Sorainen

Tiina Pajula from Afry explains about  climate change and carbon at corporations: ·         Megatrends and drivers·         Climate and carbon as a part of wider strategic (ESG) frames at companies ·         Industry sector and company volunteer initiatives·         What could (Baltic) companies do to enhance their “carbon actions”?  ·         Key takeaways

How to market without getting caught by the supervisory authorities. The view of the three Baltic states. Discussion from Data protection webinar, Latvia edition.

In this Tax Stories episode I chat with Porus Kaka who is a tax world celebrity, a former president of IFA globally, now Honorary President, the 1st IFA president from Asia in it's ~85 years' history. Porus is a Senior Advocate (India) and a Barrister (England and Wales), a trustee at IBFD, completed his LL.M from Harvard Law School. His specialisation is TP litigation, direct and international tax. He is ranked by Chambers & Partners consistently as one of India's leading Senior Tax Advocates and quoted as “The International Face of Indian Tax Practice”. Also the International Tax Review recognised Porus as one of India's Leading Tax Counsels.

Tax Stories Podcast – Episode 36 – Pekka Puolakka (FIN) – lessons from father and IOTIn this Tax Stories episode, Jānis chats with Pekka who has spent more than 20 years with Sorainen law firm. After that, he was the Managing Partner of EY Law Baltics for nearly 2 years. He has been my role model and many others. I'd describe him more as an artist in his heart, a lawyer who speaks the business language, and a friend who understands people and knows how to pay attention & listen.

Simon is ranked consistently among the leading individuals for tax litigation by the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. He is a founding partner at Joseph Hage Aaronson, established 10 years ago. JHA is a boutique dispute resolution firm which specialises in tax litigation. JHA tax litigation practice is ranked in Tier One of Legal 500 and Chambers UK, for every year since the firm was established. We discussed Cicero, books Simon recommends, principles of life and taxation, keys to success of his tax litigation practice.

Leonard Wagenaar is a director at EY UK office, mostly visible as M&A, PE and international tax expert. He was with a Big4 for 9 years, was also working for a bank, two private equity funds and his own consulting. Probably what makes Leonard even more unusual and interesting to follow is that he has a degree in philosophy and one in history. And one can feel that his posts on LinkedIn are stand out, like small pieces of art, linked to music, languages, travels, etc.

Christian is a global head of tax @Siemens in charge of some 650 tax people, tax law professor & Dr., lecturing at Vienna and Freiburg Universities, president of IFA Germany, Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce Tax Commission, Chairman of the supervisory board of WTS tax network, living an extremely busy life in Germany.

In the first Energy Club Latvia we have invited a guest speaker, expert with extensive experience in the wind park project development - Erika Ščiogoleva, head of Ignitis Renewables Latvia. Erika shares her insights into investors' views of wind park projects: what the most significant things are for investors and what mistakes developers can make during the process that may affect the interests of the investor. 

Counsel Viktorija Cherkas, head of Sorainen's Latvian Energy sector group, speaks about the latest amendments to legal regulation, which will have a direct impact on wind park development – what to be aware of, and which requirements allow simplification of wind park development and according to what conditions.

Sorainen senior associate Andris Vilisons shares a legal overview of the zoning requirements: how developers can feel safe about zoning requirements for the development of wind parks, what the legal solution is in case site planning contradicts Cabinet Rules, and what guarantees developers may receive regarding whether or not detailed planning development is required.

Our guest speakers from Loyens & Loeff – associate, attorney-at-law Joren Vuylsteke and partner, attorney-at-law Valentijn De Boe introduced a number of case studies of complaints to European Commission. They also presented a schematic overview of a typical complaints process and concluded with practical tips for those considering lobbying in the EU.

