DFDL - Blood on the tracks

[EMIPPII]

Blood on the Tracks: DFDL Mekong Loses its Entire Tax Team
Souce: PenhPal.com
26th February 2012

To lose one tax partner may be regarded as a misfortune but to lose the whole team looks like negligence (apologies to Oscar Wilde) but this is what has just happened at leading law firm DFDL Mekong.

DHDL is well known here in Cambodia, as well as having offices in Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, and a number of other minor jurisdictions, such as Singapore.

This unexpected coup has the business community here in Phnom Penh agog and will come as a blow to the DFDL’s ambitions, as according to those in the industry, tax is usually very profitable.

This may point to the reason for the divorce: the company has long been dominated by the legal eagles.

The result is the creation of a new tax consultancy, to be called VDB Loi, with offices in the new Hyundai Phnom Penh Tower.

The “VDB” part of the acronym stands for Edwin Van Der Bruggen. Van Der Bruggen has over fifteen year in SE Asia as a tax lawyer, academic, author and adviser to various governments. He has published seven textbooks and over fifty articles, some of which won his accolades,. He was an adviser to Cambodia’s Minister of Economy and Finance of Cambodia on the conclusion of double taxation agreements, as well as providing training on tax treaty issues to government officials in a number of other SE Asian countries, including Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. As a tax partner at DFDL he advised on international taxation and won the prestigious “best tax law firm of the year” and “best corporate tax law firm” for the company.

The “Loi” bit stands for Jean Loi, another former partner at DFDL, well known for her long experience in Cambodia, having worked here since 2002. Before that, she was a tax partner with PwC where she oversaw numerous tax audits and appeals, often liaising with top tax officials to settle disputes. Widely respected for her technical tax knowledge and understanding of industry practices, she has assisted tax authorities and industry associations with formulating new policy and drafting tax regulations on a number of issues.

Loi would only comment to say the parting was amicable and that she was honoured to have been a partner at DFDL, as they are an excellent professional services firm.”

It is also expected that many of DFDL’s tax clients will follow the team to the new company.



The following is the email sent to clients yesterday:

Subject: Farewell from the DFDL Tax Team

Dear Clients,

With mixed feelings of regret and excitement, we would like to inform you that we will be pursuing our career in tax services in a new professional capacity.

Today is our last working day at DFDL.

It is always hard to part from a firm with such excellent reputation as DFDL, and where we had the privilege of being partners, advisors and staff. We leave our friends at DFDL on good terms and we wish them every success!

We have all enjoyed working with you as a client, and we wish to thank you for your loyalty over these past years.

Partners:

Edwin Vanderbruggen

Jean Loi

Cambodia:

Senior Tax Managers:

Laysym Sim

Clint O’Connell

Tax Managers:

Sophin Hong

Kimsroy Chhiv

Senior Tax Consultants:

Sivila Khim

Guech Chou Chhour

Sodeth Heng

Tax Consultants:

Sokha Srun

Cynthia Herman

Nika Sour

Kanitha Chea

Tax Assistants:

Chanthida Hak

Sreysros Seng

Vietnam:

Huy Cam Luu, Senior Tax Manager

Pham Ngoc Thuan, Senior Tax Manager

Le Thuy My, Tax Adviser

Singapore:

Fung Ling Hu, Tax Manager



With my very best regards,

Edwin Vanderbruggen

Managing Director, Tax and Customs Practice Group

[andyinasia]

A tax consultant in Cambodia named 'Loi'? Come on .....

[LaudJohn]

A tax consultant in Cambodia named 'Loi'? Come on .....

AIA, that question is right on the money!

[vladimir]

Johnny Cash?

Big Bill?

[Jacked Camry]

So THAT'S what that e-mail was all about? Holy crap.

I thought they'd left out the names of those who were resigning, as it made no sense that the whole division would resign. I guess I was wrong.

You left out Edwin's interesting background in terms of where he spent some time, er, out of circulation, by the way.

[Playboy]

Not too mention all those stories about his girlfriend, his office, the contents of the safe ...

Lord Playboy hits the ground running; using Tapatalk on his LG Optimus Black

[rob77]

Well at least you know they will very actively look after any business you put them in charge of and take care of all your interests.

[andyinasia]

PPP reporting on it now:
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012022754727/Business/partners-at-dfdl-start-new-firm.html

[long in the tooth]

.

[cambod]

Not too mention all those stories about his girlfriend, his office, the contents of the safe ...

Lord Playboy hits the ground running; using Tapatalk on his LG Optimus Black

Mention!

[Spigzy]

A tax consultant in Cambodia named 'Loi'? Come on .....

I would also like to confirm that KPMG have an auditor called "Borat" - I didn't ask him about his sister ...

[Spigzy]

A tax consultant in Cambodia named 'Loi'? Come on .....

I would also like to confirm that KPMG have an auditor called "Borat" - I didn't ask him about his sister ...

Which reminds me, does Sodamy still work at the Blue Cat? She was a right pain in the arse!

[cambod]

Very nice

[BenDavid]

Not too mention all those stories about his girlfriend, his office, the contents of the safe ...
Lord Playboy hits the ground running; using Tapatalk on his LG Optimus Black

Well story's are not in short demand in Cambodia I guess,

What Im missing looks to be facts and why Edwin Van der bruggen and DFDL companies split and why 80% of the staff moving with Edwin Van der bruggen in all of Indochina , I personally find that to be the more interesting part than what Edwin Van der bruggen girl if any is doing ?

But then i understand he just one of many, and not even the reg. of the company ? so perhaps focus is on the wrong thing


Edwin Van der bruggen = [url]EdwinVanderbruggen.com[/url]

[ken svay]

I wonder how edgar van derbugger and his GF the delighful miss looey are going now.
And what about hoo flung dung at the singapore office?
I need to do last years australian tax return-how much do they charge?
They are obviously very trustworthy.
There wont be a problem if I give them all my bank account and stock broking account access numbers,will there?