Bruce Springsteen’s perspective on Transfer Pricing conferences

Here’s one of my favourite stories. It’s about Bruce Springsteen. The story is that a reporter once asked him if he ever got scared before a concert, when he was about to perform in a stadium, on a stage in front of 50,000 people. His reply is beyond magnificent:

“Never. When I get ready to go on stage, my heart starts pounding, my hands start shaking, my breath goes up to my throat, and I know that I am pumped and ready to play!”

It’s a brilliant illustration of how a different perspective can change everything.

Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be taking to the stage at a Thomson Reuters Transfer Pricing conference in Canary Wharf. I’m excited to be co-presenting a session on ‘The increasing importance of Intercompany Agreements in the post-BEPS era’. If you’re there, please do say hello, and maybe we can belt out a few verses of ‘Born in the USA’ together.

Here’s a question I’ll be asking the audience tomorrow. Maybe you know the answer. The question is: “Out of all the FTSE350 companies, what proportion of them already have legally enforceable agreements in place for their intercompany supplies.” The first three people to email me the correct answer will receive a 50% discount on a high level legal review of one of the template agreements which their group is currently using to support the group’s Transfer Pricing compliance.