Marsh has appointed PwC mergers and acquisitions specialist Kane Sim to lead its new tax liability practice.

Mr Sim worked with PwC in its Sydney and Boston offices. He is also a former practicing solicitor and has strong experience in M&A, strategic tax planning and related governance and operational affairs.

The new tax liability practice is an expansion of Marsh’s private equity and mergers and acquisitions (PEMA) insurance services and has been established to meet a growing need from clients in a more complex regulatory environment.

Marsh JLT Specialty Head of PEMA Chris McDermott says there are perceptions the Australian Tax Office is ramping up enforcement efforts, while buyers and sellers can also receive different tax law interpretations related to proposed deals and business structuring.

“The allocation of liability on the M&A front is becoming an occasional impediment to getting a deal done, so this is one method of removing that impediment,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

Mr Sim will be based in Sydney, and Marsh expects to expand the practice to New Zealand as well, reflecting the geographic spread of its current M&A business.

The PEMA team worked on more than 150 transactions last year in Australia and New Zealand and rising demand for insurance products has defied a flat or slightly weaker overall deals market, Mr McDermott says.

The global PEMA business practice works with clients through an investment cycle that includes capital-raising, M&A, portfolio management and exit strategies. Tax liability offerings have already been introduced in recent years in Europe and North America.