Who may attend: Members of Dansif, The Danish Finance Society (Finansforeningen), Norsif, Swesif, Finsif and IcelandSIF.
Language and format: The presentations will be in English and the webinar will be held via Microsoft Teams.
Registration: Responsible Corporate Tax – Analysis and Engagement? (tilmeld.dk)

Responsible Corporate Tax has become one of the high ESG priorities among institutional investors in the Nordic countries. Pension funds, municipalities alongside politicians have made it clear that tax havens and aggressive tax planning without sound operational reasons are controversial and unacceptable. Further pressure on public finances in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated this stance. But how do investors analyze and evaluate if specific companies meet not only hard tax law but also widely accepted principles for responsible corporate tax payment as laid out by OECD, EU etc., and how do they most prudently conduct the responsible tax dialogue with the investee companies?

Responsible tax due diligence regarding private equity investments is a.o. covered by the Danish “Tax Code of Conduct” adopted by a range of large Danish pension funds, foundations and associations. But equally, listed and liquid investments present analytical and engagement challenges.

Solid methodologies must underpin qualified decisions regarding specific potential investments as well as maintaining an investee company in a portfolio. We have invited two tax consultants from EY, Hans From and Lars Andersen, to present their model for quantitative analysis of tax issues related to reputational risk. They will present a systematic methodology to shed light on the tax-related challenges and potential reputational risk of an investment. David Frazer, Manager of Engagement Services, Sustainalytics, will share insights on analysing and rating companies on taxation. Finally, CEO Erik Alhoej will present the methodology developed and engagement conducted at Engagement International including challenges and results.

Agenda:

14.00
Welcome
Troels Børrild, Head of Responsible Investments, AkademikerPension

14.05
Analysis of Reputational Tax Risk
Hans From, Tax Director, EY, and Lars Andersen, Tax Director, EY

14.25
Tax Controversies – Oversight Mechanisms and Analysis
David Frazer, Manager of Engagement Services, Sustainalytics

14.50
Responsible Corporate Tax Engagement – Methodology and Results
Erik Alhoej, CEO, Engagement International

15.15
Q&A
Moderator: Troels Børrild, Head of Responsible Investments, AkademikerPension

BIOS

	Hans From, Tax Director, EY 20 years of tax experience. Hans has a law degree from the University of Aarhus in 1999. Started working in the Ministry of Taxation right after graduating. In the period from 1999-2013, he held various positions in the Skatteministeriets Departement. This includes working with capital gains tax in the unit responsible for updating all laws and regulations. From 2004 on he held different managerial positions including working as head of office for the Unit directly serving the Minister for Taxation and the Permanent Secretary. In 2013, Hans joined the Tax Agency as a director and from 2014 -2019 he was director in the department Large Companies who are responsible for making sure all Danish companies with a turnover above DKKm 500 submit and pays the right tax. Hans joined EY as a Tax director. Working with a broad variety of corporate income tax issues include Tax Transparency, Tax controls, TP, DAC6 reporting and Tax contributions.
	Lars Andersen, Tax Director, EY He is educated as auditor. Has worked 26 years in the Danish Tax Agency, the last 15 years as head of Office in the Large Taxpayer Unit. His work has, among other things, been to build up the Danish Cooperative Compliance program and control of large groups and all Danish Banks. Participating as Danish representative in OECDs working Groups. Since March 1, 2020, he has been Tax Director at EY. He works with consulting of tax strategy, sustainability reporting and tax control framework.
	David Frazer, Engagement Manager, Sustainalytics David Frazer is an Engagement Manager covering finance related engagements. As lead for the Taxation Thematic Engagement with IT and Pharmaceutical companies, David is on the cutting edge of the global corporate tax transparency debate, advocating for industry-led initiatives to improve tax transparency. David has over 7 years of experience in ESG Analysis and Engagement and is passionate about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. David has a Master’s degree in international economics from Johns Hopkins University and is currently studying toward his Bachelor of Laws at the University of London.
	Erik Alhoej, CEO, Engagement International Erik holds a master’s degree in business and economics from the University of Aarhus. In the first part of his career, he worked as a teacher in economics and as a business journalist and editor for several leading Danish media, the latest the House of Monday Morning. At the same time, Erik was co-author of five books and other publications about economic and business issues. In 2001, he shifted to the industry of responsible investment as CEO of GES Investment Services Denmark. After thirteen years in this position, he founded Engagement International in 2014. Erik has an extensive experience in company evaluation based on financial and non-financial methods. He has been one of the pioneers of responsible investment in Denmark. From several hundred face-to-face engagement meetings with listed companies all over the world, he has solid experience in collaborative engagement and active ownership. Until 2016, Erik was a board member of Dansif and CSR Forum for several years.