Finding Allies, Building Alliances: 8 Elements That Bring and Keep People Together

From Governor and White House cabinet member Mike Leavitt: how to find collaborative solutions to the greatest challenges Your business challenges extend far beyond you and your firm, to the competitors within your industry and the regulators outside it. Finding solutions to larger issues requires cooperation between diverse stakeholders, and in this rapidly changing world, only those able to adapt and network successfully will produce fast, competitive solutions. How can leaders successfully bridge divides and turn competitors into collaborators? Leavitt and McKeown explain how a well–chosen network can become a powerful alliance. Whether you′re launching a new partnership, or rehabilitating one already in progress, Finding Allies, Building Alliances will help you find workable solutions to the most complex problems. Written by Mike Leavitt, former Governor of Utah who brought the 2002 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City, former US Secretary of Health and human services, and former head of the EPA; with his former Chief of Staff and business partner Rich McKeown, co–founder of Leavitt Partners Includes a framework of 8 elements that will help any leader foster and maintain an effective, productive collaborative venture Shows how better collaboration can not only solve problems, but boost the competitiveness and resilience in all sectors Finding Allies, Building Alliances is essential reading for any business leader looking for transformative solutions and a sustainable future.

About the Authors

Mike Leavitt is the founder and chairman of Leavitt Partners, where he has advised clients since 2009 in the practice areas of health care, environment and trade. He served as the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Cabinet of President George W. Bush (2005-2009); led the Environmental Protection Agency (2003-2005); and served three terms as governor of Utah (1993-2003). His managerial accomplishments include leading the implementation of the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, which serves 43 million seniors; collaborating with other governors to found Western Governor’s University, a non-profit online university system; and spearheading an innovative design-build system to revamp the Utah highway network ahead of schedule and under budget.

Rich McKeown is president, CEO and co-founder of Leavitt Partners, where he leads teams that help clients enter new markets, enhance product value, and navigate regulatory systems. During his tenure as Chief of Staff at Health and Human Services, he managed the day-to-day activities of 67,000 employees with a budget of $750 billion and led landmark food safety negotiations between the FDA and the Chinese government.

Finding Allies, Building Alliances: 8 Elements That Bring and Keep People Together
By Mike Leavitt and Rich McKeown
Hardcover: 240 pages
ISBN-10: 1118247922

UK Private Company Ownership going public – threat or opportunity?

Britain is pressing ahead with plans to have a publicly-accessible, central register of the individuals who ultimately own, and control, UK companies. Will this move to transparency increase trust in UK business as the government hopes or have investors running for cover?

Background

In 2013, while holding presidency of the G8, the UK government pressed for a publicly-accessible register of people with significant control of companies (PSC Register) to be adopted by all G8 members. While other G8 members would not, at the time, go as far as this they did to agree to publish plans to ensure companies know who owns them. Meanwhile the UK was undeterred in not getting agreement and has pressed ahead with its plans to construct its own public PSC Register. It is their stated belief that transparency and accountability are essential for trust and that businesses, investors and society will have greater confidence in the UK, and in doing business in the UK, if the company register and, in particular, the details of the ultimate beneficial owners of companies, are accessible to the public.

UK position and other European initiatives

Having initially consulted on this the UK is now working the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill 2014-15 through parliament including fundamental changes to the manner in which company data is maintained and accessible to the public. As the Bill presently stands all companies will have to identify and disclose details of the ultimate beneficial ownership of any shareholder who holds, or exercises control of, more than 25% of the shares in issue of a company or anyone who exercises undue influence on the board to the Company Registry. A consultation document is currently in existence outlining the proposals for the secondary legislation that sets out how it will operate (and crucially exemptions to the rule) which runs until 9 December. That consultation document can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/367578/bis-14-1145-the-register-of-people-with-significant-control-psc-register-register-final-1.pdf

The stated aims are to minimise illicit activities whether they be money laundering, tax evasion, corruption or terrorist financing. All are, of course, highly laudable proposals, aims and concepts. However the question remains that, with the UK running well ahead of other countries, will the UK public register achieve those aims and to what extent will it create a burden or hindrance to business?

19-22 February 2015: GGI International Taxation Weekend. We love Marbella in Winter

Travelling to sunny places is delightful at any time, but a chance to briefly escape the cold winter weather is particularly special. Those who were lucky enough to attend the GGI Practice Groups Weekend in Marbella for the Winter Meeting 2012 will remember having a great experience, and everyone was in agreement that it should definitely be repeated. The wait has not been too long. Just two years later, the decision has been made to meet at the seaside for a second time from 19 to 22 February 2015.

We at JC&A Abogados, GGI correspondence firm in Marbella, welcome the decision and are pleased to host the Winter Meeting again.

Those who did not have the chance to come last time or who have never visited this part of Spain are cordially invited to beautiful Marbella. Situated along the Costa del Sol, this chic holiday resort is a favoured get-away for the rich and famous and it is not hard to see why.

There is no such thing as a foreigner in Marbella. With all the appeal of a large city and the charm of a convenient town, Marbella is without doubt one of the best places in the world to live.

Marbella is famous for its internationally renowned and exceptional climate due to its unique geographical location surrounded by mountains. The annual average temperature is around 18.5ºC, with 320 days of sunshine a year.

Marbella has the largest number of golf courses in continental Europe. It is home to 15 of the best courses, which have hosted many international events and where golf can be played 365 days a year without the need of a sweater. It is a veritable golfing paradise.

Sunbathing, swimming in the tranquil Mediterranean waters, having lunch in a beachside restaurant, enjoying a drink in an exclusive beach club – these are just some of the options open to those visiting the 27.9km of beaches stretching along Marbella’s coastline, which is the finest on the Costa del Sol.

Thursday 19 February is the day of arrival with no official agenda, although some participants have arranged private leisure programmes spending a few days more prior to the Conference. We could also organise a programme of activities for Thursday, if there is enough quorum or interest.

The programme will start on Friday 20 February with the customary conferences in the morning, followed by an outdoor team-building activity if the weather allows during the afternoon (still to be confirmed). The ITPG will meet again for technical presentations throughout all of Saturday 21 February, ending with a nice dinner at local restaurant. The weekend will continue on Sunday with optional outdoor activities, which could perhaps include some golf lessons again as in 2012, if wished for by attendees.

The technical agenda includes a big case study on international holding and trade companies (U.S. corporations with two shareholders as natural persons, wishing to build up a group of trading companies in Europe). Chaired by Prof. Robert Anthony from France this will involve splitting those attending into smaller groups to discuss various issues that have been covered by separate PG meetings in previous meetings (e.g. tax structuring, VAT, legal, expatriates). Another key focus will be a case study chaired by Klaus Küspert from Germany on base erosion and profit shifting of a German manufacturer distributing all over Europe.

Shorter presentations will be held on various tax topics such as “Cross-border Financing Using Hybrid Instruments” (Robert Worthington from Canada), “Transfer Pricing Litigation – Case History with Italian Tax Authority” (Matteo Bedogna from Italy) and the “golden visa” and notes about the tax reform or the possibility to claim for refund on inheritance tax further to the ECJ sentence (Santiago Lapausa, our host from Spain).

Ashish Bairagra from India and Huub Kapel from the Netherlands have also agreed to give presentations and will be choosing their subject matter in due course. Arlene Rochlin and Patrizia Giannini from Italy, who talked about why attorneys and accountants should interact at the last ITPG winter meeting, have also announced their attendance and will be surprising visitors with a motivating non-tax topic.

Of course there will be plenty of time to discuss internal topics, as well as for networking and cooperation between GGI’s tax experts. If you would be interested in presenting a tax topic, please contact Oliver.

As usual we have decided to put special emphasis on working and networking together. We have chosen the same 4-star hotel as in 2012, located directly on the beach. This allows us to offer the meeting at a very favourable price, comparable to the costs of an EasyMeet, so that it should be possible to attend with two or even three people from your firm. Given that part of our meeting will be over the weekend, the time taken off from the office can be reduced to only one or one-and-a-half days. We will keep our fingers crossed that the weather will be as sunny as it was last time, allowing us to have lunch at the beach, which should act as an extra incentive to come and relax from hard work in February.

Official invitations and registration forms will follow and be sent to all ITPG members. We are looking forward to seeing you in Marbella and are confident a great time will be had by all.