Tax Stories Podcast – Episode 27 – Allison Christians (Canada)

Tax Stories Podcast – Episode 26/Part II –Illya Sverglov (Ukraine)

Tax Stories Podcast – Episode 25 –Illya Sverglov (Ukraine)

Tax Stories Podcast – Episode 24 –Saulė Dagilytė

Tax Stories Podcast – Episode 23 – Ana Utumi on USD 6 billion tax fraud

Kaspars has scored 51 points in 81 games while playing for Latvia national ice hockey team. He has been playing in NHL for Ottava Senators & Boston Bruins. Then he played at KHL in Russia and Latvia. Currently Kaspars plays in the Swiss National League for Bern. The first ½ of the chat is more on life and business principles, and then we dive into taxation in sports in the 2nd half. https://tax-stories.simplecast.com/episodes/kaspars-daugavins-on-taxation-in-sports-B1_WsT7U 

Tax Stories Podcast – Episode 20 – Edward Mwachinga (Kenya) & Theophilus Tawiah (Ghana) – Africa is RisingEdward and Theo will tell us about their careers, businesses and tax systems of Kenya and Ghana. They are both partners of the leading tax consulting firms in their countries, both are members of WTS Global tax network, covering all Africa. We will also speak about literature, coffin dance, happiness and motivation, how they are giving back to their communities, about rankings of tax firms in Africa, what are the top industries in Kenya and Ghana, and what are the main tax incentives there.https://tax-stories.simplecast.com/episodes/edward-mwachinga-kenya-theophilus-tawiah-ghana-africa-is-rising

Richard Asquith is CEO of VAT Calc – VAT & technology company. He is also a winner of International Tax Review's ‘Tax Innovator of the Year' award. In our chat we dive into literature, wine and relations; why e-invoicing is the thing; on VAT automation; on some predictions; on thought online leadership; on VAT fraud and which countries stand out as having the best VAT systems.https://tax-stories.simplecast.com/episodes/richard-asquith-vat-calc-on-vat-technologies-ecALBYoM

Bill Browder after the murder of his tax lawyer Sergey Magnitskiy gave up his life as a businessman and became a human rights activist. He is also an author of the book “Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice”. We dive into the details of this tax affair – how exactly did it happen, how the fraud was discovered and the money & assets bought – traced, where and how it was investigated and what was the result of it all.https://tax-stories.simplecast.com/episodes/bill-browder-hermitage-capital-on-the-magnitskiy-case-RQzbJZ_l

Tax Stories Podcast – Episode 17– Harriet Brown and Grahame Jackson.Harriet Brown and Grahame Jackson are authors of a podcast International Tax Bites that explains different tax concepts. They both in September 2021 released a book “A Practitioner's Guide to International Tax Information Exchange Regimes”, published by www.spiramus.com. Harriet practices tax in the UK, but Grahame – in Gibraltar. We discussed their careers, the podcast, the book and the global tax issues at large.https://tax-stories.simplecast.com/episodes/harriet-brown-uk-barrister-and-grahame-jackson-hassans-on-information-exchange-and-tax-podcasts-Q_f_wX_4

Jānis Zelmenis is a Chairman of Management Board & Equity Partner at BDO Latvia, and one of the most prominent tax experts in Latvia. Having the conversation exactly on his 50th birthday we look back at his achievements and aims, leadership style, his book about the post-USSR privatisation in Latvia and offshores used for that (the interview was recorded just before the Pandora Papers were released), Latvia's tax history during the 1st independence (1918-1940) and the lessons we can learn from it now, as well as his Top 3 highlights of the current tax system in Latvia.https://tax-stories.simplecast.com/episodes/janis-zelmenis-bdo-the-latvian-taxation-100-years-ago-and-now-lT9yc9Lq

Ronny Langer is a founding partner of KMLZ, which became Tier 1 Indirect tax firm in Germany just in 15 years! We discuss – how?Ronny was modest to relate this great achievement to a lack of competition (at least initially). He was also inspired at the beginning by the UK consultants who said that about 40% of their work is in VAT advice.

Joel Slemrod is a professor of economics at the University of Michigan, and Michael Keen is a deputy director of the Fiscal Affairs department at the IMF. Both are authors of a brand new book – Rebellion, Rascals and Revenue – that is full of tax stories from the history of many different countries around the world.

