Since the Tax Reform Act of 1986, Jeffrey Jacobs has provided attorneys, accountants and business executives with an understanding of recent tax and regulatory developments. He is best known as chief content officer of SmartPros Ltd., where he produces the popular monthly video update program, Financial Management Network. Mr. Jacobs also serves as an adjunct professor at the Dyson School of Business of Pace University.

In recent years, Mr. Jacobs has appeared as a speaker before professional groups in more than 30 states on topics related to taxation, financial planning, and business management. He is a member of the New York State Society of CPAs and the American Bar Association. Mr. Jacobs earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California. He earned a law degree from Pace University, where he was elected to Law Review. Since 1999, his biography has been included in Who's Who in America.

Roger J. Cardinal is executive director at Burt, Staples & Maner, LLP where he specializes in the withholding tax and information reporting aspects of inbound U.S. international taxation. He provides advice and audit defense to the firm's clients in this area, as well as supporting the firm's litigation team.

Mr. Cardinal's clients include major financial institutions and multinational corporations headquartered both inside and outside of the United States. Previously, Mr. Cardinal was the national director of tax withholding and information reporting services at Ernst & Young LLP. Before that, he was the vice president and director of product taxes at State Street Bank in Boston, where his primary responsibility consisted of providing the technical support for State Street's tax withholding and information return activities worldwide. In that role, Mr. Cardinal established policies and procedures, monitored compliance and assisted in the design and development of systems to assure compliance. He also served as the liaison with tax authorities for product tax compliance issues.

Mr. Cardinal graduated from the Bentley College Masters of Taxation Program in 1985, and has taught in the school's graduate tax program. Mr. Cardinal is a CPA and member of numerous associations, including the AICPA Tax Division, the Massachusetts Society of CPAs and the Securities Operations Association of New England. He also serves on the advisory committees to the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and Northeastern University. Mr. Cardinal earned his B.S. from the University of Massachusetts.

Cyrus Daftary is is a partner at Burt, Staples and Maner, LLP, specializing in international taxation and regulatory compliance. Mr. Daftary has particularly extensive experience with the United States withholding and reporting rules for U.S. and non-U.S. persons, as well as the USA Patriot Act and various anti-money laundering regimes, the European Savings Directive, and e-commerce issues.

Mr. Daftary has worked with a large number of major financial institutions and multinational corporations, and continues to do so as an advisor and executive member of Compliance Technologies International, LLP. In this capacity, he addresses the problems associated with compliance obligations and implements operational, systemic processes, outsourcing, and IT solutions to ensure prospective compliance with these rules.

Mr. Daftary has extensively lectured and published in the areas of anti-money laundering, the European Savings Directive, international withholding and reporting, tax technology, and e-commerce topics as a part of both his academic and private practice. Mr. Daftary is a co-author of three editions of the E-Business Legal Handbook, and has taught courses on cyber-law, Internet taxation and e-commerce as an adjunct professor at Suffolk University School of Law, Northeastern University’s Master of Taxation program, and Suffolk University’s Frank Sawyer School of Business.

In 1990, Mr. Daftary graduated from Indiana University with a B.S. He earned his J.D. in 1994 from the University of Dayton School of Law and his LL.M. in 1996 from Temple University. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Indiana and Massachusetts.

John M. Staples is the managing partner of the U.S. office of Burt, Staples & Maner, LLP. Mr. Staples splits his time between the firm's Washington, D.C. and London offices and specializes in all aspects of inbound and outbound U.S. international taxation, including international tax planning, advice, audit defense and litigation. Mr. Staples' clients include major financial institutions, multinational corporations headquartered in the United States and Europe, banking and business associations, foreign governments, and high-net-worth individuals.

Prior to joining Burt, Staples & Maner, LLP in April 2003, Mr. Staples served as the associate chief counsel (international) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, the highest international tax position in the IRS. Mr. Staples directed a staff of more than 120 attorneys, tax law specialists, program analysts and support employees, including the staff of the Advance Pricing Agreement ("APA") program. The Office of Associate Chief Counsel International ("ACCI") provides advice to the IRS and U.S. Treasury Department on internationally related litigation, technical guidance such as regulations and rulings, advice to IRS field operations, private letter rulings, advice on U.S. tax treaties, U.S. positions in multinational fora, and legislative proposals. While he was associate chief counsel (international), Mr. Staples personally oversaw the U.S. government's implementation of the Section 1441 withholding tax regime.

Mr. Staples currently represents a large number of financial institutions and multinationals with respect to both domestic and nonresident alien withholding and reporting compliance and audit defense. Before his appointment as associate chief counsel (international) in January 2001, Mr. Staples served as the acting deputy associate chief counsel (international-technical) and as the assistant chief counsel (international-technical). In both positions, Mr. Staples had primary responsibility for managing the technical international tax program for the office.

From June 1995 to February 1998, Mr. Staples served as assistant to IRS Commissioner Richardson, where he advised the commissioner on a wide array of issues, particularly international, financial products and financial institutions tax issues.

In 1982, Mr. Staples graduated with a B.A. from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. He earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1989. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania, but is inactive in Pennsylvania.