KPMG's Tax Governance Institute Webcast To Examine Financial Products Tax Reform

NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Proposed tax reforms for financial products included in a recently issued "Discussion Draft" from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman David Camp (R-MI) will be the subject of a KPMG Tax Governance Institute (TGI) webcast on Thursday, Feb. 7, from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (ET).  The proposals are part of the committee's broader efforts on comprehensive tax reform and cover rules for taxation of derivatives and changes to taxation of debt instruments.

The live video webcast, titled "Comprehensive Tax Reform: Financial Products Discussion Draft," will look at potential ramifications of the proposals for investment banks, insurance companies, and other organizations in the financial services and alternative investment fund sectors.  Many non-financial companies with large treasury operations, trading or marketing groups, or significant debt outstanding may also find the discussion worthwhile.

Board and audit committee members, CFOs, tax directors and other business professionals interested in attending the program can register at: www.taxgovernanceinstitute.com.  

KPMG principal and TGI director Hank Gutman will moderate a distinguished panel including:

• Ray Beeman, tax counsel and special advisor for tax reform for the Ways & Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
• Lucy Farr, partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.
• Steve Rosenthal, visiting fellow, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
• Mark Price, principal in charge of KPMG's Financial Institutions & Products group in the firm's Washington National Tax practice.

"Congressman Camp's discussion draft is viewed by many as a bold proposal for financial products taxation," said Gutman, former chief of staff of the U.S. Congress Joint Committee on Taxation.

"Designed in part to minimize Wall Street's ability to hide and disguise potentially significant risks through abuse of derivatives and other novel financial products, draft reforms would require those engaged in 'speculative' financial activity, opposed to hedging, to mark certain derivative positions to market, thus triggering recognition of gain or loss for taxpayers," Gutman added.

During the 90-minute TGI webcast, panelists will discuss reforms in the draft that would:

• provide uniform tax treatment of financial products,
• simplify business hedging tax rules,
• eliminate "phantom" tax resulting from debt restructurings,
• harmonize tax treatment of bonds traded at a discount or premium on the secondary market,
• increase the accuracy of determining gains and losses on sales of securities, and
• prevent the harvesting of tax losses on securities.

Part of the KPMG Institute Network (www.kpmginstitutes.com), the Tax Governance Institute (www.taxgovernanceinstitute.com) provides opportunities for board members, corporate management, stakeholders, government representatives and others to share knowledge regarding the identification, oversight, management, and appropriate disclosure of tax risk.

About KPMG LLP

KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm (www.us.kpmg.com), is the U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International").  KPMG International's member firms have 152,000 professionals, including more than 8,600 partners, in 156 countries.

Contact:
Robert Nihen/Bridget Carroll
KPMG LLP
201-307-8296/201-505-6501
[email protected]; [email protected]

SOURCE KPMG LLP

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