Benefitax GmbH, Steuerberatungsgesellschaft, Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft
Auditing & Accounting, Tax, Advisory, Corporate Finance, Fiduciary & Estate Planning

Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Oliver Biernat
E: o.biernat@benefitax.de
W: http://www.benefitax.de

JC&A, Javier Carretero y Asociados – Abogados
Tax, Law Firm
Marbella, Spain

Thailand at the crossroads

This time last year, millions of Thai citizens took to the streets demanding political and social reforms for their beloved country. The demonstrations continued for six months until the tense situation erupted on Thursday 22 May 2014 at 4.30 p.m. local time, with the Thai approach to resolution involving a peaceful coup d’état by the military. The military government was formed with a strong commitment to reform the country and to bring back a genuine democratic regime in which Thais from all walks of life would have the opportunity to participate and be involved by the year 2015.

Four months after the coup, the Thais are relatively at ease with the situation and progress is steadily continuing. The Consumer Confidence Index reached a nine-year high of 45.8 points in September 2014 while GDP is forecasted to grow by 4.8% in 2015, following 1.5% this year. The new government has moved quickly on a range of issues, including meeting outstanding payments to rice farmers and starting a USD 75 billion infrastructure spending programme on new rail links and highways. Major policies towards better income distribution and social justice have been initiated by the current government, including inheritance tax and land tax, which were unpopular among the social elite groups who were part of the previously elected administrations. Positive reforms on other aspects, such as education and human resource development, transparency, good governance and more are all underway in the country.

Despite condemnation against the coup and the suspension of aid by the U.S. government, the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC), together with 34 executives of prominent US multinational corporations, such as Microsoft, Google, Chevron, Ford, General Motor, Coca Cola, etc., met with Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha in November 2014 to discuss future endeavours. The participants enthusiastically expressed their interest in investments in infrastructure projects and other initiatives in areas such as green energy, digital economy, medical and health and many others.

Thailand and its neighbouring countries are about to enter 2015, a year in which the much anticipated ASEAN Economic Community will launch, resulting in a freer flow of goods, services, investment, capital and skilled labour. This upcoming scheme will literally put Thailand, with its geographical advantage, at the crossroads of the planned ASEAN highway network (12 routes, 6,669 kilometres) and the Greater Mekong sub-region economic corridor will cross in the kingdom. To capitalise on the new era, Thailand has proposed the ASEAN connectivity development with special economic zones in five major areas and the country as the geographical hub of the region. In 2015, Thailand will be on track to play a dynamic and active role in this promising community.

As this year’s Asia-Pacific Conference will be held shortly before the new economic era of the New Year 2015, it will certainly be an exciting time to visit Thailand. The Dherakupt International Law Office Ltd. (DRK) team, led by Dr Anuphan Kitnitchiva, looks forward to welcoming all representatives of the GGI member firms attending the Conference during which attendees will have the amazing opportunity to be at a crossroads to witness the progressive reform of Thailand, the Land of Smiles.

GGI member firm

Dherakupt International Law Office Ltd.
Tax, Law Firm
Bangkok, Thailand
Dr. Anuphan Kitnitchiva
E: anuphan_k@drklaw.com
W: http://www.drklaw.com

GGI International Staff Exchange – a wonderful experience in Italy

We proved that GGI offers not only an efficient business platform and a wonderful networking occasion but also a great staff exchange opportunity too!

This summer will be remembered by Comma10’s staff because of the special guest that we were fortunate enough to have with us for an internship from June to July: Sam Quinan, from Christian & Barton, LLP based in Richmond, Virginia, and son of our good friend Michael J. Quinan.

Let me give a brief summary of this period.

Sam landed in Italy on a sunny Friday and we were all a little worried as we awaited his arrival because of the challenge that having a young American intern would bring, but Sam’s character was such that everything immediately felt extremely natural and relaxed.

After a much-needed weekend of resting from the flight and recovering from jet lag, the internship started on Monday. To be honest, the beginning of daily work in an accounting or law firm is not that easy because of the language barrier and different rules for a non-native Italian speaker, but for us it proved to be an opportunity to work with an outstanding, smart and active colleague.

Sam was able to contribute to solutions, being involved in the issues of our international clients and in the solving the problems concerning both fiscal and business home country law, despite the peculiarity and the complexity of Italian legal system.

Everybody knows that Italy is not only a country with work prospects, but also an amazing place to visit, and we had the opportunity to travel with Sam on some business trips to special destinations including Lake Como and Rome.

