Transfer pricing in the post global financial crisis environment continues to be one of the most important issues facing multinational companies, largely because tax authorities around the world are seeking to recoup tax revenues that may have leaked out of their respective tax systems since the latter part of 2008.

This is not to say that tax leakage has been due to inappropriate transfer pricing practices; however given the substantial increase in international trade and globalisation over the past 10 years to 15 years, the focus on transfer pricing and appropriate corporate behaviour with respect to it, has certainly sharpened.

After the financial crisis, not surprisingly, the financial services sector is being actively targeted in terms of investigations, resulting in litigation, settlements and adjustments. This has had a great impact on in-house recruitment and as a result, TP International has recently placed several senior candidates into banking and financial services related roles. We see this trend continuing as scrutiny of the financial services sector continues.