Transfer Pricing team moves from Olswang to Macfarlanes

Batanayi Katongera has joined Macfarlanes in London this month as their new Head of Transfer Pricing. Batanayi joins from Olswang where he has held the same position since 2009.

He will be joined at Macfarlanes by Clare Bowden-Bryant, who was the Transfer Pricing Manager at Olswang. Commenting to Tax Grotto on his move, Batanayi said:

“We are excited to be joining one of the leading tax teams in the City with an established transfer pricing platform at a time when BEPS is ushering in unprecedented changes and challenges in international transfer pricing”

Batanayi has a particular focus on successfully planning and managing transfer pricing controversies for clients. He acts for clients across a broad spectrum of industry sectors including financial institutions, private equity firms and media and technology (including life sciences and telecommunications) companies. Whilst at Olswang he worked alongside the international tax team that extends across offices in Germany, Spain, France and Singapore. He also supported the corporate team on transfer pricing aspects of transactional work including management and institutional buy-outs/buy-ins.

Batanayi’s focus on transfer pricing controversy work extends to negotiating Advance Pricing Agreements and Advance Thin Cap Agreements which enable clients to obtain greater certainty regarding their transfer pricing policies. More recently this has also involved exploring collaborative mediation between clients and HMRC.

Tax Grotto understands that Martin Zetter, Macfarlanes’ current Head of Transfer Pricing & Senior Economist, will be retiring from the Firm at the end of March 2016.