Timothy Burley, CPA has joined Weiser LLP as Partner in the Tax Department
[private]Tim has more than 28 years experience where he served as a Tax Account and Practice Leader in New York and Philadelphia, coordinating, delivering and ensuring client satisfaction for federal, state, and international tax services and financial reporting for both publicly and privately owned companies.
Tim has experience in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, technology, manufacturing, financial services, and consumer products industries.
Douglas A. Phillips, CPA | Managing Partner says:
“As we build out our Tax practice with an eye towards future expansion, we are constantly seeking to add professionals with deep experience in the key industries Weiser serves as well as those who can provide clients with the technical tax expertise upon which the firm has built its strong reputation. Tim is certainly poised to deliver on all fronts and we welcome him to the firm.”[/private]
For nearly a century, Weiser (www.weiserLLP.com) has provided accounting, tax, and consulting services to business enterprises and high net-worth individuals. With offices in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, and Edison, New Jersey, Weiser has a staff of approximately 600 people working with clients in many industry niches including real estate, automotive, media, apparel, manufacturing, distribution, financial services, health care services, not-for-profit, and textile rental, among others. Weiser has built a significant practice in servicing many of the leading private equity group and various public companies active across these industries. The firm also has prominent international tax and forensic accounting practices. Today, Weiser ranks as the 21st largest accounting firm in the nation, and the 10th largest firm in the New York metro area.
Davenport Lyons continues to drive its growth strategy with the recruitment of Gerald Montagu, who joins as a partner in the corporate department.
Gerald joins the firm from Olswang and further expands the firm’s tax capabilities following the recent appointment of[private] Roger Bindshedler from Howard Kennedy.
Gerald’s practice includes both UK and international tax planning for a variety of sectors including financial services, media and leisure. Gerald specialises in advising in relation to financing arrangements, M&A, joint ventures, insolvency, and enforcement/litigation.
He has written extensively on tax and related subjects. He is co-author of the Legal Practice Companion, and advisory editor for Bloomsbury Professional’s Legal Practice Companion series. Gerald is also co-authoring the rewrite of the leading practitioner work Norfolk’s Taxation of Interest and Loan Relationships which is being launched in October 2009.
Michael Hatchwell, head of the corporate department at Davenport Lyons, added: “We are particularly pleased to have recruited Gerald. Our objective is to create a market leading tax advisory service as part of our corporate strategy. As our corporate department continues to expand rapidly, notwithstanding a challenging economy, a sophisticated tax resource is increasingly required by our client base. Gerald is our second senior tax partner to be appointed in the past six months. He is a leading player in his field and we are delighted to have attracted someone with Gerald’s reputation and calibre.”[/private]
[private]Grant Thornton (Channel Islands) Limited are delighted to announce the appointment of John Shenton as Tax Director in their Jersey Office. John has joined Grant Thornton and brings with him over 25 years experience of taxation in an offshore environment.
Dave Clark, Managing Director said that he is delighted that someone of the calibre of John has joined the Grant Thornton team. He added that “the breadth and depth of John’s experience on taxation matters further strengthens the capability of Grant Thornton in the islands and demonstrates our commitment to providing the highest quality service to our clients across the islands.”
John is the Chairman of the local branch of the Chartered Institute of Taxation as well as a member of the fiscal strategy group of Jersey Finance Limited and a member of the tax committee for the Jersey Institute of Directors.
John previously headed up the Jersey tax practice of one of the big four firms advising on all areas of taxation from an offshore perspective.
John is looking forward to his new role and the challenges ahead. He added that “The ethos of Grant Thornton in the Channel Islands is to create a firm that provides the highest quality of service to a wide and varied client base by being proactive, professional and flexible and this mirrors my own values. I believe that Grant Thornton is ideally placed to assist clients as we not only fully understand the challenges they face locally but we have the global capability to give a complete service. I am very much looking forward to working in partnership with these entrepreneurial clients to achieve a common goal.”[/private]
[private]Cristina Antelo, a Principal with the Podesta Group, handles a diverse range of legislative, regulatory and policy issues before Congress and the executive branch. Her areas of expertise include financial services, tax, intellectual property and trade. Prior to joining the Podesta Group, Cristina worked with the government affairs practice of a Washington, DC, law firm, where she provided strategic counsel and advocacy to health care, trade and appropriations clients.
Prior to her political career, Cristina was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs & Co for several years. She was a financial analyst in the company’s private wealth management division in New York with an operational focus on high-net-worth individuals. Her responsibilities included margin account management, compliance with regulatory requirements and reporting. Cristina later joined the trading floor in Los Angeles to gain trading and portfolio management experience and was promoted to associate. She was an NASD (now FINRA) Registered Representative completing her Series 7 and 63 licenses.
Cristina was a Legal Fellow on the Senate Democratic Steering Committee chaired by former Sens. Hillary Clinton and Tom Daschle, where she focused her work on Latino outreach and constituent issues. Cristina is a founding member and Vice President of the Hispanic Lobbying Association and serves on the board of the Hispanic Bar Association of DC Foundation. In 2009, the Embassy of Spain, as part of its Young Hispanic Leaders Program, honored her for her essay “What Does It Mean to Be Hispanic in the US?” [/private]
Virgin Media Inc. (Nasdaq:VMED) has announced the appointment of Eamonn O’Hare as its chief financial officer. Mr O’Hare will assume CFO responsibilities in November.
For most of the past four years Mr O’Hare has been the[private] UK finance director of Tesco plc, one of the world’s largest retailers with around 2000 stores and sales of more than GBP 40bn in the UK alone.
