COURSE CATALOGUE MASTER IN GLOBAL TAXATION

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1 COURSE CATALOGUE MASTER IN GLOBAL TAXATION OCTOBER 2018 SECOND PERIOD

2 ACCOUNTING II - 10 SESSIONS The course will focus on the use of financial statements and accounting information to value a company s equity or share prices. Particular emphasis is given to the following parts: Framework for Business Analysis und Valuation, Business and Accounting Analysis Tools, and Prospective Analysis with Valuation. Furthermore, the course intends to provide linkages to other subjects such as corporate finance, risk management, capital markets, and management accounting. Students will learn techniques for analysing the statements of shareholders equity, income, cash flow, and balance sheet. The objective of the course is not to memorise accounting ratios. Rather, the course will teach you how to use techniques for analysing the statements of shareholders equity, income, cash flow, and balance sheet. Furthermore, the course will also emphasize advanced topics such as lease accounting, financial instruments, M&A accounting, and tax accounting. ANTIAVOIDANCE I: PRINCIPLES AND FRAMEWORK- 10 SESSIONS Tax avoidance remains one of the main issues that tax practitioners will be expected to deal with. Both domestically and in an international setting, a number of different rules to counter tax avoidance and sham transactions coexist. General anti-avoidance rules (GAARs) and Targeted anti-avoidance rules (TAARs) -also known as Specific anti-avoidance rules (SAARs), as well as case-law doctrines, have been enacted by Governments overtime both in the continental and common law traditions. Because most of these rules address similar tax issues, they will be studied in parallel, to provide an array of different comparative models that will permit students to fully grasp the issues at stake. The aim of this course is to provide an overview of how rules, and judicial doctrines, to counter tax avoidance operate in practice. The students will then build up on this knowledge by analyzing specific tax avoidance issues that arise both in the European and in strictly international arena. DIGITAL DNA: TECHNOLOGY FOR INNOVATION - 10 SESSIONS Technology is perhaps the most important driver of innovation and disruption two forces that we see changing all industries, turning startups into global giants, and in some cases leaving former giants gasping struggling to change. Often thought of as only for techies, understanding and applying technology to do things in new and better ways is part of every professional s job - whether you work in business, law, government, or even the arts and humanities. This course involves not only learning about current and emerging technologies but also how these might apply to innovating and solving problems in your chosen profession or career path. This is not a coding or tech development course! You will learn that rather than being scary, the essential concepts of these technologies can be learned and digested quickly and you will be introduced to a range of relevant real-world examples of how these technologies are being used. You will have the change to engage in hands-on innovation methods, to work with your classmates in thinking about how these technologies might be applied to your chosen area of professional activity.

3 ENTREPRENEURIAL VENTURING 15 SESSIONS This course aims to provide students with a complete learning experience, which will allow them to develop skills and apply vital tools in today's business world. The objectives of the course are the following: Learn how to recognize and evaluate new entrepreneurship opportunities; Understand the problems that entrepreneurs face when starting a business; Acquire the fundamental skills and tools required to manage and advise a new company. EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION AND INTERNATIONAL COMMON REPORTING STANDARDS - 5 SESSIONS Exchange of information for tax purposes is a valuable tool for enhancing global transparency and cooperation. Over the last years, countries have moved from an exchange of information on request standard, to automatic exchange of information as an enhanced and more effective tool that would serve to tackle tax evasion and other forms of non-compliance. This course is aimed at providing students with an understanding of what initiatives have been implemented during the last years as well as upcoming measures that pretend to increase tax transparency. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT - 10 SESSIONS This course is an introduction to the main concepts and issues in modern financial management. After a brief introduction to corporate finance and financial markets, we will concentrate on the two main decisions financial managers face every day: capital budgeting and capital structure decisions. In other words, what the firm does with the money and where the firm gets the money from. INTERNATIONAL TAX PLANNING FOR MULTINATIONALS - 20 SESSIONS The world is increasingly global and business is becoming more and more international. International corporate tax planning has become a hot topic over the last years and plays a key role. This course is aimed at providing law students with a general approach to the necessary tools, skills and knowledge on international tax planning. The course will provide an analysis of the most fundamental structural elements of an international tax planning strategies and techniques. Members of Board of Directors, Managers, tax practitioners and Lawyers alike are in much need of this knowledge given the new international approach worldwide.

