David Sandison appointed Tax Leader at Grant Thornton Singapore
Former PwC Singapore tax heavyweight David Sandison has recently been appointed as Tax Leader for the relatively new kid on the block, Grant Thornton Singapore, which started its local practice from a clean sheet of paper in 2014, after GT International decided to part ways with its existing local member firm.
David retired from PwC as a tax partner in 2014 since when he has been running his own very successful international boutique tax practice, whose aim was to fill that largely un-serviced gap facing middle-market clients between the Big 4 experience and the value-for-money price-point.
David was lured into what seems to be a return to the fold, by the challenge of working with a small (but expanding), motivated, multicultural team of tax experts and bringing that same experience and affordability to the firm’s expanding client base. There is, he believes only one way forward for the firm – “And that’s up”.
David now has over 36 years of tax experience, 28 in the Singapore and South East Asian tax and business environment, the rest being shared between London and Melbourne. Over his career, he has provided international tax advisory services to clients in almost every industry you could “shake a stick at” including, but not limited to, energy, communications, construction, shipping, fund management, asset finance, real estate, banking and insurance.
In the early noughties he started building up PwC’s Fund Management and Real estate tax practice, which he headed for many years, and was thus involved structuring venture capital, private equity, real estate and infrastructure fund projects. He also worked closely with the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions, and Banking and Capital Markets teams. In addition to that, he led the Tax training and technical department for the firm.
On the external front, David was for many years a member of ICPAS’ Taxation and Levies Committee, and latterly performed the same role for the Singapore Institute of Accredited Tax Professionals. He wrote the Singapore volume of CCH’s Tax Planning and Compliance in Asia and authored the chapters on Hedge Funds and Private Equity Firms, and on Group relief in The Law and Practice of Singapore Income Tax.
David says “I obviously learned a lot over my career with PwC. However, I also learned a vast amount in my own practice about the middle-market, including the difference between the practical solutions demanded by entrepreneurs and the technical analyses demanded by remote finance directors, that was largely invisible in my former role. I hope to combine all that experience to the benefit of Grant Thornton Singapore and its clients”.
To contact David please email: david.sandison@sg.gt.com