Speakers

Henry Roske was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1957 and is one of the few international lawyers who has apart from gaining experience as a lawyer also worked for various multinationals. He has 25 years of experience in German-American business affairs and is admitted to the New York Bar, the United States Supreme Court and the German Bar.

After his studies in Germany, South Africa and Hong Kong Henry received a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in business and commercial affairs in the United States. Prior to his current position Henry Roske worked for five years as an attorney at Walter Conston in New York and held senior positions in American blue-chip companies for more than 12 years. These included Legal Counsel for Schlumberger Ltd. in New York, Managing Director of Schlumberger Holding in Brussels, European Counsel GE Information Services in London and Member of the Executive Board, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Philip Morris Germany in Munich, the parent company of Philip Morris’s European operations.

Henry Roske started the firm in 2003. It currently employs 6 lawyers, by US standards a small full-service law firm, which advises small to medium size companies from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In the areas of relevance for its clients the firm provides through its bilingual specialist lawyers high quality and cost efficient legal services. Amongst them company formations, M&A, product liability, contractual risk management, corporate governance, visa and work permits, trade mark protection and employment.

Advice is strongly focused on sales and aims also to protect companies from potential liability cases. Corporate risk management and product liability are central to the advice. The firm also takes into account the understandable need of its clients for budgeable and affordable legal services. Most services are billed at fixed rates and hourly charge out rates of the firm’s lawyers are in the lower third of comparable firms.
Henry Roske is a regular guest speaker on German-American subjects hosted by German industrial confederations, chambers of commerce, institutions to promote trade, Euroforum, the German American Trade Association and the USA Forum.

Henry is married, lives in Manhattan and has a daughter in College.

Moritz Masberg wurde 1985 in Düsseldorf geboren und betreut als Rechtsanwalt mit Zulassungen in Deutschland und New York vorwiegend deutschsprachige Mandanten in den Vereinigten Staaten.

Nach seiner deutschen Juristenausbildung in Trier, Berlin und Frankfurt am Main war Herr Masberg für die Kanzlei Luther in deren Büros in Singapur und Kuala Lumpur mit der gesellschaftsrechtlichen Betreuung deutscher Mandanten im Asiengeschäft betraut. Im Anschluss praktizierte er in der Düsseldorfer Wirtschaftskanzlei Dr. Eikelau & Kollegen im Gesellschafts- und Wettbewerbsrecht sowie im allgemeinen Zivilrecht als Rechtsanwalt.

Seit 2015 lebt Herr Masberg in New York, wo er an der Fordham Law School seinen Master of Laws cum laude absolviert hat. Anschließend legte er die dortige Rechtsanwaltsprüfung ab und ist seit 2017 Mitglied der New Yorker Rechtsanwaltskammer.

In den USA arbeitete er zunächst neben seinem Studium bei der internationalen IP Kanzlei Ladas & Parry LLP in deren New Yorker Büro. Anschließend arbeitete er jeweils kurzfristig an Projekten für die Kanzlei Wiggin & Dana LLP im Bereich Wirtschaft sowie auf Seiten des U.S. Department of Justice im Rahmen des Volkswagen Diesel-Abgasskandals.

Seit Herbst 2016 arbeitet er für die Kanzlei H. Roske & Associates LLP in Manhattan.

Herr Masberg ist – neben weiteren – aktives Mitglied der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Juristenvereinigung und der Fordham Art Law Association. Er ist außerdem der U.S. Partner von REACT, einem der größten Anti-Counterfeit Netzwerke weltweit. Bei der German American Trade Association sowie verschiedenen Wirtschaftsverbänden ist er regelmäßig Gastredner zu deutsch-amerikanischen Themen.

Ralf has more than 20 years of experience in the international insurance business with focus on the US. He consults medium-sized companies and international corporations from German-speaking countries on investments in North America. He focuses on consultations regarding the drafting of required insurance coverage, especially for general operating and product liability and the development of organizational structures in the area of risk management.

In the German-American business, the coordination of collateral with the aim to avoid contradictions and to close possible loopholes of the insurer is, among other things, in the foreground.

Mr. Kammer can also give advice if the premium structure can be improved overall and in particular, if the adaptation of the documentation to American demands leads to lowering costs.

After the qualification as an insurance salesman followed by a degree in Business Administration at the Department of Insurance, Ralf Kammer began to work as an industrial insurance broker in the insurance group Hannover in 1989. In 1990 he continued his activity in the international insurance business at Jasper Industrial Insurance Hannover, which is part of the worldwide network of Willis and was appointed to their European Development Committee. Since 1999, Ralf Kammer is the CEO of Naber GmbH, a company of the Artus Group which specializes in the provision of international industrial insurance policies with focus on the U.S.

Simon Renaud holds a doctoral degree in economics and is Director in the field of transfer pricing at PwC’s office in Düsseldorf. Mr. Renaud has more than 12 years of experience in advising multinational enterprises in the field of transfer pricing.