Prior to joining Tesco, Mr O’Hare played a key role in the turnaround of what was Energis plc. Following its debt restructuring in 2002, he joined the telecommunications network operator as chief financial officer and was part of the management team which guided the company to its first ever operating profit. Before joining Energis, Mr O’Hare spent ten years with PepsiCo in a series of senior international finance and general management positions.
Commenting on Mr O’Hare’s appointment, Virgin Media’s CEO, Neil Berkett, said: “As well as an understanding of the UK telecoms sector, Eamonn brings with him an impressive combination of financial and operational expertise, a proven track record of driving change in large consumer-focused companies and extensive capital markets experience. I’m delighted to welcome someone of his pedigree to our senior management team.”
Eamonn O’Hare said: “This is a great time to be joining Virgin Media. With its next generation network and unrivalled range of cutting edge products, the company is uniquely positioned for growth in this fast-changing sector. I’m looking forward to working with Neil and his management team in accelerating Virgin Media’s transformation to the most consumer-focused company in the industry.”
About Virgin Media
With almost 10 million customers, Virgin Media is the UK’s first quad-play provider of broadband, TV, phone and mobile.
The company is one of the largest residential broadband providers in the UK, using a unique fibre optic cable network to deliver next generation ultrafast internet access of up to 50Mb to just over half of all homes. Combined with a high speed ADSL service and mobile broadband products, Virgin Media is able to offer broadband internet access to virtually the entire country.
Virgin Media has the UK’s most advanced TV on demand service and is the only TV platform to carry BBC iPlayer. It is the second largest provider of pay TV, was the first to launch a high definition TV service and offers a high-specification, HD-ready V+ personal video recorder.
The company operates the most popular virtual mobile network in the UK which, when launched, was the world’s first such mobile phone service. It is also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the country.
Virgin Media also owns Virgin Media Television (VMtv) which runs seven entertainment channels, including Virgin1, LIVING, Bravo and Challenge. VMtv is a 50 per cent joint partner with BBC Worldwide in UKTV, which consists of ten channels including Dave, G.O.L.D., Watch and Alibi. [/private]
President Barack Obama has announced his intent to nominate Michael F. Mundaca, Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, Department of the Treasury.
Michael F. Mundaca currently is Senior Advisor for Policy within[private] the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy and the Acting Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy. Mr. Mundaca served in the Treasury Department during the Clinton Administration and returned to the Treasury Department in 2007, as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs. Before that appointment, he was a partner for five years in the International Tax Services group of Ernst & Young’s National Tax Department, in Washington, D.C. His practice focused on cross-border planning and structuring, including especially tax treaty issues, and on international legislative and regulatory monitoring and consulting. Before joining Ernst & Young, Mr. Mundaca served for over five years in Treasury’s Office of the International Tax Counsel, leaving as the Deputy International Tax Counsel. He was also Treasury’s Senior Advisor on Electronic Commerce. Prior to that first stint in Treasury, he was an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell, a law firm in New York. Mr. Mundaca has been an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, teaching a seminar on tax treaties. Mr. Mundaca received a B.A. in philosophy and in physics from Columbia University, in 1986, and an M.A.in philosophy from the University of Chicago, in 1988. He received a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall), in 1992, where he was Senior Executive Editor of The California Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. He also has an LL.M., in taxation (international tax specialization), from the University of Miami.[/private]
[private]It has been widely reported that Robert Mirsky has left EY’s UK partnership to join Laven Partners.
Robert joined EY London as a tax partner and was formerly with Deloitte, where he was head of their UK Hedge Fund Practice for over two and a half years.
Robert is a US trained lawyer and has authored many articles about industry, taxation, and regulatory trends. His writing credits also include contributions to the book Hedge Funds and Prime Brokers (Risk Books, 2007). He is also chairman of the industry-supported charity Hedge Funds Care UK which works toward the treatment and prevention of child abuse.[/private]
Choice Hotels International, Inc. has announced the appointment[private] of Louis S. DeMarco to the newly-established role of vice president, tax for the organization. Mr. DeMarco will report to David White, senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer.
In this role, Mr. DeMarco will be responsible for managing the company’s overall tax planning, research and compliance efforts. With more than 20 years of multinational and Fortune 500 experience, Mr. DeMarco most recently served as senior vice president of tax for Discovery Communications, LLC, where he provided leadership and direction in the areas of strategic planning, tax reporting and compliance. Prior to his most recent position, Mr. DeMarco held various tax leadership roles within organizations such as Softbank, Inc., Macmillan, Inc. and Marsh & McLennan Co., Inc.
“Choice is very excited to have an expert in taxation matters with Louis DeMarco’s background, as a member of our finance organization’s leadership team,” said White. “I look forward to working with Lou and leveraging his skills in furthering the Company’s strategic objectives.”
Mr. DeMarco holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from Queens College and a Master of Science degree in taxation from Pace University.[/private]
About Choice Hotels
Choice Hotels International, Inc. franchises more than 5,900 hotels, representing more than 479,000 rooms, in the United States and more than 30 other countries and territories. As of June 30, 2009, more than 800 hotels are under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in the United States, representing more than 64,000 rooms, and an additional 110 hotels, representing approximately 8,700 rooms, are under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in more than 15 other countries and territories. The company’s Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn brands serve guests worldwide. In addition, via its Ascend Collection membership program, travelers in the United States and the Caribbean have upscale lodging options at historic, boutique and unique hotels.
