Current practice

Andrew rejoined Greenwoods & Freehills in 2002 after having spent three and a half years as chief tax counsel for MLC / National Wealth Management, where he had responsibility for all tax matters of the Wealth Management Division of the National Australia Group—which includes the MLC companies as well as National Australia Financial Management and its subsidiaries.

Industry experience

Prior to this, Andrew was a director of Greenwoods & Freehills having joined the firm in 1990, after spending nine years in various sections of the Australian Taxation Office and two years as a senior tax specialist with a major financial services corporation. Andrew has had over 25 years of experience in tax, the last 18 specialising in insurance, superannuation and funds management in both domestic and international tax contexts.

He has advised clients on a range of tax matters, including mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, tax audits, tax litigation, structured finance, capital raisings, domestic and international investments as well as corporate and fund restructuring both in Australia and cross-border. He has been heavily involved in the tax reform process and a number of ATO commissioner’s groups, including the National Tax Liaison Group.

Professional background

Andrew is the 2006–07 President of the Tax Institute of Australia (TIA) and has held a number of positions with the TIA, including national treasurer, vice-president, chairman of the National Technical Committee and New South Wales state chairman. He is also a member of a number of other permanent and ad hoc TIA committees.

Andrew also lectures on insurance taxation in the Masters of Law course at the University of Sydney and Andrew is a regular speaker at seminars on domestic and international tax aspects on the financial services industry. He has published papers and articles in various national and international tax journals.

Andrew holds a Bachelor of Business degree, a Master of Laws and a Graduate Diploma in Tax Law.