The summer in Milan was hot and the city was further fired up for the FIFA World Cup matches. Sam was able to see first-hand that Italians are football addicts!

At the end of the internship, all the staff were very sorry to see Sam leave as great friendships had been established over the two months. The farewell was in true Italian style with a good pizza.

We would like to end this short article with Sam’s own words: “By the end of my eight weeks in Milan I felt like I had learned a great deal about the law and accounting systems within Italy, as well as gaining helpful business experience by being allowed to tag along for various meetings throughout the summer. This summer truly was a remarkable experience, one that I know that I will hold dear for the remainder of my life.”

Comma 10 Chartered Accountants & Lawyers
Auditing & Accounting, Tax, Advisory, Corporate Finance
Milan, Italy

Dr. Sergio Finulli
W: http://www.comma10.it

Christian & Barton, LLP
Law Firm
Richmond, VA, USA

Sam Quinan
E: squinan@colgate.edu
W: http://www.cblaw.com

Significant experience working with GGI

Since the successful grand opening ceremony as part of the Asia-Pacific Regional Conference in 2012, GGI’s representative office in Bangkok has been serving all GGI member firms from across the Asia-Pacific region for the past two years. This has also been my first experience as part of the GGI Team based in Bangkok.

It is often said that it is difficult to adjust to a new environment. Learning the strategy is always one of the great enjoyments of working in such a position, while at the same time gaining profitable experience. I have learned the importance of providing the best services to our member firms and seen first-hand how opening this GGI representative office has helped us to grow rapidly in the Asia-Pacific region. Bangkok has been specifically chosen as a great hub for foreign investors seeking opportunities in Laos and other nearby countries, such as Myanmar and Cambodia. Most importantly, it enhances our services and the assistance we can provide to our existing member firms. All things considered, I found that every working procedure does require beneficial advice and support from the Regional CEO, Peter Kaeser.

We are again looking forward to welcoming you all soon to our upcoming APRC 2014 (Asia-Pacific Regional Conference 2014) taking place at the Shangri-La Spa & Resort in Bangkok. It will certainly be another great and successful event, as in 2012. Should you require any assistance with regards to your stay in Bangkok, such as hotel accommodation or logistical support, please feel free to contact me and I will be more than happy to assist you. The office is located in the most modern building. One of the most famous Japanese restaurants, Kudeta, is in the same building, on the 39th floor, offering world-class service and authentic Japanese food.

GGI Asian-Pacific Representative Office
Bangkok, Thailand
Sarinthip Srisasiwilai (Sarin)
T: +66 2105 63 44
M: +66 93 889 0833
F: +66 2105 63 01
E: sarinthip@ggi.com

Michael Reiss von Filski appointed to LSM’s Advisory Board

GGI Global CEO Michael Reiss von Filski was appointed to the Advisory Board of the Louvain School of Management (LSM).

Located very close to the heart of Europe, LSM offers multilingual world-class courses and highly specialised opportunities based on advanced research. LSM is part of one of the oldest universities in Europe, the Université Catholique de Louvain (www.uclouvain.be), which dates back to 1425 and provides interdisciplinary and multicultural experiences. The LSM is ranked the number 1 Business School in Belgium, Master in Business Engineering (Financial Times 2011 and 2013.) The EQUIS accreditation is an international acknowledgement of the school’s constant efforts to improve and achieve even higher quality. LSM has an extended international network with 150 exchange agreements and is the only Belgian partner of the CEMS (www.cems.org) and Partnership in International Management (PIM; www.pimnetwork.org) networks. By tradition and choice, LSM’s mission is to put human values at the heart of decisions.

LSM maintains strong corporate connections as both a prerequisite and a consequence of its strategy. Accordingly, LSM strives to develop various privileged collaborations with the key players of both public and private society, enabling students and faculty alike to benefit from their knowledge and expertise, while providing them with access to the School’s knowledge and expertise in return.

The Dean of LSM is Prof. Michel de Wolf, Managing Partner of GGI member firm DGST (www.dgst.be) in Brussels. LSM counts a core faculty of 230 professors, guest professors and speakers, 1,600 students and 20,000 alumni. The Advisory Board of LSM consists of a panel of 30 executives from multinational corporations and business education specialists and is chaired by Baron Pierre Olivier Beckers-Vieujant, Director of Delhaize Group, President of the Olympic Committee of Belgium and member of the International Olympic Committee.

