Fiona Bisset
Manager, Alternative Investment Team, Asset Management Department, FINANCIAL SERVICES AUTHORITY
Fiona worked for a predecessor regulator, the Securities and Futures Authority, where she managed the SFA Complaints Bureau before integrating it into the Financial Ombudsman Service when it started up in 2000. She moved to FSA shortly after to pursue a career in supervision. Since then Fiona has worked in a variety of roles, initially in the Division which developed FSA's approach to thematic work and later joining the area that supervised the non- relationship managed firms where she has managed teams supervising a variety of firms including smaller Asset Managers, Stockbrokers, Authorised Professional Firms and Independent Financial Advisers. During that time she spent six months seconded to enforcement working in the Threshold Conditions Team. She later lead on the supervision side of FSA's work on high pressure selling techniques in small cap stockbrokers which resulted in a number of these firms exiting the industry. She joined the Asset Management Department in May 2010 to manage a team that relationship manages asset managers, wealth managers, Platforms, TPAs and Financial Advisers. She has recently taken on responsibility for managing the Alternative Investment Team which supervises the hedge fund managers and private equity firms.

Martin Roberts
Team Leader, Clearance & Counteraction
HM REVENUE & CUSTOMS

Mark Baldwin
Partner
Macfarlanes
Mark Baldwin is a corporate tax partner at Macfarlanes.
His practice spans the whole range of issues relevant to the
private equity community, including fund formation (both domestic and pan-European funds together with their associated carried interest and coinvest arrangements), investment and divestment deals and strategic transactions for private equity managers themselves.

Danny Beeton
Head of Transfer Pricing Economics
FRESHFIELDS
Danny is head of transfer pricing economics. He is listed in Euromoney's Guide To The World's Leading Transfer Pricing Advisers and International Tax Review's Guide to the World's Leading Tax Controversy Advisers and is mentioned in ITR's World Tax. He is also a member of the CBI's International Direct Taxes Sub-Committee and Editor-In-Chief of the journal Transfer Pricing Forum, to which he and Murray Clayson contribute the UK articles. Danny received his PhD in economics from Queen Mary College, London.

Stephanie Biggs
Partner
KIRKLAND & ELLIS INTERNATIONAL
Stephanie Biggs is a partner in the private equity team in Kirkland’s London office. Stephanie has wide-ranging experience in private equity fund formation, with particular experience in regulatory and compliance issues affecting private equity firms. For her work, she was recognized as “Best in Private Equity” by Euromoney Legal Media Group at the Europe Women in Business Law Awards 2012. She also has extensive knowledge of corporate and partnership law, and has advised on matters ranging from the establishment of limited liability partnerships as vehicles for fund managers to complex share capital reorganisations for UK portfolio companies. Stephanie’s current areas of focus include the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, the U.S. Private Fund Investment Advisers Registration Act of 2010 and the UK Bribery Act 2010.Stephanie is responsible for corporate know-how and legal training within Kirkland’s London office, and regularly speaks and writes about issues relating to the private equity industry. Stephanie is also a member of the Firm’s Pro Bono Committee, and worked with the Private Equity Foundation to develop and implement one of the first social investment bonds in the UK.

Alastair Breward
Chief Operating Officer
AMADEUS CAPITAL PARTNERS
Alastair joined Amadeus in 2005 as chief operating officer, with responsibility for regulatory and compliance matters, legal affairs, finance, offices, human resources, information technology and information services. He also supports Anne Glover, the chief executive, in fundraising and investor relations. He is a regular speaker including on Compliance and Investor Relations matters, and is a member of the BVCA's Legal and Technical Committee. A lawyer by training, Alastair was a partner at Taylor Wessing, a London-based commercial law firm, and specialised in advising fast-growing technology and venture capital companies. He spent the earlier part of his career working in the IT industry as programmer, consultant and customer services manager. He holds an SAB Diploma in Law from Sydney University and a First in Economics and Philosophy (PPE) from Oriel College, Oxford. He is a solicitor admitted to practice in England and Wales, and in New South Wales, Australia.

