Asia Chapter chartered, hits the ground running.

With the chartering of its first outpost in the Pacific Rim, TEI extends its reach to a third continent and thus its status as the preeminent association of in-house corporate tax professionals in the world. Based in Singapore, Tax Executives--Asia Chapter was registered as a Society on September 20, 2005, becoming TEI's 53rd chapter and serving members located in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan and Australia.

"We are thrilled to receive a charter," commented William E. Ramirez, Director, PMI Asia-Pacific Taxes, Altria Group, and the Chapter's inaugural President. "The growth and development of the Pacific Rim demands that tax professionals have the networking, advocacy, and educational opportunities that TEI provides," he added. Establishing a TEI chapter in Asia sends a very strong signal here, he said. Mr. Ramirez has substantial experience in helping to build successful chapters for TEI, having assisted in creating of TEI's Europe Chapter in 1999. That chapter currently has approximately 200 members.

"We congratulate and thank our colleagues in Asia for recognizing the value of networking among their peers that epitomizes TEI," TEI International President Michael P. Boyle said. Mr. Boyle who serves as Corporate Vice President-Finance for Microsoft, explained that Singapore--which is the headquarters for many multinational corporations in the region--represents a good starting point for TEI's operations in Asia. He added that the Singapore operation will eventually lead to chartering of additional chapters in the area.

Since its chartering, the Asia Chapter has held three successful educational programs. A three-day course on U.S. tax principles, held in cooperation with by Ernst & Young in October, was attended by almost 100 tax professionals and surveyed key tax areas including the foreign tax credit, Subpart F and permanent establishment. Also in October the chapter held a one-day seminar focused on emerging issues for in-house tax advisers; co-sponsored with Baker & McKenzie, it was attended by 116 professionals.

Most recently, Asia Transfer Pricing was the subject of a one-day seminar in November, co-hosted with Deloitte LLP and held in Hong Kong. The morning segment featured senior government representatives from China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan sharing their views on the hottest tax issue in Asia, transfer pricing, including compensating adjustments and secret comparables. The afternoon session focused on member and practitioner perspectives on selected transfer pricing issues. Panelists included Asia transfer pricing specialists from Deloitte as well as TEI members, David Sutherland (Morgan Stanley), Junie Schmidt (Microsoft), Mr. Ramirez (Altria); and Anita Gidumal (GE International). 85 professionals attended.