Relevant experiences

Simon Renaud supports multinationals on transfer pricing and value chain transformation, transfer pricing planning and documentation, tax audit defense, MAPs, and APAs. Furthermore, he coordinates global transfer pricing documentation for large and medium sized multinationals. He is member of the German transfer pricing automotive focus group with significant experience and knowledge in the automotive supplier industry.

Simon Renaud is author in the “Handbuch Internationale Verrechnungspreise” (ed. Rasch/Kroppen) on Chapter III OECD-Guidelines and several publications in different German and international tax journals.

Special skills

Strong focus on economic analyses including valuation, transfer of functions and financial transactions.
Mandates

Simon Renaud advises middle market clients as well as multinational enterprises.

Christoph Richter is a graduate economist and senior manager in the field of tax transfer pricing at PwC in Nuremberg.
Mr. Richter has more than 10 years of experience in advising multinational corporations in the field of transfer pricing.

Experiences

Christoph Richter supports leading medium-sized and global companies in the tax-optimized structuring of cross-border value creation processes, the development and implementation of transfer pricing systems, the execution of national and international documentation projects as well as annual audits. In addition, Mr. Richter has extensive experience in defending transfer pricing systems in tax audits and in conducting (advance) mutual agreement proceedings.

Special Skills

Planning, implementation and documentation of transfer pricing systems for companies in various industries; international project management; analysis of value chains in connection with the implementation of restructuring projects

Mandates

Mr. Richter advises a broad spectrum of companies in various industrial sectors. This ranges from start-ups to leading medium-sized and global companies.

Isabel Ruhmer-Krell holds a doctoral degree in economics and is Director in the field of transfer pricing at PwC’s office in Stuttgart. Ms. Ruhmer-Krell has more than 8 years of experience in advising multinational enterprises in the field of transfer pricing.

Relevant experience

Isabel Ruhmer-Krell supports leading medium-sized and family-run companies as well as globally operating corporations in the tax-optimized structuring of cross-border value chains, the development and implementation of consistent and compliant transfer pricing systems, the execution of documentation projects and the preparation of benchmarking studies. She has many years of experience in defending transfer pricing systems in tax audits and in conducting mutual agreement procedures and advanced pricing arrangements (APAs).

Special skills

Planning, implementation and documentation of transfer pricing systems for inbound and outbound clients in various industries; international project management; implementation of technology enabled global documentation projects and transfer pricing processes

Selected clients

Isabel Ruhmer-Krell advises a wide range of companies in various industries, with a focus on the automotive and industrial goods sector. Her client portfolio ranges from medium-sized and family-run companies to publicly listed and globally active corporations.

John is a director of Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP with more than eight years of experience, assisting multinational client deals with a series of transfer pricing issues. John’s focus areas include transfer pricing planning, dispute resolution, supply chain optimization, M&A integration, and business restructuring. John also has significant experience with assisting clients through transfer pricing audits and in assisting clients in securing unilateral and bilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs).
John received an LL.M. in Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center and a J.D. from the Brooklyn Law School. He also holds a B.A. from the University of Florida.

Relevant expertise

• Planning, implementation and documentation projects for clients in various industries
• Value chain and business transformation projects
• Analyses of group-wide intellectual property structures including patents, technology and trademarks
• Debt capacity and interest rate benchmarking analyses in relation to intercompany financing arrangements
• Unilateral and multilateral dispute resolution

Clients served include

• Hiral serves leading mid-sized and globally operating companies
• Assisting clients with transfer pricing audits throughout the audit lifecycle, including Mutual Agreement Procedures (“MAPs”)
• Assisting clients in the APA process
• Analyses of group-wide intellectual property (“IP”) structures including patents, technology and trademarks and various other forms of IP.
• Global documentation projects for US-based and German-based multinational corporations
• Post-deal planning and integration analysis to harmonize transfer pricing policies in various acquisition structures
• Determination of arm’s length royalty rates for the licensing of IP
• Debt capacity and interest rate benchmarking analyses in relation to intercompany financing arrangements

Markus van Tilburg has been working for 14 years in the foreign direct investment (FDI) consulting and is Director Europe for the Economic Development Corporation of the US location Fairfax County, Virginia (Washington DC Metropolitan Area) as well as Managing Director of the location advice organization Global Aldea.

Markus supports companies in their strategic planning and their selection of locations abroad. As a management and strategy consultant, he has supported numerous companies in implementing their global investment strategy and location selection. He has also worked with many global business development agencies to market their locations in Europe.

As Director Europe for the Economic Development Authority of Fairfax County, Markus offers interested companies information on the location as well as on all questions of market entry in the USA as part of a “Softlanding Program”.

Markus holds a Master’s degree in Economic Geography, Political Science and Economics from the RWTH Aachen University and the University of Valencia (UPV), Spain. In addition to German, he speaks English and Spanish fluently.

Markus Klinger has been a partner in the law firm Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek since 2018. In particular, he is responsible for IT and data protection at the Stuttgart office. He has many years of consulting experience in all areas of German and international IT and data protection law with a further focus on IT and technology-related transactions. Another focus of his practice is the Internet, media and competition law as well as intellectual property law.

Markus Klinger studied law in Constance and Lausanne (Switzerland) and received his doctorate from the University of Mannheim. He completed his legal clerkship in Freiburg.

