Presenters

Dave Ananth, Special Counsel, Stace Hammond
Admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand and as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaysia, Dave has over 30 years’ experience in legal practice in New Zealand and overseas jurisdictions. His primary practice area is in tax. Before joining Stace Hammond, Dave was a Director of Ernst & Young, Malaysia. Before that, he worked as a prosecutor for the Inland Revenue Department. Due to his extensive experience and expertise, he can directly negotiate with the IRD, accountants and other professional colleagues in the tax and commercial arena. He also has the added benefit of having extensive networks in Asia and other overseas jurisdictions. Dave is passionate about ensuring that tax law and its financial implications are accessible and understood by a wide audience. To help achieve this, Dave presents seminars addressing GST and other tax related matters to local and international audiences. He has also published opinion pieces that address the impact of GST on the telecommunication industry, petroleum industry and other utility industries.


Simon Akozu, Partner, MinterEllisonRuddWatts
Simon is a tax specialist, focused on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), infrastructure projects, financing arrangements, and crypto assets. Simon has broad experience managing tax projects across a wide range of industries. His clients include leading New Zealand corporates, multinationals, financial institutions, and high net worth individuals. Simon is also working with a range of start-ups in the crypto asset space. Simon has a keen interest in tax policy. He regularly writes and presents on new developments in tax, including the taxation of crypto assets. He is a contributor to Bloomberg Tax and is a co-author of Bloomberg’s New Zealand country guide.