A career in Transfer Pricing has always afforded the luxury of flexibility, with professionals enjoying the opportunity of internal secondments all around the world. Some destinations have traditionally had more appeal than others, with the last five years seeing a particular rise in opportunities to work in Asia.

Since the mid 1980’s, the Singaporean government for example, has offered a range of commercial and tax incentives to attract foreign investment. With this investment now exceeding $31 billion (74% of which is from U.S and European multinationals), the career opportunities for transfer pricing professionals has never been better. Singapore’s forward thinking approach of also becoming financial partners with such firms as Hewlett Packard, Unilever, Motorola and Canon has cemented its position as the 5th wealthiest country in the world.

From a career development perspective, what can a transfer pricing professional expect from a move to Asia?

The nature of transfer pricing across Asia has quickly evolved into a highly advisory and commercially focused discipline. Whilst the tightening of regulations and a more aggressive stance by governments to ensure compliance has led to an increased number of controversies to manage, teams now require professionals from countries with a history of dealing with complex transfer pricing issues. Restructuring, APAs, M&A support, valuation of intangibles, intercompany financing transactions and the convergence with customs are just a few of the projects that individuals will encounter by working in Asia.

Not surprisingly, Big 4 firms tend to dominate both the supply of and demand for transfer pricing professionals in the region. One of the Big 4 has grown its China transfer pricing practice from 3 people to 80 full time professionals in just over 3 years – a testament to its leadership as well as the economy. With competition now also coming from respected economic boutiques and international law firms, a range of soft skills are also required to ensure an accelerated and successful career. The ability to build teams and identify and capitalise on new business development opportunities is paramount.

In speaking to one Big 4 firm in Asia, three Partners have recently moved internally to focus purely on the development of new business. Needless to say, team expansion is continuing and provides an exciting and dynamic framework in which to work. Emerging markets such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and China, continue to experience growth in the demand for transfer pricing professionals. Whilst some of these teams are still in relative start-up phase, the opportunity to be part of something new has significant appeal for transfer pricing professionals who may have always worked in much larger, static practices. In essence, any transfer pricing professional considering a move to Asia can guarantee a completely different career opportunity and cultural experience.

For professionals seeking an industry role in Asia, there is an increased desire from multinationals to build up their own specialist in-house expertise. The last 5 years has seen over 90 foreign firms set up regional headquarters in Shanghai alone, a trend that is being mirrored across other key cities in China and Malaysia. Languages are not usually a pre-requisite; however professionals already in industry will need to have had some exposure to Asian tax or transfer pricing issues.