News

Conference: “Confidentiality and Anonymity in the Age of Automatic Information Exchange”

January 23, 2013
On January 29, 2013, the conference “Confidentiality and Anonymity in the Age of Automatic Information Exchange” took place at the Barradas Parque Hotel (Punta del Este), organized by the Graduate School of the Faculty of Administration and Social Sciences. Presenters included Frederico de Almeida, Esq., partner at Rolim Vitotti & Leite Campos; Eduardo O. Meloni, CPA, Tax Advisor at Torcuato Di Tella University; Roland A. Pfister, Ph.D., of TavernierTschanz; and Félix Abadi, CPA, Professor of Taxation at the School of Graduate Studies of the Faculty of Administration and Social Sciences. The speakers discussed international trends in information exchange and transparency in tax matters and analyzed the extent to which taxpayer confidentiality and anonymity can be guaranteed in an international context of automatic exchange of information among tax authorities.

The topic was addressed from the perspective of double taxation treaties, information exchange agreements, and "Rubik" agreements in cross-border situations involving Argentina, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Uruguay.

Mr. de Almeida holds a Law degree from the Catholic University of Minas Gerais (Brazil), an LL.M. in Commercial Law from Milton Campos University, and a degree in Energy Regulation from the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV). He is a member of the Energy and Corporate Law Committees, both of the Brazilian Bar Association’s Minas Gerais chapter. He is a member of the Brazilian Institute of Financial Executives. He is an expert in domestic and international taxation, corporate law, and tax planning. He was a Tax Specialist at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Mr. Meloni holds a degree in Public Accounting from the University of Buenos Aires, an LL.M. from Leiden University (Netherlands), and a Master of Laws from the University of Leicester (United Kingdom). He is an independent consultant and specialist in international tax planning. He is a member of the Argentine Association of Fiscal Studies and the Fiscal Association. He served as Director of the Latin America Department at the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation in Amsterdam (Netherlands). He writes for professional publications.

Dr. Pfister holds a Licence en Droit from the University of Neuchâtel and the University of Granada. He completed an Executive MBA in Wealth Management and was a Visiting Researcher at Harvard Law School. He frequently writes for tax journals and lectures on his specialty at universities and professional programs. He worked for an international law firm in Belgium and a leading investment bank in Zurich, later joining the tax department of one of the “Big Four.”

Mr. Abadi holds a degree in Public Accounting from the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences at the University of the Republic (Uruguay). He has a postgraduate degree in Tax Law from the Institute of Business Studies in Montevideo. He serves on the board of directors of the Uruguayan Institute of Tax Studies. He is an expert in tax and accounting advisory services for individuals and businesses. He is the author of publications on tax matters and has spoken at various national and international conferences related to his field of expertise. He was a member of the tax department of one of the “Big Four” firms.