best guidance on presentation and engagement of the recipients.
The last evening of the conference included dinner and music at the traditional French restaurant Le Ligure. Close relationships and natural interaction between members make Russell Bedford conferences unique.
Stephen Hamlet, CEO of the network, summarized the event, saying: “When the conference comes to an end, they are always two emotion. first The satisfaction of how well this event went. second It's a feeling of sadness that it's over. A few members approached me last night, saying they didn't want it to end.
This is the best summary for me!”