James Badenach to spearhead A&M’s tax growth ambition across Asia Pacific

Alvarez & Marsal has named a new leader for its Tax division in Asia Pacific, bringing in James Badenach from EY.

Appointed as a Managing Director and Head of Tax for Asia Pacific (excluding Australia), James Badenach has ben tasked with expanding Alvarez & Marsal’s offerings in the region. A relatively large practice in other parts of the world including North America and Europe, Alvarez & Marsal Tax is still in its early days in Asia Pacific.

Alvarez & Marsal Tax currently offers its range of tax advisory, compliance and transfer pricing services to clients in Hong Kong and Singapore, but Badenach will work on rapidly expanding the footprint to include China, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and other markets. Alvarez & Marsal has offices in eight APAC countries.

Ernesto (Ernie) Perez, Global Practice Leader of Alvarez & Marsal Tax, noted that the firm is keen to replicate its strong growth in the Australian market, where the firm launched its Tax arm in February this year and already has built a team of over 80 staff.

“We have already seen explosive growth in Australia and James will build upon that momentum with scope and scale in both new and existing jurisdictions across Asia Pacific. The region is very broad and culturally diverse. Thus, a significant portion of capital and investments flow cross-border between interconnected nations. We can satisfy market demand offering clients a premium tax practice operating seamlessly across borders, unencumbered by audit conflicts,” Perez said.

Commenting on his remit, Badenach said: “Clients in APAC are demanding a global alternative to the audit firms with regional, local, and cross border tax expertise. Clients across the region understand the value as well as the costs and pain that can be mitigated by bringing in the right tax expertise at the right time – particularly in a rapidly changing international tax environment.”

Badenach said that Alvarez & Marsal Tax differentiates itself from its main rivals (most have a heritage in accounting) with its audit-free model. “At Alvarez & Marsal Tax, we leverage our integrated and global platform as well as operate with freedom from audit.”

Prior to joining Alvarez & Marsal, Badenach served as Asia Pacific International Corporate Tax Advisory Leader and Financial Services International Tax Leader for EY. At the Big Four firm, he advised on Hong Kong and international tax matters, including the tax implications of transactions, optimal cross-border arrangements, access structures, tax policy developments and the impact of (OECD) driven changes on the international tax framework.

Additionally, he originated the TaxGrid project, an industry and government program to address legal and regulatory issues involving global withholding tax challenges.

Before his dozen years at EY, Badenach spent eight years with Royal Bank of Scotland, latterly in the role of Head of Tax for Asia Pacific. He has been based in Hong Kong since the turn of the century.