Program
Tuesday, July 16
1:00 PM - 1:15 PM Welcome Remarks
Perry Urken, Economics Partners at Ryan
1:15 PM - 2:40 PM Business Acquisitions: Reconciling Transfer Pricing and Financial Reporting for Intangibles in the Context of Purchase Price Allocations | Slides
Tom Amendolari, IRS
McShane Jones, Barsalou Lawson Rheault
Sri Nagarajan, EY
Brian Vincent, Economics Partners at Ryan
Moderator: Steve Wrappe, Grant Thornton
This panel will identify the differences in GAAP reporting standards for business acquisitions and the transfer pricing arm’s length standards for intercompany transactions involving acquired intangibles. The panel will discuss key differences in valuation standards, methodology, assumptions, and adjustments that need to be considered when applying the arm’s length standard to intangible assets that have been valued in connection with a purchase price allocation for financial reporting purposes. A case study will illustrate best practices and the need to address multiple countries’ perspective.
2:40 PM - 3:40 PM Geographic Market Adjustments in CPMs/TNMMs: Amount B and Beyond | Slides
Robin Hart, Charles River Associates
Chris Miller, OECD
Samit Shah, Grant Thornton
Vlad Starkov, NERA
Moderator: Bill Morgan, Formerly U.S. Treasury Department
This panel with discuss whether, when, and how geographic market adjustments should be considered when applying profit-based transfer pricing methods like the comparable profits method. It will include a summary of the OECD’s Amount B “data availability mechanism” (DAM), and more generally a technical review of empirical evidence relevant to such adjustments, theoretical debate addressing them, and possible broader application beyond Amount B. Critiques of and questions raised by the Amount B DAM will also be discussed.
3:40 PM - 4:00 PM Coffee Break
4:00 PM - 5:15 PM TP Debates | Slides
Panel:
Collin Baker, Kroll
Tom Linguanti, Morgan Lewis
Michael Scanlan, Economics Partners at Ryan
Topic #1: Diverted Profits Taxes violate the arm’s length principle.
"Pro" Team: Mikhail Bulchandani, TP Analytics
"Con" Team: Elizabeth Stevens, Caplin & Drysdale
Topic #2: There is a material role for economic analysis in the application of Pillar Two.
"Pro" Team: Bin Zhou, Brattle
"Con" Team: Drew Cummings, Morgan Lewis
Topic #3: AI will make DEMPE irrelevant.
"Pro" Team: ChatGPT
"Con" Team: Collin Imhof, Organon
5:15 PM - 6:30 PM Networking Reception Sponsored by Kroll
Wednesday, July 17
7:45 AM - 8:30 AM Continental Breakfast
8:30 AM - 9:45 AM Technical Presentation and Discussion: Complexities in Valuing Intangible Property using a DCF | Slides
Andrew O'Brien-Penney, Baker McKenzie
TJ Michaelson, Visa
Moderator: Philippe Penelle, Kroll
This panel discussion will address the complexities involved in valuing intangible property ("IP") using the Discounted Cash Flow ("DCF") method within the framework of transfer pricing regulations and available financial projections.
The discussion will cover various issues that arise when using DCF to value intangible property, including the development of market expectations versus management expectations and how these differing perspectives impact the valuation process. Additionally, the panel will explore the IRS’s arguments regarding Platform Contribution Transaction payments, specifically focusing on the challenges of calculating the Internal Rate of Return and its reasonableness.
Furthermore, the panel will examine how discount rates should be aligned more with the terms of the financial payout rather than just the riskiness of the intangible property itself. The discussion will highlight the importance of closely reflecting the actual financial payout structure to ensure a more accurate valuation.
9:45 AM - 10:15 AM Coffee Break
10:15 AM - 12:00 PM Risky Business: The State of the Risk Control Framework | Slides
Noel De Santos, IRS
David Farhat, Skadden
Chris Miller, OECD
Christopher Ross, Canadian Revenue Agency
Moderator: Donna McComber, EY
The revisions to Chapter I of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines in 2015 introduced detailed guidance on the analysis of risk. Join a panel of tax authority representatives and industry practitioners to discuss the objectives of this guidance, the different jurisdictional views on it, and the challenges in its application.
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM Luncheon/Keynote | Slides
Christopher Miller, Tax Policy Advisor, Cross Border and International, OECD Center for Tax Policy and Administration
1:30 PM - 1:45 PM Break
1:45 PM - 3:30 PM TP Challenge: Updating the APMA Training Guide | Slides
Moderators: Karen Kirwan, IRS; John Wall, IRS; Jessica Dahlberg, Grant Thornton
Team #1: Qualitative Weighting of Intangible Development Costs in RPSM Analyses
Vesela Grozeva and Kaitlyn DeGrove, KPMG
Team #2: Alternative Means of Applying RPSM Analyses
Harlow Higinbotham and Alexis Jin, NERA
Team #3: The Application of CUT Analyses for Pricing of PCTs in Cost Sharing
Michael Scanlan and Celine Kimata, Economics Partners at Ryan
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM Coffee Break Sponsored by NERA
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM The GLAMorous World of Implicit Support in Financial Transaction Transfer Pricing | Slides
Clark Armitage, Caplin & Drysdale
Sayantani Ghose, KPMG
Tom Gottfried, Valuation Research
Bram Isgur, Keystone
Moderator: Sherif Assef, Kroll
This panel will discuss the current trends and developments around Transfer Pricing for Financial Transactions. Specifically, the panel will focus on the IRS approach to implicit support detailed in its memorandum AM 2023-008 and its implications and challenges for multinational companies. Additionally, the panel will provide an overview of the increased surge of audit activity and regulatory developments on this topic across the globe including a discussion on various relevant court cases. The panel will conclude with a discussion around practical considerations and specific avenues open to companies to manage the risks of double taxation and uncertainty embedded in financial transactions.
5:30 PM - 6:45 PM Networking Reception
Thursday, July 18
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM Continental Breakfast
8:45 AM - 10:15 AM The Importance of Intercompany Agreements to Transfer Pricing Economists | Slides
Michael McDonald, EY
Tricia Rexford, Johnson & Johnson
Anna Soubbotina, Charles River Associates
Gary Sprague, Baker McKenzie
Moderator: Perry Urken, Economics Partners at Ryan
This panel will explore and evaluate the elements of intercompany agreements that are important for transfer pricing economists to consider in their pricing analyses of controlled transactions and in their broader roles as advisors to clients. Panelists will discuss the role of intercompany agreements in the delineation of risk between parties to controlled transactions, as well as factors which contribute to governments’ decisions to disregard these contracts. In addition, the panelists will highlight key elements of intercompany agreements with material relevance to an economic or legal analysis of controlled transactions, and discuss the validity of certain contractual structures.
10:15 AM - 10:45 AM Coffee Break
10:45 AM - 12:30 PM Realistic Alternatives: When, Why, and Whose? | Slides
Howard Berger, Covington
Matt Frank, Spotify
Kartikeya Singh, PwC
Moshe Spinowitz, Skadden
Moderator: Iñigo Zapater, IRS
This panel will explore the proper role and function of the concept of realistic alternatives in the transfer pricing arena, including a discussion of the concept’s history, and illustrating, by example, potential uses and misuses of the concept in transfer pricing practice and disputes.
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM Luncheon/Keynote
Scott Levine, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, International Tax Affairs, United States Department of the Treasury