TAX ACADEMY - Key Persons
Darren Koh was called to the Bar in England & Wales. He is also a Chartered Accountant (England and Wales) and a Chartered Tax Adviser (United Kingdom). He embarked on a tax career in public practice with PricewaterhouseCoopers in London and KPMG in Hong Kong, and later joined industry with Procter & Gamble. He has also spent 2 years in International Law with the United Nations Compensation Commission, advising Commissioners on the verification and valuation of war reparation claims filed against Iraq after the first Gulf War. He returned to Procter & Gamble after his stint at the UN, and finally left Procter & Gamble as Associate Director for the ASEAN/Australasia/India region to pursue a career in academia. His career has taken him around the world from London to Hong Kong, to Kobe, to Geneva, to Singapore, to Cincinnati, Ohio and back again to Singapore.
He joined the Singapore University of Social Sciences (then SIM University) as Head of Area - Taxation and Business Law in the School of Business and is now the Vice-Dean of the School of Law as well as the Head of Programme - Master of Taxation.
Darren has a keen interest in international taxation and also interest in education and training and is always looking for ways to help people to understand that tax is not boring. He is a member of Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and the Singapore Chartered Tax Professionals.
Ajay leads the tax practice for KPMG Singapore and has more than 24 years of post-qualification experience in the areas of tax consulting and compliance. He specialises in corporate and international tax and has advised numerous clients on inbound/outbound investments, pre and post IPO structuring, supply chain hub model restructuring, cross border service fee/royalty payments, procurement model and intellectual property structuring. Ajay has contributed many articles in academic journals, leading business publications and newspapers. He is also a regular speaker on tax issues including in collaboration with industry associations and Government agencies.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director & Tax Partner / Deloitte
- Member of the Singapore Chartered Accountant
Daniel leads Deloitte Singapore's Tax & Legal practice and is also Deloitte Southeast Asia's Mergers & Acquisitions Tax Leader. He has more than 24 years of experience serving local and multinational companies in industries such as real estate, fund management, construction, technology, manufacturing, consumer products and shipping/energy & resources.
Daniel has extensive experience in Singapore and international tax consultancy and planning in the area of mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, cross-border payments, supply-chain planning and permanent establishment issues. He has been involved in numerous tax structuring and due diligence assignments for corporates and PE funds. He has assisted clients in different industries such as manufacturing, shipping, trading and fund management in the application for relevant Singapore tax incentives.
Daniel graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a Bachelor of Accountancy (Hons) and has completed the CFA program. He is a non-practising member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Singapore and Accredited Tax Advisor (Income Tax) - Singapore Institute of Accredited Tax Professionals (SIATP).
Daniel is a member of the Singapore Chartered Accountant (CA) Qualification's Learning and Assessment Committee, Tax Academy's Curriculum and Examination Development (CED) Committee and Singapore Shipping Association's Tax Sub-Committee
Job Titles:
- Chartered Financial Analyst
- Chief Investment Officer / Raffles Medical Group
- OCBC Bank in 2007 As Head
Mr Tan joined Raffles Medical Group (RMG) in March 2023 as Chief Investment Officer to develop and execute its business and investment strategy.
Prior to joining RMG, Mr Tan was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of OCBC Bank from 2011 to 2022. Mr Tan joined OCBC Bank in 2007 as Head of Asset & Liability in Global Treasury and assumed the role of Deputy CFO in 2011. Before this, Mr Tan worked for 13 years in the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) with his last position in GIC as Head of Money Markets.
Mr Tan serves on the Board of Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, Tax Academy of Singapore and Singapore Management University's School of Accountancy. Mr Tan is a Council member of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and serves as Chairman of its Investment Committee. Mr Tan had previously served on the Boards of OCBC Bank (China), OCBC Bank (Malaysia), Bank of Ningbo (China), Lion Global Investors (Singapore) and MaxWealth Asset Management (China). Mr Tan had also served as a member of the Alumni Advisory Board and Adjunct Professor of Nanyang Business School.
