Financial Services Tax

Dechert’s highly skilled tax team offers extensive counseling capabilities with respect to the complex tax issues confronted by U.S. and foreign investment companies, investment managers, and distributors. Our lawyers have significant experience in dealing in tax issues for investment companies, advisers, and distributors of investment companies and financial instruments acquired by investment companies.

Dechert is ranked among the top law firms for tax law in the United States (Best Law Firms/U.S. News and World Report 2017) and boasts a number of partners ranked by Chambers around the world. Dechert is also ranked among the top law firms for international tax and U.S. tax by The Legal 500 2017. The Legal 500 noted that the “‘outstanding’ department at Dechert LLP is ‘very responsive’, advising on complex tax matters pertaining to acquisitions, restructuring, securitization, financing, funds, REITS and transfer pricing” (2016).

Dechert’s tax lawyers are an integral part of our financial services practice, which is one of the largest of any U.S. firm. They possess in-depth knowledge of the industry and its top players because they continually work alongside our fund lawyers, on client matters, in training, and for presentations at industry events.

Strength in managing tax dimensions of investment funds and managers

Dechert advises asset managers in the U.S. and internationally on tax issues related to structuring and developing new funds and products, revenue arrangements, disclosure, ongoing tax compliance and taxation of financial products. Clients include mutual funds, closed-end funds, ETFs, variable insurance funds, business development companies (BDCs) and alternative investment funds (including private equity and hedge funds and funds of funds), as well as their investment advisers and boards of directors/trustees, among others.

Our tax team has advised on outbound investments to minimize CFC (controlled foreign corporation) and PFIC (passive foreign investment company) issues; advises on efficient tax structures for investment by tax-exempt organizations; advises on tax-efficient solutions for activist investments; advised on use of functional currency by country funds; designed tax-efficient offshore fund structures for inbound investment, and counseled investment managers on joint ventures, multi-jurisdictional expansion and efficient revenue sharing arrangements. Our London tax lawyers are skilled in establishing new funds, whether for existing fund management groups or start-ups.