Rob Bridson
Partner
PWC
Robert Bridson is a Partner within the UK FS Tax Business of PwC and is responsible for the UK firm's Information Reporting and Withholding compliance and advisory work. Robert has lead numerous Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act projects for global and regional institutions in the banking, asset management and insurance sectors, has advised many leading financial institutions on compliance with the U.S. Qualified Intermediary regime and has significant operational experience gained from his years in industry. Robert is a member of the HMRC IGA and Funds working groups, has an excellent relationship with the U.S. Treasury and IRS, has spoken at various Withholding and Information Reporting conferences throughout Europe and in the U.S. and was also a member of the business working party of the OECD Pilot Group on Procedures for Tax Relief for Cross-Border Investors. Robert has previously worked with Deloitte LLP, as Commercial Director with offshore financial services group Mourant and as the Director of Finance for an international insurance company, FM Global. Robert is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Tony Bullock
Partner
ERNST & YOUNG
Tony is the VAT partner in the London Transaction Tax team in Ernst & Young. He has been at Ernst & Young for over 20 years, specialising in Private Equity and corporate transactions for over 10 years.

Tony leads a team of indirect tax specialists that besides standard due diligence also advise on tax efficient structuring as well as maximising VAT recovery on transaction fees. The team is uniquely focused on transactions.

Tony also advises Private Equity Houses on their own VAT position, and is in regular contact with HMRC discussing industry-wide VAT issues.

Rosali Pretorius
Partner
SNR Denton
Rosali Pretorius leads SNR Denton’s London based Financial Services and Funds practice. Rosali focuses on alternative investment funds, exchange traded and OTC commodity and other derivatives and financial regulation of these and other products. Rosali acts for banks, broker-dealers, fund managers, insurance companies and other financial intermediaries. She advises both sell-side and buy-side clients.
Rosali read law in South Africa and England. After short stints as a precious metals analyst in Johannesburg and law lecturer at King's College London, she joined the firm as a trainee in 1995. Rosali was short listed for The Lawyer's Assistant Solicitor of the Year Award in 2001 She became a partner in 2006.
Rosali spent 2006 on secondment in the legal department of Goldman Sachs, focusing on commodity and funds derivatives.

Lisa Cawley
Partner
KIRKLAND & ELLIS INTERNATIONAL
Lisa Cawley has extensive experience in financial services regulation, gained over 20 years. Recognised in Chambers and The Legal 500, where she is described as having an “excellent understanding of the UK regulatory regime”, Lisa speaks, comments and writes regularly on regulatory matters and is an acknowledged authority in her field. Lisa advises on a wide range of regulatory matters.
Member of the Financial Service Authority’s AIFMD Group of Legal Experts
Member of the EVCA Public Affairs Executive Technical Group on the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive
Founder of Transatlantic Regulatory Lawyer Group

Abigayil Chandra
Senior Manager
DELOITTE
Abigayil is a Senior Manager in Deloitte’s Private Equity Tax practice. Abigayil advises Private Equity funds on a wide range of issues that affect the sector both for the fund, portfolio companies and investors. She has also advised on both new fundraisings and ongoing issues including fund structuring, management entity and fee arrangements and carried interest for executives. Abigayil has also been heavily involved in the technical interpretation, and practical implementation considerations, of FATCA and the IGA for the Private Equity industry.

Murray Clayson
Tax Partner
FRESHFIELDS BRUCKHAUS DERINGER
Murray is a tax partner in London. He specialises in international tax, finance and capital markets taxation, corporate structuring, transfer pricing, banking and securities tax, asset and project finance, derivatives and financial products, particularly cross-border. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, past-Chairman of the British Branch of IFA and a member of worldwide IFA's Executive Committee, a member of the CBI's main Tax Committee and its International Taxes Working Group, and a member of the ICC's Committee on Taxation.

Simon Witney
Partner
SJ BERWIN
Simon is a partner in SJ Berwin's market leading Private Funds team. Simon has advised on venture capital and development capital investments, management buyouts and general M&A, as well as numerous private equity investment fund establishments and structurings.
Simon's practice is now focused on private fund formation and related advice, acting for many leading UK and European venture capital and buyout houses.

