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Roy Saunders

Founder and Chairman, IBSA

Since qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1967, Roy Saunders has accumulated a wealth of commercial experience working independently in commercial property, international tax, advertising and other industries. He is the Chairman of IFS, a boutique international tax practice based in central London. Academically, he is known throughout the world for his many books and publications, the foremost being his red book, International Tax Systems & Planning Techniques published by Sweet & Maxwell. Roy has also taught an MA Course on International Taxation at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies at the University of London.

Roy is very proud of the fascinating client base of entrepreneurial individuals that he has built up at IFS. He feels strongly about the role that ethical tax structuring plays in the growth of an economy, and that this needs to be better understood by the public at large. Roy founded the IBSA to enable business professionals around the world to discover new business relationships and promote best practice by creating sustainable business structures compliant with international transparency, corporate governance and social responsibility.

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Wim Ritz

Managing Director, Vistra

With a masters degree in Law from K.U.Leuven, Wim began his career in a private equity house, where, over the course of five years, he gained extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions.

He lectured in corporate and real estate law at a Belgian business school for seven years, and was also a member of the Belgian Bar Association as an attorney-at-law for ten years.

Wim joined Vistra in 2010 and he currently heads up the Luxembourg office and is the Managing Director for both Corporate and Fund Services. The Luxembourg office is divided into 11 teams on the corporate side of the business as well as the Funds Team. All teams report to their Team Leader who in turn reports to their Regional Director Client Services or Head of Department. All Directors report to Wim.

Wim's everyday responsibilities include a supervisory and business development role for the maintenance of Luxembourg KPI's. Moreover, Wim also takes up management positions in client structures as he guides them through the life-cycle of their cross-border investments.

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Frédéric Dupont

Head of Tax and Institutional Investor Solutions, JeantetAssociés

Frédéric worked in law firms in Paris and Warsaw from 2001 to 2003 and Luxembourg from 2004. In his position as a director in the international tax department of a major Luxembourg tax consulting firm since 2011, he created, developed and led the capital markets team, being in charge of the development of institutional clients, with particular focus on real estate and Germany.

Frédéric, having 14 years of experience in tax consulting, the last 11 of these in Luxembourg, has also developed a cross-specialization (direct and indirect taxation, as well as the corresponding regulatory aspects) in the area of investment funds, capital markets and structured finance, particularly to institutional investors. Furthermore, he intervened on unregulated real estate investment structures, balance sheet restructuring of financial institutions, securitizations and structuring of industrial and commercial groups (reinsurance solutions, cash pooling, intellectual property, restructuring, transfers of registered offices and restructuring in connection with public bond issues), as well as wealth planning dedicated to entrepreneurs and multinational groups.  

Holding a Master in business law from the University of Paris II (Assas), an LL.M. in business law from the University of Munich and a DJCE and DESS in business law and taxation from the University of Strasbourg, Frédéric is a lawyer of the Paris Bar and is in the process of being registered with the Luxembourg Bar (list I). He speaks German, English, French and Portuguese.

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Julien Dif

Partner, Bonnard Lawson

Julien Dif is a partner in the Geneva office of Bonnard Lawson and heads the firm’s Luxembourg office. He works primarily in the following areas of law: Banking Law and Finance, Asset Management, Collective Investment Schemes, and Private Clients.

Me Dif regularly advises promoters of foreign collective investment schemes on all Swiss legal and regulatory aspects relating to the public distribution and private placement of such products. In this context, he ensures that all relevant documentation of foreign collective investment schemes is compliant with Swiss law and drafts all types of agreements related to this activity. Me Dif advises foreign collective investment schemes over the entire period of their distribution in Switzerland. He frequently collaborates with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA and conducts the necessary procedures for the maintenance of all required authorizations.