Speaker of the day: Xavier Oberson — Economy and Finance

Xavier Oberson is a lawyer, Doctor of Law (ITP/LL.M. Harvard Law School), and professor of Swiss and international tax law at the University of Geneva since 1994. He is also director of the LLM Tax at the University of Geneva and a member of the Federal Commission for the Harmonization of Direct Taxes of the Confederation, Cantons, and Municipalities (CHID).

This jurist completed extensive training at Harvard Law School in 1992, following his Bachelor's and Doctorate in Law at the University of Geneva.

He also practices as a lawyer, admitted to the Geneva Bar (since 1987), within the firm Oberson Abels SA in Geneva, Lausanne, Neuchâtel, and Sion, a law firm specializing in tax and commercial law. In this capacity, he advises clients, both individuals and legal entities, on all tax issues.

He recently actively participated in the preparation of the Corporate Tax Reform III. In 2016, he began to take an interest in the issue of robot taxation and their activities. It was in this context that he gave the Inaugural Lecture for the spring semester 2017 at the University of Geneva. Various scientific studies on this same subject have been published or are about to be published.

He chairs the Tax Law Day, which he organizes annually since 2000, jointly with the Ordre Romand des Experts Fiscaux diplômés (OREF), of which he is an honorary member. He is the instigator and director of the LL.M Tax (Master of Advanced Studies) organized at the University of Geneva, which began in 2011.

Professor Oberson is closely involved in various associations, expert commissions, and foundations active in the field of tax law. In this context, he often has to draft legal opinions, collaborate on tax reforms, or intervene in parliamentary procedures. In May 2019, he also joined the Tax Committee of the TIAETL (The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law).

He has held various positions, notably as a judge at the former Federal Appeals Commission for Tax Matters (from 1994 to 2009) and as president of the Federal Expert Commission "Rechtsformneutrale Unternehmensbesteuerung". He was a member of the expert group "International Collaboration in Tax Matters" established by the Federal Council in March 2009 and notably participated in negotiations for a new double taxation agreement with the United States. Since 2010, he has been part of the Federal Commission for the Harmonization of Direct Taxes (CHID).

In 2012, he was awarded the "STEP Private Client Awards, The Geoffrey Shindler Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Profession".

Passionate about music, he presides over the Montreux Jazz Artists Foundation and is a member of the Montreux Jazz Festival foundation committee.

Languages spoken by the speaker

• German
• English
• Spanish
• French

With UnoMe, you can benefit from the expertise of this specialized lawyer during conferences focused on legal topics.

• Tax reform and future taxation
• Should robots be taxed?
• International taxation
• Tax challenges in a transitioning urban world...

Xavier Oberson can address very complex subjects during expert conferences. He has published numerous works and articles in the field of Swiss and international tax law, notably:

• International Exchange of Informations in Tax Matters. Towards Global Transparency (London, Elgar Publishing, 2015)
• Précis de droit fiscal international (4^th ed., Bern, Staempfli, 2014)
• Droit fiscal suisse (4^th ed., Basel, Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 2012)
• Switzerland in international tax law, (4^th ed., Amsterdam, IBFD Publications, 2011).
• Taxing Robots, Helping the Economy to Adapt to the Use of Artificial Intelligence (London, Elgar Publishing, May 2019)
• International Exchange of Information in Tax Matters (Second Edition, London, Elgar Publishing, 2018)

Xavier Oberson also regularly teaches at various universities abroad.