Simon chairs the BVCA's Legal and Technical Committee, is Chairman of the EVCA's Tax, Legal and Regulatory Committee and a member of EMPEA’s Legal and Regulatory Council. He also sits on the Board of the BVCA, and is a member of the Public Affairs Executive of the European Private Equity industry. Simon writes a weekly bulletin for clients commenting on legal and tax developments which affect the European private equity community, and is a regular speaker at conferences and contributes to a variety of publications.
In October 2006, Simon was named as one of the "30 most influential lawyers in global private equity" by the highly regarded industry journal Private Equity International, and, in January 2008, he was recognised as one of the Hot 100 lawyers by The Lawyer.
Simon is recommended in the Investment Funds section of the 2012 edition of the Legal 500.

Caroline Conder
Head of Tax
EQT PARTNERS
Caroline is Head of Tax at EQT Partners, investment advisor to the EQT funds. Prior to joining EQT Partners she spent over a decade in the Private Equity and M&A Tax team at PricewaterhouseCoopers in London.

Caroline is a Chartered Accountant and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. She holds a B.Sc. Hons in Mathematics and Economics from Warwick University.

Paul Cooper
Head of Tax & Compliance
LION CAPITAL
Paul Cooper is Head of Tax and Compliance for Lion Capital. Prior to joining Lion Capital, Paul was a Partner at Grant Thornton, where he led their M&A Tax practice. Previously Paul was a M&A Tax Partner at KPMG and Director of Tax and Structuring at Terra Firma Capital Partners. Paul has a first in Physics from Durham University, is a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Paul is also a member of the BVCA Tax Committee.

Fiona Cooper
Senior Tax Manager
APAX
Fiona Cooper is the Director of Tax for the Apax Group. Apax is one of the world’s leading private equity investment firms operating across the Americas, Europe and Asia with more than 30 years of investing experience. Funds under the advice of Apax total more than €25 billion.

Fiona is responsible for all the tax affairs of the Apax group globally with a particular focus on deal and fund structuring and is leading the FATCA implementation project for Apax.

Prior to joining Apax Partners, Fiona worked at Deloitte in the M&A and corporate tax departments.
Fiona holds a BA Hons in Business Studies from the University of Westminster and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Alexander Cox
Partner
ASHURST
Alexander Cox is a tax partner at Ashurst. He advises on corporate and real estate taxation generally but has particular expertise in relation to private equity, including fund formation, the acquisition, disposal and restructuring of underlying investments and management and institutional tax issues. He acts for managers, banks, institutional investors and corporates.

Damien Crossley
Partner
MACFARLANES
Damien joined the firm in 2000 and became a partner in 2009. He advises on a broad range of corporate tax issues but specialises in private equity related tax matters. In this area, he advises on the establishment of private equity, special situation and similar funds and their carried interest and co-investment arrangements, and on structuring pan-European investment transactions (both primary and secondary).Damien spent 2005 on secondment at Paul Weiss in New York. Most of his work has an international dimension, a number of the transactions listed, on which Damien led on tax structuring, have minimal connection with the UK. Damien is a chartered tax adviser and regularly speaks and writes on tax matters.

Alison Hampton
General Counsel
HG CAPITAL
Alison is a lawyer with over 20 years’ experience. Originally a corporate lawyer specialising in M&A and private equity, she was at Hogan Lovells and Weil Gotshal before joining HgCapital in 2008.
Having been the firm’s general Counsel for 4 years, Alison now advises HgCapital on governance, compliance and risk management issues and heads up HgCapital’s responsible investment initiative.
Alison is a contributing editor of “A Practitioner’s Guide to Private Equity”, and is the vice-chair of the BVCA’s Legal & Technical Committee. She has a degree in jurisprudence from St John’s College, Oxford.

