Establishment of‘BREXIT - EU Specialist Reaction Team’

As a reaction to the UK’s exit from EU, KPMG Japan (HQ: Shinjuku, Tokyo, Chairman: Tsutomu Takahashi) has formed ‘BREXIT - EU Specialist Reaction Team’ in collaboration with Japan, the UK and EU. The Team will provide Japanese companies with up-to-date information about EU’s trends and tax advisory services covering custom duties, VAT and direct taxes, as well as supply chain consulting services.

The UK’s exit from EU (Brexit) is bringing new uncertainty to the global economy and future trends of EU have become a very important theme for Japanese companies doing business in the UK and European countries. KPMG UK held an urgent seminar towards Japanese companies which are operating in the UK and carried out a survey targeting the participants of the seminar (48 attendees from 38 companies) regarding how Japanese companies have perceived Brexit and how they are reacting. The key findings are:

• Action plans were prepared prior to the vote, assuming Brexit would happen: 14.6%
• Short-term impacts on business in the UK were anticipated: 43.8%
• Medium-term impacts on business in the UK were anticipated: 47.9%
• Reviewing future business strategies was deemed necessary: 64.6%

The above shows Brexit was unexpected and could impact significantly on their business in the UK. The survey also showed exchange fluctuations of USD, GBP and Euro, macro-economic trends and changes in taxation were considered to be potential factors that could impact their business most.

Considering these circumstances, KPMG Japan has formed BREXIT - EU Specialist Reaction Team consisting of professionals in Tokyo, London and Brussels, where EU’s HQ is located, in order to provide most updated information regarding Brexit to Japanese companies in the UK and Europe and to support their business expansion. The Team is led by Hiroshi Miura (Head of Global Japanese Practice in Tokyo) and Hiroaki Sugiura (Head of EMA Global Japanese Practice in London). The services will be provided at the core locations (Tokyo, London, and Brussels) as well as specialist desks located at KPMG Germany, Netherlands, France, etc. by a total of over 60 professionals of international tax, corporate finance and consulting.

Services offered

• Provision of up-to-date information in connection with Brexit and EU trends
• Impact analysis for custom duties, VAT and direct taxes
• Advisory services in connection with business structure in Europe and the UK
• Advisory services for reviewing supply chains