Md. Mushtaque Ahmed, Senior & Tax Partner, S.F. Ahmed & Co.
B.Com, FCMI (UK), FCS, ISACA (USA), FCA
Chartered Accountant and Tax & Management Consultant

• Senior & Tax Partner of S. F. Ahmed & Co, Chartered Accountants (ex-Technical Assistance Firm with Ernst & Young International, Inc, based in New York, USA), and ex-International Tax & Immigration Contact of Ernst & Young, USA, Mushtaque Ahmed specializes in providing business advisory services to prospective and operating foreign investors in Bangladesh in areas of business and project implementation, national and international direct taxation as well as indirect taxation (customs, VAT, other import taxes, etc), business acquisitions, mergers, demergers, share and business valuations and due diligence reviews, project financing, lines of credit, debt equity ratios, corporate governance, banking and bank operations, foreign exchange regulations, corporate secretarial practices, etc apart from accounting, auditing, compliance and assurance.


• He has been advising multinational firms engaged in oil and gas exploration, generation of power and other forms of energy, like, Shell Bangladesh Exploration & Development BV of the Netherlands, Cairn Energy Group of UK, Santos Sangu Field Ltd of Australia, Halliburton International Inc of USA, Okland (Tullow) of USA, Niko Resources of Canada, AES Haripur (Pvt) Limited, AES Meghnaghat Limited (the last 2 acquired in Bangladesh by Globeleq/CDC of UK), Mobil of Singapore, Forasol (Pride Foramer ) of France, Schlumberger of France, Siemens AG of Germany, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd of Japan, Pan Asian Corporation Ltd of Australia, Asia Energy Corporation (Bangladesh) Pty Ltd of Australia, etc. For the oil and gas exploration companies he successfully developed models for filing corporate income tax returns and for their assessment in agreement with the tax authorities, while for investors for setting up hospitals he was instrumental in securing the government agreement and release of a notification allowing tax-free imports of all equipment, accessories, etc in the country.


• He has advised Petrobangla (Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation), the government organ responsible for oil and gas exploration in the country and which signs Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) with various International Oil Contractors (IOCs). He was also involved in vetting agreements for transfer of ownership/ operatorship of interests in oil and gas blocks from one IOC to the other - specifically from fiscal and foreign exchange control points of view.


• His clientele includes firms like Credit Agricole Indosuez of France, Commercial Bank of Ceylon Ltd, Shamil Bank of Bahrain, Citigroup of USA and also a large number of international corporate firms engaged in manufacturing, banking, leasing, etc. on various issues of taxation, foreign exchange regulations, compliance, assurance and other related matters.


• He conducted, collaborated and reported on due diligence and subsequent acquisition of ownership of, among others, Rupali Bank Limited (Bangladesh) for the sellers, Government of Bangladesh (1985); Bangladesh operations of Nova Scotia Bank (Canada) for the purchasers, Bank Asia Limited (2001); Muslim Commercial Bank Limited (Pakistan) for the purchasers, Bank Asia Limited (2001); Credit Agricole Indosuez (France) for the sellers, CAI (2003); and 2 power projects of AES purchased in Bangladesh by Globeleq/CDC of UK for Globeleq/CDC (2003), as well as twice conducted the evaluation of net worth of Sonali Bank (1997-98 and 2003), largest nationalized commercial bank in Bangladesh keeping liaison with the central bank of the country, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund (IMF) and participated with the foreign firm in evaluating Rupali Bank Limited (2004) for sale.


• He collaborated, organized and participated in Ernst & Young London Office'handling of the listing for GDR floatation of one of the leading pharmaceutical companies of Bangladesh on the AIM market in London which event took place in Bangladesh for the first time.


• His exposure to handling consulting assignments in the banking, finance, accounting and reporting, management systems, socio-economic evaluation, impact assessment and other fields includes projects financed by World Bank, ADB, USAID/ Bangladesh, DFID (ODA, UK), Government of Bangladesh, and executed with various international consulting firms of USA, UK, the Philippines, Switzerland, Singapore, etc since 1975 - more notably : Rural Finance Experimental Project (fee USD 0.72 million, 1980-82), Rural Finance Project (fee USD 0.87 million, 1984-90), Financial Sector Reform Project (fee USD 2.36 million, 1991-96), Reforms in Budgeting and Expenditure Control Project (fee USD 1.13 million, 1992-98), etc - all fees quoted are at historical USD values and his firm's share in the contracts with Bangladesh Bank, USAID and the Government of Bangladesh.


• He is a fellow member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh, Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Managers of Bangladesh, and Chartered Management Institute of UK and a Member of Information Systems Audit and Control Association of USA. He serves as Chairman, Taxation Committee of American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham); and had been a Member on 4 Sub-Committees for Taxation, Foreign Investment, Commercial Legislation, and International Relations of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Bangladesh (premier chamber of the country). He had been a regular contributor to Ernst & Young publications like, Worldwide Corporate Tax Guide, The Global Executive Guide, TaxNews International, Global Incentive Compensation Reporter, etc, and writer of the publication titled "Doing Business In Bangladesh" for Ernst & Young in 1996, and also an occasional contributor with tax-related articles to Asian-Pacific Tax and Investment Research Centre (APTIRC) of Singapore, and to International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation of Amsterdam, the Netherlands and other international publications and contributor to local publications and dailies as commentator on annual fiscal budgets of the country and on various tax-related issues and problems.