After being admitted to the bar in 1999, he worked for several law firms in Stuttgart in the fields of IT and IP. His clients include national and international medium-sized and larger companies.

Markus Klinger is the author of articles in specialist books and magazines as well as a speaker for numerous in-house training courses and conferences. He is a member of the German Society for Law and Informatics and the International Bar Association.

Lutz Martin Keppeler has been working for Heuking Kühl Lüer Wojtek in Cologne in the IT / IP sector since 2014. Previously, he worked for an international law firm. He advises clients on all questions regarding IT and data protection law and is engaged in those fields both extrajudicially and forensically. Mr. Keppeler works particularly intensively on the interface of technology and law, resulting in specialized fields, such as IT security law, open source licensing law, and data protection law.

He studied law in Cologne and La Coruña and did his doctorate in Cologne. In spring 2017, Dr. Keppeler earned the title Specialist in Information Technology Law. Since the winter semester 2018/19 he has a lectureship for data protection law at the TH Cologne.

Lutz Martin Keppeler is the author of numerous papers, entries in handbooks, and commentaries related to the above-mentioned areas of law. He is a speaker at national and international conferences, seminars and webinars. He is a member of the International Bar Association (IBA), the German Association for Law and Informatics e. V. (DGRI) and member of the European Legal Network of FSFE / FTF.

Frederik Wiemer has been a partner of the law firm Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek in Hamburg/Brussels since 2010. He has many years of consulting experience in all areas of German, European and international antitrust and data protection law. One focus of his activities is on compliance consulting, i.e. the design of compliance systems and compliance programs as well as the defense in administrative fine and administrative proceedings before the authorities.

He studied law (Dr. iur. utr.) and economics (Dipl.Volksw.) in Heidelberg and Strasbourg and received his doctorate from the Heidelberg Research Training Group as a scholarship holder of the German Research Foundation. He spent his legal clerkship in Cologne, Speyer and New York. After being admitted to the bar in 2000, he worked for major international law firms in Düsseldorf, London and Brussels. His clients include domestic and foreign listed and medium-sized companies as well as associations.

Frederik Wiemer is the author of various articles and a speaker at national and international conferences and seminars. He is a member of the Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht, the International and American Bar Association and the DICO Institute for Compliance.

Immanuel Otterski, born in Freiburg, Germany, has been living in the USA since 2005. As Vice President of Business Development at gatc LP, he advises and supports international companies on U.S. market entry and expansion.

He studied business management and marketing in Osnabrück, in addition to his time at Ann Arbor, Michigan. Immanuel has been lecturing in Europe for several years in various forums focusing on U.S. market entry, sales development and marketing.
Prior to joining gatc LP in 2009, he worked for various consulting and market research firms focusing on branding, brand equity and brand tracking.

In Atlanta, GA, Immanuel Otterski is an active member of the German American Chamber of Commerce, Swedish American Chamber of Commerce, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, World Trade Center, as well as on the Board of Directors of Conexx, the American Israeli Business Connector.

Bertina Brase earned a German MBA (Dipl.-Kauffrau at the University of Göttingen) and works as Executive Recruiter for German Companies in the US since 2010. Her focus area are senior management positions in midsize subsidiaries of German, Austrian and Swiss parent companies.

Background

Bertina grew up in Germany and worked there until she was 30. She relocated with her family to the US and has since lived in various regions of the country. Due to her broad experience she understands the nuances of cultural diversity.

Her 30 year experience in a variety of positions, on the agency and the client side, enables her to advise clients in the right fit and requirement to be successful in the US markets. Clients appreciate her ability to zero in on company fit and market knowledge and appreciate her knowledgeable, realistic, and practical management recruiting support.

Competence

• Evaluating soft factors in selection of management talent.
• Experience in global and national talent/recruitment strategies.
• Several years’ business experience successfully handling diverse challenges in HR & Labor Law issues.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills to resolve sensitive challenges.
• In-depth understanding of European and US culture.

Selected Mandates

Mrs. Brase advises middle market companies, often directly to the owner.
Market segments are engineering, machinery and equipment companies, industrial automation and the energy sector.

Iris joined the Q Works Group in 2016. She is a native of Austria, fluent in German, English and Hungarian and has lived in the US since 2012. Iris brings with her 15 years of international sales and business development experience. Her background and understanding of different cultures have proved useful in developing business opportunities such as opening a US branch of a European based company.

Iris studied languages in Graz, Austria and Budapest, Hungary and obtained her Mag. phil. degree at the Karl-Franzens-Universität in Graz.

Currently, Iris’s main focus is to work with European companies with subsidiaries in the US as well as US clients with business overseas. She provides recruiting solutions based on an extensive knowledge of cultural differences and international business experience, as well as a large international network.

Special skills

• Experience in setting up a US office
• Bilingual (German / English), also Hungarian
• Knowledge of European and US culture
• Selected mandates in different industries
• Ms. Winkelbauer-Hölzl advises medium-sized private companies, often directly the owner
• Strong network of internationally oriented candidates