GGI Member Firms of the Year 2014

For the first time, the GGI Member of the Year Awards were held for GGI members at the GGI World Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. GGI members nominate other GGI firms for the awards. They acknowledge innovations, achievements and strategies, as well as the progressive and inspirational changes taking place within the industry. The judging panel, which is comprised of GGI’s Executive Committee and GGI’s Executive Management, scrutinised all nominations to ensure that they met the specific criteria for the GGI Member of the Year Award. These include reliability, professionalism, response behaviour, reputation and client services.

The firms were put forward by fellow GGI member firms through the online voting system available on the internal area of GGI’s website.

We are very proud to present the first three winners of the GGI Member of the Year Awards:

GT Fiduciaires, Luxembourg

The GT Fiduciaires (GTF) group was founded in 2006. Through its different entities located in Luxembourg City and Echternach, GT Fiduciaires is able to offer advisory and assistance services relating to the setup of company structures right through to their liquidation, including all the various stages involved in the support and management of a company in Luxembourg.

GTF has a workforce of around forty employees, all highly qualified in their various fields and conversant in at least English, French, German and Luxembourgish.

GTF has undergone considerable growth, thanks to its capacity to speedily adapt to constantly evolving market demands. The company is managed by Thierry Hellers and Gernot Kos.
Thierry Heller comments: “On behalf of the management and all our personnel, GTF is very honoured to receive the 2014 GGI Member of the Year Award. We look forward to many more years of dynamic networking within the GGI Family.”

McCabes, Australia

McCabes is thrilled to be a winner of the GGI XLNC award for 2014, and Andrew Lacey and Steven Humphries were equally thrilled to have been there in Cape Town to receive it.

“Thank you to GGI for the honour, to Heyns and Nolands for hosting a memorable and enjoyable conference and to all the member firm representatives in attendance at Cape Town for your wonderful company.

Having been a GGI member for 2 years now, the award certainly gives us the confidence of knowing that our work with fellow member firms has been well received. We hope this will generate further opportunities to deepen our involvement and develop relationships within the network”.

Briefly by way of background for GGI members McCabes experts haven’t yet had the opportunity to work with, McCabes is an Australian law firm with over 60 lawyers in our Sydney and Newcastle offices. They service clientele in all areas of business and across many industries. McCabes’ clients include multi-national corporations, manufacturers, service providers, government departments, SMEs, family-owned enterprises and entrepreneurs. They are well connected in Australian private and public sectors, and are very happy to explore with GGI member firms and their clients how their local legal expertise and broader network of contracts might assist them. McCabes specialises in the following practice areas of legal practice:

Corporate, Employment, Government & Administrative Law, Insolvency, Insurance, Intellectual Property, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Private Clients (Estates & Succession Planning), Property.

VBIR (Vardi Brukner Ingber Rozenzvieg, CPA ), Israel

The accounting firm is located in the vicinity of Tel-Aviv with 35 employees and five partners.

VBIR specialises in providing accounting, audit, taxation and wealth management services. The firm’s attributes include excellent professional ability and offering an efficient, focused and personal service to its clients.

Dov Ingber, a Partner with VBIR: “I am honoured and proud to receive the GGI XLNC award on behalf of the entire VBIR team. Thanks to all our GGI fellows with whom we have worked very well over the past few years.”

“I tried to think about what we have done so well to make us eligible for this honour. So, we have certainly invested a lot of effort and worked hard to always remain professional, but the truly unique achievement of VBIR has been to introduce a new Palestinian member to GGI. This activity indicates that GGI is not just a place to unite professionals and friends but also a way in which a bridge to peace can be built.”

If you believe that one GGI member firm has gone that extra mile and deserves to win this prestigious award, then you can make it happen.

To nominate a fellow GGI member firm, please login to GGI’s internal website and follow these steps (it will only take two minutes):

• Go to GGI Awards – GGI Member Firm of the Year – Submit your nomination
• Fill in the required information and click “Send”.

Nominations must be submitted before 27 February 2015.

