Jivaan Bennett

Jivaan Bennett

Senior Associate, Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations, London

"My area of focus is on contentious tax and commercial disputes. I have experience advising on UK and Commonwealth Caribbean tax issues in the context of cross-border corporate transactions and international disputes. I have worked with clients in a range of sectors including private equity, sports and energy."

Overview

Professional experience

Education and qualifications

Published works

Overview

Jivaan has over a decade of experience practising tax and commercial law both in the Commonwealth Caribbean and in the United Kingdom. He has advised on tax structuring in the context of cross-border transactions and has been involved in the drafting and negotiation of the relevant tax-related contractual documents for both corporate and finance transactions.

Jivaan has spent 5 years in the London office (as well as a 6 month secondment to the Madrid office). 

He will be relocating in late 2023 to the firm’s New York office to work more closely with the LatAm and Caribbean Groups.

Work highlights

Jivaan’s recent matters include:

  • Acting for Scottish Power in its tax appeal against an HMRC corporation tax assessment relating to deductibility of a settlement payment made to OFGEM.
  • Acting for a multinational conglomerate in respect of a transfer pricing enquiry by HMRC.
  • Acting on a post-M&A dispute for the purchaser of a Latin American bank in an ICC Arbitration in relation to various breaches of indemnity and warranty claims.
  • Acting for e& on its USD400m investment in Careem Super App.
  • Advising an international business services provider on its “once-in-a-generation” global corporate restructuring.
 

Professional experience

Member of the Race Action Plan Steering Committee

Trustee, Project ReMake

Co-Chair, Young International Fiscal Association Network

Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Social Development Committee,  International Bar Association

Volunteer, Free Representation Unit 

 

Education and qualifications

Jivaan read for an undergraduate degree in English law and French law at King’s College London and Universite de Paris-1 (La Sorbonne). He holds a Master of Laws in International Tax Law also from King’s College London. 

Published works

Post-Financial Crisis Construction of Taxing Statutes: Filling State Coffers – a Commonwealth Caribbean Perspective (Caribbean Law Review, Jan 2014) (cited with approval by the Supreme Court of Belize in UC Trading Company v Commissioner of Sales Tax (May 2021)).

The New 45% Corporation Tax on Restitution Interest paid by HMRC (Tax Journal, November 2015).

Waivers of VAT liability pursuant to creditors’ arrangements and compatibility with EU Law (Insolvency Intelligence, Nov 2016).