Jens Svolgaard mostly has been working with tax in e-commerce – Electronic Arts (EA), Spotify and now – Bolt, the Estonian and global unicorn. The conversation with Jens can be divided in three blocks – Bolt business, personal development revelations and taxation trends around the globe.

Counsel Monika Mališauskaitė-Vaupšienė introduces competition aspects affecting online sales:vertical block exemption regulation (VBER) that affect online businessesEuropean Commission's approach on prohibiting online salesDual pricing: charging the same distributor a higher wholesale price for products intended to be sold online than for products to be sold offlineEquivalence principle in selective distribution system (SDS)

To gain additional knowledge on what are parity clauses listen to counsel Piibe Lehtsaar. Presentation covers different situations, possible pros and cons, compares current and future vertical block exemption regulation, as well as all-time favourite – dos and don'ts.

The new regulation introduces the “shared exclusivity”, under which the supplier may appoint “a limited number of buyers” as exclusive distributors in a given territory or for a given customer group (currently only one exclusive distributor). However, the shared exclusive distribution must not be misused in order to restrict competition. Listen to presentation on the topic by senior associate Marika Grunte. 

Partner Ieva Andersone tells about retail price maintenance and its current and future EU regulation. Her presentation covers also comparison with the US antitrust law and potential efficiency defence in the EU. 

Juhan Põldroos, Head of the supervisory department of the competition division of the Estonian Competition authority and Šarūnas Keserauskas, Chairman of the Competition Council of Lithuania participate in the discussion moderated by partner Daivis Švirinas. Main topics in the discussion spotlights are enforcement priorities, existing case law and expected changes in the Baltics. 

Welcome by moderator Mirell Prosa, Head of Sorainen start-up Team in Estonia Briefs and discussion: Legal considerations related to fundraising with US investors and flipping your company to the US Taavi Annus, Partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP together with Baltic start-up representatives Vytenis Buzas from NanoAvionics and Ulla Helm from Veriff 

Overview and discussion: Option solutions available for start-ups onboarding US investors Sorainen tax experts Kaido Künnapas, Jānis Taukačs together with US expert Taavi Annus, Partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLPClosing remarks Kaido Künnapas, counsel

In this episode Santtu Turunen, Secretary General of the Finland Arbitration Institute (FAI) shares thoughts on the advantages of institutional arbitration and the FAI in particular for dispute resolution.Santtu starts with his own experience of becoming Secretary General and dives into the internal processes of the FAI. You get to know what the Institute does to ensure compliance with timeframes and how the expectations of the parties are considered while appointing arbitrators.The interview covers the influence of COVID-19, if any, on the workload of the Institute and the path for young practitioners to become an arbitrator.At the end of the episode Santtu offers an opinion on the appellate procedure and shares his view on what the general approach of the practitioners of the arbitration field should be. To learn more about the FAI please visit the website.

In this episode Alexander Fessas, Secretary General of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) shares his experience in becoming Secretary General of the ICC, emphasizes the risks of ad hoc proceedings and highlights advantages and trends in resolving disputes at the ICC.The interview addresses internal processes and practices that guide the ICC Court and Secretariat when making appointments and after the file is transmitted to the arbitral tribunal. Alexander also elaborates on use of technology in dispute resolution and in particular on ICC management tools. At the end of the episode Alexander dives into enforceability of awards and the impact of the scrutiny procedure available at the ICC.For further information on the ICC please visit the website.

In this episode Natalia Petrik, Legal Counsel of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), shares insights on the institution's caseload and why the SCC remains the preferred choice for parties from the Baltics and Belarus.The interview dives into the SCC's internal processes giving an idea of the procedure for appointment of arbitrators and issues that need to be considered when resolving the “ad hoc versus institutional arbitration dilemma”, as well as when choosing a specific institution. At the end of the episode Natalia elaborates on trends brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.To learn more on the statistics of the Institute and its work please visit the SCC website.