14-16 November 2014 – Rome, Italy GGI Italian Business Summit

The 2014 edition of the Italian Busi- ness Summit was held in Rome and The Vatican City, 14 to 16 November 2014. It was hosted by GGI’s Rome-based mem- ber Solutions 4 Business (S4B) with Lucio Fumagalli, organised and led by GGI and S4B by Patricia Giannini, Stefania Turco and Ugo Girardi, CEO of S4B, from the GGI member firm with the same name.

On Friday 14 November, the programme commenced with a visit to the Vatican Secret Archives, an exclusive tour exclusively for guests of the Italian Business Summit, where the prefect of the Vatican allowed us to cross the threshold into the part of the Vatican which is generally private and not accessible to the public. Together with the other guests, Claudio Cocca, President of GGI, was therefore given the chance to wander through the archives, which cover a total length of 85 km and contain documents covering about 1,000 years of world history.

After the archive bunker that had captured the curiosity of the more than 60 guests, they turned their attention to the many frescoes that had been lying hidden away for hundreds of years on walls up to 5 meters high. These included those in the Room of the Winds. They then savoured the breathtaking view of Rome basking in the last rays of a spectacular golden sunset.

The practice groups once again lived up to expectations. The IDR PG, opened by Johan Lange- laar, took place at the Vatican School of Palaeography, where every member had his own personal HD computer workstation. This enabled them to follow the slide presentation of the history lesson on the “Roman Rota” by Dr Enrico Flaiani and the “Roman Rota Today” seminar given by Arlene Rochlin, American attorney, and Patrizia Giannini, S4B partner. The presentations impressed through their vitality and humour.

The ITPG was opened by Alan Rajah at the same secret archives. Then a young and energetic Marta Testi from the Italian Stock Exchange captivated the room for over 40 minutes. This was followed by Antonio Boccia of Baldi and Partners, a new member of GGI, with two interesting presentations on the ELITE project and the AIM segment of the Italian Stock Exchange, part of the London Stock Exchange. Emanuele Rizzardi ended the ITPG with a presentation on “Web Reputation” accompanied by a closing speech from the unequalled orator, Lucius Fumagalli, from S4B. To view the official reports, please visit http://www.IBSummit.it.

The evening ended with a simple but delicious Neapolitan meal of Caprese, during which new relationships were established, in keeping with the true forte of GGI members and events.

The Italian Business Summit 2014, held at Palazzo Baldassini on Saturday 15 November, started with the opening speech from GGI President Claudio Cocca. The many speakers were of considerable importance for the Italian Piazza. The Assocamerestero, the association of the Italian Chambers of Commerce outside the country, is calling on investments in not just the mainstream Italian markets, but also in niche sectors, that are less prominent but nonetheless pro- ductive and successful. These markets supply unsurpassed products, operating in line with the philosophy of “machinery made in Italy means design efficiency and quality”.

Following this was the presentation by Indra, the Spanish corporation and international giant in communications that told its own story of how it has strengthened investment in Italy for the next few years.

After a light lunch at the Zafferino restaurant, the afternoon session opened with presentations by new recruits, SaveTheCut and young Italian entrepreneurs who, despite the possibility of working abroad, decided instead to establish their headquarters in Italy. The theme was the changing communications market, with some hilarious examples. The whole audience was absorbed by the new information.

The Italian Business Summit ended with a talk by Valerio Capello, of Back- Rome, and Luigi Caracciolo, of Iventure Group, explaining the new dynamics of investment research, a different angle on business in Italy. The beautiful building from 1300 in which the dinner was held is worthy of mention, but so too is the fun had by approximately 50 professionals in a nightclub in the heart of Rome, where they danced to house remix music.

At 9:30 am on Sunday, 25 guests attended the teambuilding exercise, which was as unexpected as it was fun. In spring-like weather, the three teams went in search

of the Holy Grail, enthusiastically getting involved in the picturesque setting of Castel Sant’Angelo. Ultimately, the team of Clan Templar sol- diers, comprising a Swiss/ Mongol/Danish/Italian army, scored an unforgettable victory, beating their competitors to devour all the treats in the baskets, overcoming fountains and bridges, beating assassins and secret agents, trusting in mute Templars and even weird pizzas.

To conclude, Italian Busi- ness Summit 2014 was everything GGI expected.

A warm greeting also from Federico Grossi, who looks forward to welcoming many of you at the IBS 2015 in Florence.

