Cambodia Investment Review
DFDL Legal and Tax, a leading regional law firm, has been honored with the coveted Legal 500 award for Tax Firm of the Year 2023, cementing its position in the global legal market. The Legal 500, which has been evaluating the prowess of law firms globally for 35 years, made this announcement recently.
“We are humbled to be recognized by The Legal 500,” said DFDL Cambodia Tax Partner Clint O’Connell. “This acknowledgment is a testament to our commitment to excellence in serving our clients, and our deep expertise in tax which extends from compliance to advisory, dispute and transactional services.”
Read more: Clint O’Connell on Cambodia’s modernizing taxation system
The Legal 500 carries out its extensive research program annually, factoring in feedback from 300,000 clients, submissions from law firms, interviews with leading private practice and in-house lawyers, and a team of researchers with unparalleled experience. This year, the shortlisted candidates for the Tax Firm of the Year included prominent firms like Baker McKenzie, Drew & Napier LLC, and Wong & Partners, among others.
Strong clientele of major firms
Established in 1995, DFDL Cambodia is licensed as an investment company by the Council for the Development of Cambodia and the Cambodian Investment Board. It also holds registration as a private limited company with the Ministry of Commerce. DFDL is also registered, through its affiliate, as a tax agent in Cambodia. This allows the firm to provide business consulting, tax, and international investment advisory services.
With a strong clientele comprising major international and Asian foreign investors in Cambodia, DFDL Cambodia has been advising a number of significant projects in the country, spanning various sectors like education, health, agriculture, hospitality, manufacturing, telecommunications, infrastructure, and real estate.
The award comes at a time when Cambodia is rapidly updating its business and investment laws, including new laws on investment and taxation. “The Cambodian tax system has seen a significant overhaul in recent years, introducing new concepts such as transfer pricing, double tax agreements, taxation of e-commerce, securities, and more recently, trusts,” said O’Connell, highlighting the firm’s unique position in advising clients on these developments.
An award-winning tax practice
He further added, “Our award-winning commercial practice, working closely with an award-winning tax practice, delivers exceptional results for our clients. We’re perfectly equipped to navigate the modernization of Cambodia’s legal and tax system.”
Read more: Taxation concerns remains the major issue for merger and acquisition deals in Cambodia
Despite the disruption caused by the COVID pandemic, Cambodia and the Asia Pacific region, particularly Southeast Asia, continues to thrive. This region attracts global focus for investment in areas including power/renewable energies and fintech and is home to several well-regarded arbitration hubs.
With growing development around environmental/climate change challenges and good governance, firms like DFDL are poised to make significant contributions to the regional and global markets.