Charlotte Hill
Partner, Head of Financial Services Regulation
STEPHENSON HARWOOD
Charlotte is a partner and head of the Financial Services and Regulation Group. She specialises in advising financial institution on regulatory and commercial matters. Charlotte has previously been voted "Best Legal Adviser – Regulatory and Commercial" at the Compliance Register's Annual Compliance Awards and is recognised as a Leading Individual by Chambers UK. Earlier in her career, she was Director of Legal for the Threadneedle Group and worked in the Enforcement Department at IMRO (one of the predecessor regulators to the Financial Services Authority). This experience gives her a practical and commercial insight into clients' issues.
She has extensive experience of advising fund management companies, banks, insurance companies, corporate finance house, brokers and other financial institutions on a wide range of regulatory and commercial matters.

Tim Lewis
Partner, Financial Services & Markets
TRAVERS SMITH
Tim became a partner in Travers Smith’s Financial Services and Markets group in 2007. Tim specialises in financial services law and regulation. Tim acts for a wide variety of retail and wholesale financial services institutions. His clients include banks, brokers, investment managers, electronic communications networks, private equity houses, pension fund trustees and hedge funds.
Tim has been recognised as a leading individual in his field by the Chambers Guide to the UK Legal Profession. The Legal 500 describes Tim as an "absolutely first-class regulatory lawyer". The IFLR 1000 quotes one competitor describing Tim as "very good and very pragmatic".
Tim´s recent work includes:
• advising banks, brokers and investment managers on changes to the EU regulatory capital regime and new regulatory requirements on remuneration;
• advising Bloomberg on the establishment of new electronic trading products;
• advising private equity firms, debt fund managers, and brokers on the implications for their business of new product lines and changes to law and regulation.
Tim is a member of the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association’s technical working group on the EU Alternative Investment Managers Directive. Tim advises the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association on regulatory capital matters and has provided support to the BVCA on a range of issues.

Ian Manson
Director
KINETIC PARTNERS
Ian specialises in providing regulatory advice to Kinetic’s clients with a particular focus on Private Equity firms and Hedge funds. He has a ten year track record providing regulatory advice both in-house and consulting. During this time he has developed a detailed knowledge of the practical application of FSA rules for alternative investment firms. Ian also undertakes bespoke projects for clients drawing on both his regulatory knowledge and previous roles in internal audit and operational control roles for major UK and US banking and broking groups in the UK and overseas.

James Markham
Partner - Portfolio Management
GRAPHITE CAPITAL
James joined Graphite Capital in 2002 and is responsible for the monitoring of existing investments and for implementing best practice across Graphite’s entire investment portfolio. He maintains an advisory network for use on portfolio management projects such as operational efficiency, procurement, finance function assessment and improvement, and general risk management. He is also involved in the recruitment of portfolio company Finance Directors. He is responsible for the tax structuring of investments and shares responsibility for the structuring of Graphite’s funds. He has been a member of the BVCA Tax Committee since 2010.
Previously James spent four years at RSM Robson Rhodes, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant and audited clients in a variety of industry sectors. He holds a degree in Politics from the University of York.

Paul Megson
Partner
DELOITTE
Paul Megson is a tax partner in the Financial Sector group at Deloitte. Paul has worked in fund tax planning for nearly 20 years, advising a wide range of funds on tax structuring and tax reporting. He is a member of the BVCA tax committee.

Hilton Mervis
Partner
SJ BERWIN
The environment in which funds operate and raise money has changed. Investors are looking not just at the ability to increase economic returns but also to protect against risks which have cost other funds significant sums.

With the overlay of the new risk management requirements there are opportunities for private equity houses to turn the environment to their advantage.

• AIFMD requirement for segregated risk management function
• Specific functions specified for risk management function including
o Risk management policy
o Monitoring and periodic review of risk management systems
o Imposition of risk limits, stress testing and risk management
o Specific due diligence requirements in selection and monitoring of investments – in particular in relation to illiquid assets

• Specific risk areas – bribery and competition risks
• Spreading the right culture and risk reduction processes to the investee companies
• Risks for members for board members in portfolio companies
• The raising of funds and the reducing off risk – a connection?

