Michael is a Senior Associate in the Melbourne Tax team, and has wide ranging experience advising clients across the corporate sector, including mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance and regulatory compliance, regarding various taxation-related matters covering both direct and indirect taxes.
He has particular experience in relation to financial services and financial transactions, and in particular securitisation matters and debt and capital programmes, and providing advice on various matters, including interest withholding tax and FATCA / CRS.
Michael also advises on corporate matters, such as performing due diligence from a direct and indirect tax perspective for transactions and W&I insurers, reviewing transaction documentation, performing verifications and making stamp duty lodgements. He also advises on the structures to be used for, and the tax consequences, of offering equity incentives to employees.
In addition, Michael advises on not-for-profit structures and governance matters, including in relation to group funding models, structuring, foundations and charity establishment and general compliance.
Michael’s work highlights include:
- NAB, Westpac and ANZ: regular review of tax disclosures and provisions of global debt programme documents.
- IAG: assisting with the tax stream of capital notes programmes, including programme document review, drafting tax opinions and drafting ATO ruling applications.
- Challenger: assisting with the tax stream of establishing new capital notes and subordinated debt programmes, including programme document reviews, drafting tax opinions to APRA and drafting ATO class ruling applications.
- HT&E Limited: advising on the indirect tax consequences of acquiring various media assets from the Grant Broadcasters group.
- Telstra: assisted with applying for and receiving a favourable class ruling from the ATO about the employee share scheme consequences flowing from the Telstra Group Limited restructure.
- Stockland: reviewing the tax consequences of acquiring various land assets (housing communities) in Queensland.
- Dexus: advising on the indirect tax consequences of acquiring Jandakot Airport in Western Australia.
- Credabl: drafting employee share scheme plan rules and ad hoc advice about employee share scheme issuances.
- Red Cross: assisting with various compliance-related requests in relation to funds and donations initiatives.
- Victorian Indigenous Treaty Fund: advising on and drafting governing documents, and assisting with charity and public benevolent institution applications.