Mr Tan is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Fellow Chartered Accountant of Singapore. Mr Tan was named "Best CFO" at FinanceAsia Awards 2016, Singapore Corporate Awards 2017, Corporate Governance Asia 2018 and Corporate Treasurer Awards 2021. Mr Tan graduated with First Class Honours in Accountancy from Nanyang Technological University and is an alumni member of Stanford Graduate Business School.
Job Titles:
- Financial Services Tax Leader With PwC Singapore
- Member of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants
- Partner / Financial Services Tax Leader
Lennon is the financial services tax leader with PwC Singapore. He has over 20 years of experience in practising Singapore and international tax. He is active in advising financial institutions, multinational corporations and government-linked entities on cross-border tax implications and disputes, regional corporate restructuring and tax related financial regulatory projects as well as advisory relating to mergers and acquisitions, Singapore outbound and inbound investments, asset securitisation, cash and treasury products, REITs, asset wealth and fund management. In addition, he also manages the China tax practice in Singapore and advises various institutions and corporates on both China inbound and outbound investments.
Lennon is a member of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and a member of the Singapore Institute of Accredited Tax Professionals (Accredited Tax Advisor). He is also a member of the CPA Australia.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Chartered Accountant
- Fellow of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants
Mr Tham is a chartered accountant by profession. He is a board member of DBS Group Holdings, Keppel, Mount Alvernia Hospital and Nanyang Polytechnic, and is chairman of EM Services. He was for many years in public practice at KPMG, where he was its managing partner and then its Asia Pacific regional chairman when he retired.
Mr Tham is a Fellow of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and the Singapore Institute of Directors.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer, Tax Academy of Singapore / Deputy Commissioner ( Business Group ), Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
- Deputy Commissioner
Yah Fang is the Deputy Commissioner (Business Group)/Chief Compliance Officer of IRAS, providing strategic leadership to IRAS divisions in domestic income tax policies and driving compliance activities aligned with IRAS-wide corporate plans.
Prior to her appointment as Deputy Commissioner, Yah Fang had held key appointments in IRAS, including as Assistant Commissioner of the Corporate Tax Division and Assistant Commissioner of the Taxpayer Services Division. She has also served in the Singapore Ministry of Finance as the Chief Tax Policy Officer.
Job Titles:
- Head, Tax & Private Client Services / Drew & Napier LLC
Ken Loon advises on tax aspects of corporate transactions, such as income tax, GST, stamp duty, and property tax.
She assists clients with negotiations with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and represents clients before the tax tribunals and Singapore courts. She has worked on a number of tax litigation cases that have led to landmark case law.
Her clients come from across business sectors. She advises local and multinational corporate groups, financial institutions, and investment funds on a broad range of transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate structures and restructurings.
In addition, Ken Loon works with private clients to provide solutions to complex tax, succession and private wealth management issues.
Before joining Drew & Napier in 2008, she was a Principal Legal Officer in the Law Division of the IRAS.
She is recommended as one of Singapore's leading tax lawyers by various leading international legal publications.
Job Titles:
- Head of Tax With Ernst & Young
- Partner / Head of Tax
Pui Ming is the Head of Tax with Ernst & Young Singapore. She has more than 20 years of experience in Singapore and regional tax compliance and advisory.
Pui Ming was previously the EY Asean Leader for Global Compliance and Reporting, where she headed the record-to-report services in the region, which span traditional tax compliance, tax accounting, as well as book-keeping, payroll, and corporate secretarial services. She is also experienced in tax advisory matters including acquisitions, group reorganization, tax controversies and health checks etc. Pui Ming holds a Bachelor of Accountancy (Second Upper Honours) from the National University of Singapore. She is a member of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants. She is also an Accredited Tax Advisor (Income Tax) of the Singapore Institute of Accredited Tax Professionals.