Stephen Pevsner
Partner
SJ BERWIN
His practice focuses on the private equity industry and, in particular, private fund formation, fund executive remuneration and UK and international M&A transactions and also covers the tax aspects of corporate reorganisations, structured finance transactions and new business set ups including establishment of LLPs. He has considerable recent experience of establishing funds and carry arrangements across a range of asset classes, private equity related M&A transactions and secondary fund portfolio divestments. Stephen is also a member of the BVCA Tax Committee

Stephen Robinson
Partner
MACFARLANES
Stephen Robinson joined the Macfarlanes in 1995 and became a partner in 2001. He advises a wide range of fund managers and investors on the structuring, establishment and operation of investment funds. He specialises in structuring private equity and venture capital funds, hedge funds, real estate funds and also has expertise in the structuring of listed investment vehicles. In addition Stephen regularly advises a wide range of clients on regulatory and compliance matters.

Tim Sowter
Senior Manager
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS
Tim is a lead senior manager in PwC's tax allocations offering to Private Equity and Venture Capital clients, and has over 13 years tax and commercial experience working closely with a number of general partner groups, for many of these advising on tax reporting and investor relations matters relating to multiple funds as well as structuring funds. He also has wide experience of agreeing with HM Revenue and Customs complex UK taxation issues pertaining to fund limited partnerships and expertise in interpreting fund limited partnership agreements/advising on the practical impact of allocations clauses on partners.

Ashley Coups
Partner, Private Equity Assurance Leader
ERNST & YOUNG
Ashley is an audit partner and is the UK Private Equity Assurance Leader of Ernst & Young having been working with private equity firms for over ten years. He has experience of working with a wide variety of leading European GPs and funds including global buyout firms, listed private equity firms, mid-market firms, growth / development capital as well as VC / Biotech firms, and has significant experience of working with start-ups and spinouts. Ashley has experience in supporting GPs across the full private equity life cycle from structuring and fundraising, through investment, portfolio monitoring, restructuring and divestment and has delivered assignments including audit, controls, performance verification and accounting consulting. He is also an experienced IFRS practitioner. Ashley has committed significant time over recent years to supporting the industry and working closely with the BVCA through a number of initiatives: the annual Performance Measurement Survey: the Report on Investment Activity; in delivering the BVCA Introduction to Finance course; and as an advisor in respect of the Walker Guidelines.

Anthony Stewart
Partner
CLIFFORD CHANCE
Anthony Stewart is a Partner at the London office of Clifford
Chance, advising on the taxation of investment funds generally,
including private equity funds, real estate funds, UK authorised
funds, investment trusts and other listed investment companies and hedge funds. He has particular expertise in structuring of co-investment schemes and carried interest arrangements, crossborder investment structuring for corporate and real estate transactions.

Ayzo van Eysinga
Head of Tax
STIBBE
Ayzo van Eysinga is the head of tax in Stibbe's Luxembourg office. He advises predominantly UK and US private equity / venture capital firms, a wide range of US multinational groups, and sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East on predominantly international tax structuring, as they affect cross border mergers and acquisitions, project financing, structured finance, securitisations, fund set up, and corporate reorganizations.

Sue Woodman
General Counsel
EQUISTONE PARTNERS EUROPE
Sue Woodman is a solicitor and General Counsel at Equistone Partners Europe. She joined Equistone (formerly Barclays Private Equity) in September 2011 and prior to this was Partnership Counsel for thirteen years at Alchemy Partners, a mid market private equity firm. Before that she was a partner in private practice. Sue was formerly Chairman of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association’s Legal and Technical Committee and on its Executive Council for five years.

Adrian Nicholls
Partner, UK Valuations Leader
ERNST & YOUNG
Adrian is a specialist valuations partner and is theUK leader of Ernst & Young’s Valuation & Business Modelling practice. Adrian has specialised in valuing businesses, shares and intellectual property for over seventeen years. Adrian is a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, a certified RICS business valuer and a board member of the Valuations Special Interest Group at the ICAEW.
His valuation experience covers a broad range of sectors and has been for a variety of purposes ranging from expert, dispute, M&A and regulatory valuations to providing commercial advice and tax related valuations. Additionally Adrian was worked with the private equity industry, providing valuation support to GPs for accounting, tax and transaction purposes as well as providing audit related support on portfolio company valuations.

Axelle Ferey
Director
Ernst & Young

A practical update on key regulation, accounting and tax issues impacting Private Equity Firms