Budapest – where historic elegance meets modern trends 7 to 9 November, 2014 – EasyMeet Budapest

The 2014 GGI Autumn EasyMeet was held in Budapest from 7 to 9 November and was characterised by a diversity of professional, cultural and recreational events. Some of the delegates arrived early in Budapest to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather and were therefore able to participate in even more fascinating activities, such as visiting the famous New York Café and the Gerbeaud Confectionary, along with many historical monuments, and at night, the unique ‘ruin pubs’ and popular local bars. The host companies were Audit Service Kft. and Kovács Réti Szegheő Attorneys-at-Law.

The official Conference began on Friday evening with a welcome reception at the hotel bar, when old friends had a chance to catch up and new acquaintances were made. The group then moved on to Spoon, a boat restaurant on the Danube with a truly breathtaking view of the Castle District and the Chain Bridge.

Saturday revolved around the Conference session, which was opened by Claudio G. Cocca, President and Founder of GGI, who drew on Hungarian history to emphasise the importance and possibilities presented by the EasyMeet generation. Dr Attila Kovács of KRS also welcomed the delegates and shared some of his fondest memories of being a GGI member. The first half of the conference dealt with European issues from the impact of the European Parliamentary elections, through the economic recovery after the crisis, to the possibilities that such an in-depth knowledge can provide to all GGI members. The second half focused more on Hungary, its corporate tax system and auditing practices.

The organisers were fortunate enough to be able to secure not one, but two keynote speakers. The first was Professor Attila Ágh, who was the Head of Political Science Department at the Budapest University of Economics between 1990 and 2002 and is now the Director of the Hungarian Centre for Democracy Studies. In 2007, he became the project leader for the preparation of the Belgian, Hungarian and Spanish team presidency in the project of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office. His expertise in international political sciences allowed the participants to understand the changes taking place in Europe due to the EP elections this year. His speech about the different opportunities and challenges that the new administration is facing provided the groundwork for the next presentations. Professor Ágh, who is the author of many articles and publications, kindly provided the participants with one of his books. Professor Ágh was followed by another illustrious speaker: Zoltán Kazatsay who also served as Deputy State Secretary at the Hungarian Ministry of Economy and Transport and Alternate Governor of Hungary at the EBRD from 2002-2004, before he joined the European Institutions. Additionally, he was also the Chairman of a Working Group at the OECD. He is currently the Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General of Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. Using his knowledge of the inner workings of EU institutions, he spoke about the difficulties that young people, in particular, are facing in the current economic climate, the obstacles of entering the labour market as well as the grants and funds that his DG provides in order to help them. To conclude the first half of the Conference, Dr Laszlo Tunyogi, H.E. Klára Akóts, ex-ambassador of Hungary in the United Nations, and Bernadett Csúsz talked about how knowledge of current European issues can help GGI members further improve their professional success. Their European Monitor bulletin, published on GGI’s intranet every two weeks, informs of all the new topics that are relevant within the EU institutions, organised around the GGI Practice Groups so that members may find titles relevant to their interests more easily. The Monitor also includes a list of upcoming events, the progress of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations as well as a detailed chart of the “Your Voice in Europe” topic that is open for discussion. The bulletin is an electronic publication and therefore includes hyperlinks to further reading material.

The second half of the Conference belonged to the host firms: it was opened by Dr Anita Ihász Kovácsné of KRS, who gave an interesting presentation on the Hungarian corporate tax system and the tax planning possibilities it provides. She was followed by Dr Iván Serényi of AuditService Kft. who, along with several of his colleagues, gave a comprehensive introduction into the world of auditing, which was also clear and fascinating to those operating in an entirely different field of expertise. The Conference was concluded by Timon Witschi, who shared his experiences of the GGI Staff Exchange Programme.

In the evening, the delegates were transported to the Castle District where, after a short walk, they had wine tasting followed by dinner at the elegant St. George’s Residence, after which they had a chance to delve into the Budapest night life and its popular spots such as Divino, Hello Baby Bar and Szimpla.

The last chance to see a bit more of Budapest was during the Sunday morning optional sightseeing tour around the city centre and the Castle District. Delegates left Budapest having made new friends, many memories and the knowledge that this was not “Goodbye, Budapest”, but see you again soon!