4 INTERNATIONAL VAT LAW AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL INDIRECT TAXES - 15 SESSIONS VAT and general turnover taxes have and increasing relevance in advanced tax systems. Both their management efficiency for the tax administrations and the difficulties in the direct taxes collection in a globalized world have taken the tax authorities to rely on turnover taxes. In this area, VAT has shown some technical features which have put it as the more usual general turnover tax in the world. Its capability to the make the necessary adjustments without distorting international exchanges and, on a broader approach, the respect of the neutrality principle, according to which business decisions are not influenced by the tax, are basic in its design. This is the case in the European Union, where the relevance of the tax is reinforced by the existence of some European regulations establishing the basic rules of the tax which are binding for the European Member States. In addition, its functioning characteristics allow a very efficient administration, something, together with the previously commented aspects, that has transformed it in the most usual general turnover tax in the world. INTRODUCTION TO US INTERNATIONAL TAX ISSSUES - 6 SESSIONS This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the main US tax issues that foreign multinationals may encounter during their business cycle: from the tax considerations relevant to choosing the legal form to conduct business in the US, to the financing and repatriation aspects, and the tax consequences of divestment. Because a potential tax reform will likely be introduced in the US under the current republican Administration and Congress, we will analyze the relevant aspects of the reform to understand the impact for multinationals carrying business in the US. This course rests on the premise that most tax lawyers will be in touch with US tax topics in their careers, thus they will need a solid overview of the different key US tax topics and legislative trends. MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS 5 SESSIONS The course will give the students the opportunity to analyze from a comparative perspective some of the main corporate law issues. It will allow them not only to know about the regulations in other jurisdictions but also to understand better their own system. The course focuses on topics such as (i) the main differences and similarities of corporations in the different countries; (ii) the corporate choice of law and its consequences; (iii) the distribution of authority among shareholders, directors and officers; (iv) the corporate purposes; and (v) the current debate, both in the US and the EU, about the ideal corporate governance structure for listed corporations and its consequences from a tax perspective. RISK ASSESMENT AND ADVISORY ROLE - 10 SESSIONS The course pretends to teach the student concepts, instruments and tools to analyze and hedge out market risks present in tax transactions. In addition to the latter, the student will realize that the understanding of interest rates, inflation, currencies, credit and equites is one the basis to really comprehend the Capital Market world, and therefore the day by day evolution of developed economies. The course will be divided in 10 sessions that will provide the student with the basic tools to reaching the set objectives.

5 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT-10 SESSIONS This strategy introductory course will introduce you to the mission and realities of general management in order to enable you to think strategically and effectively manage companies and business units. The course aims to provide you with a thorough understanding of the issues underlying value generation in business. You will be familiarized with the main theories, models and tools within the field of strategy with a strong emphasis on their application to ambiguous real settings and to make decisions that increase a firm s competitive standing vis-à-vis its competitors. These technical analysis tools, along with strategic concepts are intended to enable students to help companies adapt to current and future market situations, including technological variations and changes in the environment, market and its competitors. In addition we will focus on the development of company specific capabilities and resources that contribute to its competitive advantage. TAXATION IN THE EU- 15 SESSIONS European Union (EU) law exerts paramount influence on the tax treatment of cross-border transactions within the EU and between EU Member States and third countries. Although national legislations of the Member States, in particular those internal provisions dealing with cross-border taxation, must be in compliance with EU law, this is not always so as may be inferred from the case-law of the EU Court of Justice (CJEU). This course is aimed at providing students with an overview of the most relevant EU law principles and Directives in the field of direct taxation, as interpreted by the CJEU, and their influence in the domestic tax provisions of the EU Member States. US INTERNALTIONAL TAX LAW- 4 SESSIONS International tax law is a complex and evolving area. The sweeping effects of globalization and emerging shifts in trade policy are a few of the driving forces transforming the work of tax attorneys. It has become increasingly important for domestic experts to expand their practice to include an international component. International tax counsel have thus emerged as a critical ingredient of successfully competing in corporate reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, joint ventures, and restructurings. This course guides practitioners through the basic structure of the US tax system, including an explanation of the many different sources of law at the federal and state level. From there, the program will offer an overview of the rules covering when and how much the US will tax both a foreign individual or corporation and a US corporation that conducts business outside the US. Additionally, we will cover a number of cutting-edge, topical issues including corporate inversion transactions, the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project, and, of course, the impact of the recent fundamental international tax reform in the US which will have massive implications for any tax planning involving a US component. *The duration of each session is 80 minutes