Venezuela

D'Empaire Reyna Abogados

Edificio Bancaracas, PH

Plaza La Castellana

Caracas 1060

Venezuela

Tel: +58 212 264 6244 (general) +58 212 264 7376 (direct) +58 412 264 6250 (mobile)

Email: abenshimol@dra.com.ve

Website: www.dra.com.ve

Alberto Benshimol Bello received his law degree (summa cum laude) from Andrés Bello Catholic University (1996) and a Master of Laws degree (LLM) in international taxation from New York University (1997). He was a recipient of the Donald L. Brown Scholarship granted by New York University School of Law. He is a professor of financial and tax law in the undergraduate and postgraduate studies at Andres Bello Catholic University (since 2003).

Alberto is a member of the Latin America committee of the International Fiscal Association (IFA) and is secretary of IFA Venezuela. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association and the International Bar Association, as well as being a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).

Albertos's previous roles have included international associate of the law firm Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, based in Washington, DC (1997-1998), while he was also a member of the Venezuelan team that conducted and completed the negotiations of the US-Venezuela tax treaty (1998). Since 2005, Alberto has been a partner of D'Empaire Reyna Abogados.

He has published several articles in Venezuela and abroad on International Taxation and Wealth Planning, and frequently lectures on such matters.

He represents individuals, fiduciaries and family businesses in domestic and international tax, estate and trust planning. He also represents corporate clients on domestic and international tax matters, such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Brown Brothers Harriman, Citigroup Private Bank, Coca-Cola Femsa, GE, HSBC, JP Morgan, Mexichem, Rolex, Rosneft and Toshiba.

He has also been recognised by numerous surveys including those conducted by Chambers and Partners, Who's Who Legal, World Tax, International Tax Review, Latin Lawyer, and Practical Law Review, as a leading Venezuelan tax practitioner.

D'Empaire Reyna Abogados

Edificio Bancaracas, PH

Plaza La Castellana

Caracas 1060

Venezuela

Tel: +58 212 264 6244 (general) +58 212 267 7154 (direct) +58 412 234 3690 (mobile)

Email: hromeromuci@dra.com.ve

Website: www.dra.com.ve

Humberto Romero-Muci graduated (summa cum laude) from Andrés Bello Catholic University (1985). He gained a master's degree in law and a specialisation and diploma on international taxation at Harvard Law School (1986), later obtaining a PhD at Central University of Venezuela (2003).

He is a fellow of the National Academy of Political and Social Sciences, Seat N° 14 (2005); a member of the board of directors and treasurer of the same academy from 2007 to 2011, as well as secretary, a role he still holds. Humberto is also a professor of undergraduate and postgraduate studies at Andrés Bello Catholic University, Central University of Venezuela and the Metropolitan University and is also chair professor and head of the finance law lecture at Andrés Bello Catholic University (1987-now).

He is a former Justice of the First Court on tax matters (1990-1993) and of the Political-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court (1998-2000).

He was previously a partner of the law firm Tinoco, Travieso, Planchart, Erminy y Asociados (1986-1997); co-founder and managing partner of the law firm Romero-Muci & Asociados (1997); international partner of Andersen Legal (1997-2002) and Deloitte (2002-2012). Since 2012 he has been a partner of D´Empaire Reyna Abogados.

He has published more than 60 articles in law reviews in Venezuela and abroad, and more than 12 books on the matters of accounting, taxation and tax litigation.

Humberto has received several awards, including the following: Annual Award from the Attorney General's Office (1989); Honor Award from the Academy of Political and Social Sciences (1991 and 2005); Nuck Wicksell Honor Award, granted by the Venezuelan Association of Law and Economics (1997); Honor Award Marcos Ramirez Murzi granted by the Venezuelan Tax Law Association (2007 and 2008).

He has taken part in the most relevant cases of tax litigation in customs, transfer pricing, municipal taxes, income taxes and international arbitration, including the representation of: Total, Eni, Weatherford International, FedEx, Brightstar, Coca Cola Femsa, Flowserve, Makro, Norberto Odebrecht Constructora, AstraZeneca, Bayer, and Halliburton, among others.

He has also been ranked as a top tax adviser by several tax reviews and directories such as Chambers, International Tax Review, and Top Tier Lawyers.

D'Empaire Reyna Abogados

Edificio Bancaracas, PH

Plaza La Castellana

Caracas, 1060

Venezuela

Tel: +58 212 2646244 (general) +58 414 7299162 (mobile)

Email: jvalecillos@dra.com.ve

Website: www.dra.com.ve

José Valecillos is an associate at the tax group of D'Empaire Reyna Abogados.

José has represented multinational enterprises in a wide range of tax disputes, including several transfer pricing litigations. José has also provided tax advice to multinational enterprises on several corporate transactions and on international tax matters.

He received his law degree from the Metropolitan University in 2007 and a Master of Laws degree (LLM) in taxation from Georgetown University Law Center in 2014.

José is the Venezuelan Branch representative of the Young IFA Network (YIN) and a member of the Venezuelan Tax Law Association (AVDT). José has spoken at international conferences held by the International Bar Association (IBA) Taxes Committee and by the International Fiscal Association Latin America. Before joining D'Empaire, José was an associate at Deloitte Caracas and served at the Venezuelan tax authority's legal office.