Speaker Profile

Mr Brendan Egan, Partner, PwC Singapore

Brendan joined the Singapore firm as the Insurance Tax Leader in July 2016 and currently co leads the Automatic Exchange of Information for FATCA and CRS for the Firm in Singapore.

Areas of specialization
Originally from Australia, Brendan’s tax career began at the Australian Taxation Office. He subsequently moved to Asia and has spent the past 30 years in Singapore and Hong Kong, including two decades in senior regional and global roles with global financial services firms – Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC, MasterCard and AIG. Immediately prior to joining PwC in July 2016, he was the Global Head of Tax Policy and Government Relations and was responsible for driving AIG’s tax transparency agenda and strategy. His practical knowledge and experience throughout the region is highly regarded and he provides valuable insight from a client’s perspective into the implementation and management of the rapidly changing global tax landscape.

In addition, Brendan also leads the Firm’s Tax Reporting and Strategy Practice for Financial Services clients advising on effective structuring, operations and digital performance of in-house tax functions.

Professional qualifications and memberships
Brendan is an Fellow of the CPA Australia and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from University of Canberra, Australia.

Ms Grace Huang, Director, PwC Singapore

Grace is a Director with the Global Mobility Services Practice in Singapore. Her extensive experience spans over a wide range of tax areas that covers Employment Tax and Individual Tax.

Areas of specialization
Grace’s experience over the past 19 years encompasses tax structuring of employee remuneration packages, equity plan reviews, tax and payroll due diligence, development of tax equalisation policies and more. She helps client analyse and improve the effectiveness of their workforce, provide advice on talents mobility around their business and manage human capital risks.

Main areas of experience
• Personal tax compliance and advisory
• CPF compliance and advisory
• Audit of payroll and compensation reporting
• Design and implementation of employee remuneration, benefits and incentive plans
• Employment tax due diligence and health check

Professional qualifications and memberships
Grace holds a Professional Level Certificate from the Association of Chartered Certified Accounts (ACCA) and is a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accounts (ISCA). She is also an Accredited Tax Advisor (Income Tax) of the Singapore Chartered Tax Professionals (SCTP).

Mr Jiaming Zhang, Senior Manager, PwC Singapore

Jiaming is Senior Manager of the Global Mobility Services team in Singapore. His areas of focus include expatriate tax consulting (including advice on and design of tax efficient compensation structures), tax advice on management incentive plan, co-investment vehicles, etc. and employment tax and payroll consulting (including employment tax due diligence, payroll process review, etc.).

Experience Summary:

Jiaming has more than 10 years of experience advising clients on start to end Global mobility related tax issues in Singapore.

Jiaming worked in PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore from November 2008 to January 2015 (and re-joined in October 2019). He has provided Singapore expatriate tax compliance and advisory services to a portfolio of clients, ranging from High Net Worth individuals to large multinational corporations of various industries with internationally deployed employees. He has also lead teams to develop and implement comprehensive global mobility solutions for multinational clients across major countries in APAC.

With his wealth of experience, Jiaming is now focusing on partnering with clients to co-create value added solution of employment arrangement, management incentive plan, employment tax, payroll, etc. to solve critical business issues.

Education and Certifications:

Jiaming holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from INSEAD and graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Business Administration.

Mr Sim Harng Yi, Manager, PwC Singapore

Harng Yi is a manager with the Financial Services Tax Practice in PwC Singapore. He has a wide range of tax skills spanning across corporate income tax, individual income tax, as well as advising clients on Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) and Common Reporting Standards (“CRS”) in Singapore.

Areas of specialization
He specialises in providing tax advisory services with respect to asset management, insurance, banking and capital markets transactions for financial services clients, including matters relating to FATCA and CRS, assisting them with the full suite of services.

Recent key projects
• CRS gap analysis with a regional bank: Assisted with conducting a gap analysis for compliance with the CRS, provision of recommendations for compliance, design of self-certification forms, conducting training for front and middle office staff.
• FATCA and CRS advisory: Manage the review of the due diligence process of newly set up Financial Institutions, providing recommendations for compliance as well as reporting of accounts.
• FATCA and CRS advisory: Review of 35 loan documents across 20 countries for FATCA and CRS implications for client in the debt securitisation field.
• Tax advisory services for global fund: Provided tax advisory and compliance services, including tax incentive negotiations with the MAS for a Fund with S$16 billion of Asset Under Management (“AUM”)

Professional qualifications and memberships
Harng Yi graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a Bachelor of Business with a specialisation in Actuarial Science. He has qualified for paper exemptions in the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA).