Paul was born in the Netherlands in 1983 and studied Law and Economics in St. Gallen, Berlin, Washington DC and Sydney (lic.iur. HSG in 2005, LL.M. in 2007).

From 2007 to 2014, he served as a Tax Advisor with a Big Four and a leading law firm in Luxembourg, focusing on international financial services taxation, as well as exchange of information-related matters, in particular EOI requests and FATCA.

Since 2014, Mr. Hondius has been a Policy Advisor with the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, in charge of exchange of information policy, including the Common Reporting Standard, the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance, TRACE, Country-by-Country Reporting and the exchange on tax rulings.

Eesh Aggarwal is a UK Chartered Accountant, Registered Auditor and Licensed Trustee with over 20 years experience in UK and international tax planning and accounts. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and member of the International Tax Planning Association (ITPA) and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).

Mr. Aggarwal has lectured in institutions such as London School of Economics, ICSA and Moscow Institute of Risk Management, and conducts training and consultations all over the world.

His current appointments include:

• Chairman of Azure Group, offshore services provider based in Dubai.
• Principal of Appleby Windsor LTD, chartered accountants & auditors based in London.
• Director of Sterling Trust Company Ltd, a licensed trustee based in Belize.

Eesh has written articles for the International Tax Planning Association, Money Works magazine (UAE) and Wealth magazine (Dubai).

His latest publication is “Common Reporting Standard: Survivor's Guide to OECD Automatic Exchange of Information of Offshore Financial Accounts,” the only book at present time on this topic.

Late last year, Taxlinked interviewed Mr. Aggarwal on the OECD’s CRS. To take a look at this article, please go HERE.

Since October 2014, Stuart has been the Editor of Tax Notes International, a weekly publication of Tax Analysts, which provides news, commentary and analysis about all aspects of international taxation.

Mr. Gibson began his career with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Boston and later in St. Paul, Minnesota, reviewing matters recommended for criminal prosecution, and litigating cases in the U.S. Tax Court. In 1984, Mr. Gibson moved to Washington, DC, where he joined the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice as a civil trial attorney. Between then and his retirement in January 2013, he handled every kind of civil lawsuit imaginable, from bankruptcy to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation, from corporate tax refund cases to IRS summons enforcement matters. His name appears as counsel for the government in nearly 150 reported decisions.

In 2004 Mr. Gibson was promoted to the position of Senior Litigation Counsel, where he was responsible for litigating large, high profile cases, including complex tax shelter and international compliance matters.

Among his most significant cases is the 2009 suit filed to enforce a "John Doe" summons to UBS, then the largest bank in Switzerland, to compel the bank to disclose to the IRS information about Americans with undisclosed Swiss bank accounts (United States v. UBS AG, Docket No. 1:09-cv-20423 (S.D. Fla)). The matter was eventually resolved in a highly publicized agreement, under which UBS produced to the IRS information about thousands of undeclared accounts. This agreement spawned the IRS's Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP), under which thousands of U.S. taxpayers have paid billions of dollars in taxes, fines and penalties relating to their undisclosed offshore accounts.

Mr. Gibson received the Attorney General's Distinguished Service award in 2004 for his work on the tax shelter summons cases. In 2011 the IRS awarded Mr. Gibson the Mitchell Rogovin Outstanding Support to Chief Counsel Award, for his successes in combating abusive tax shelters. After retiring, Mr. Gibson was the lead author on Chapter 13, Summonses, for Saltzman & Book on IRS Practice & Procedure (3rd ed.).

A few weeks ago, Taxlinked interviewed Stuart on the Panama Papers and more. To take a look at this article, please go HERE.

Samantha has spent over 15 years specialising in VAT and Indirect Tax matters.

She initially began her career as a VAT Assurance Officer with HM Revenue & Customs in the UK carrying out VAT inspections, before moving on to work with two of the Big 4 accounting firms.

Sam has vast experience of Indirect Tax matters having worked with both domestic and international clients across a diverse range of sectors including the Remote Gaming, Financial Services, Yachting and Property and Construction industries.

Sam has a BA (Hons) degree as well as holding two Indirect tax diplomas, one in UK VAT and the other in Maltese VAT.

Sam offers VAT expertise across both Abacus’ offices and as Client Services Manager, is responsible for leading the Malta team in the development of client relationships and enhancing technical skills with particular focus on the yachting industry.