IBFD Executive Board

Jan Maarten Slagter

Jan Maarten Slagter is the CEO of IBFD since January 2017.

He started his career as a corporate lawyer, having read law at Leiden University (graduating in 1993).

After spending more than four years as an attorney, he switched to financial journalism, joining the newsroom of the Dutch daily Het Financieele Dagblad and serving as the paper’s correspondent in London from 2004 to 2007.

From 2007 to 2014, he lead the VEB, the Dutch association of investors, representing the interests of (mainly retail) investors vis-à-vis listed companies, financial institutions, political institutions and financial regulators.

In the two years before joining IBFD, he divided his time between teaching corporate governance at Nyenrode Business University, co-writing a corporate biography of the Dutch telco KPN (De koude kermis van KPN (Prometheus 2016), with Patrick Bernhart) and holding several directorships (among them, KPMG Netherlands).

Mr Slagter writes a regular column on financial and economic issues in De Telegraaf, the Netherlands’ largest newspaper by circulation. He is the chairman of the Stichting Keurmerk Objectief Vergelijken, the independent foundation awarding and supervising a quality label for comparison websites.

Prof. Dr Pasquale Pistone

Prof. Dr Pasquale Pistone is the Academic Chairman of IBFD (the Netherlands). He holds a Jean Monnet ad Personam Chair in European Tax Law and Policy at WU Vienna (Austria) and is habilitated as Full Professor of Tax Law in Italy and Associate Professor of Tax Law at the University of Salerno (Italy).

Prof. Dr Pistone is Professor Honoris Causa at the Ural State Law University (Russia), Doctor Honoris Causa at the University of Örebro (Sweden) and Honorary Professor at the University of Cape Town (South Africa).

He is editor-in-chief of IBFD’s World Tax Journal, International Tax Studies, Doctoral Series and Global Tax Treaty Commentaries. He is co-editor of Diritto e Pratica Tributaria Internazionale and a member of the editorial committee of many other publications.

Prof. Dr Pistone is also co-director of IBFD’s Observatory for the Protection of Taxpayers’ Rights, co-chair of the Tax Committee of the International Law Association, secretary of the Executive Board of the European Association of Tax Law Professors (EATLP), a member of the Permanent Scientific Committee of the International Fiscal Association (IFA), president of the Ius Fiscale Europaeum research centre, president of the Italian Association for Latin American Tax Law (AIDTLA) and, in such capacity, member of the Board of Directors of the Latin American Institute for Tax Law (ILADT).

Prof. Dr Pistone has (co-)edited more than 60 books and authored seven books and more than 230 articles and/or book chapters. He is fluent in seven languages, in which he regularly lectures and presents. He has published in 12 languages.

His core research areas are international and European tax law. His current specific research interests include analysis of ECJ tax case law, tax treaties, taxation of the digitalized economy, protection of taxpayers’ rights, inter-nation tax equity in relations with developing countries, settlement of cross-border tax disputes and the impact of public international law on international tax law.

Tjerk de Greef

After obtaining his Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Tjerk‘s professional journey began as a junior developer at IBM. Eager to enhance his expertise, he pursued a Master’s in Computer Science at the University of Utrecht. 

Transitioning to TNO, Tjerk took on the role of a software engineer, concentrating on developing high fidelity prototypes for the Royal Netherlands Navy, Boskalis and the Netherlands Urban Search & Rescue (usar.nl). His dedication and hard work during this period culminated in the successful completion of his PhD in 2012.

Navigating through various roles in both academia and industry, Tjerk found his way to Legal Intelligence, a company that merged with Wolters Kluwer. Initially joining as a consultant with a focus on enhancing the platform’s searchability for lawyers, he played a pivotal role in the full integration of Legal Intelligence into Wolters Kluwer. Tjerk’s journey within the organization ultimately led to his appointment as the Director of Product Software Engineering in Advanced Technology, where he oversaw global teams responsible for delivering cutting-edge SaaS and cloud solutions following user-centred design principles. His responsibilities spanned crucial aspects of the business, including artificial intelligence, long-term strategic planning and the immediate implementation of solutions. In this role, Tjerk showcased his strong leadership qualities, a strategic IT vision and effective communication skills.

Belema R. Obuoforibo

Belema R. Obuoforibo, CTA ATT (Fellow), is Director of the IBFD Knowledge Centre, Member of IBFD’s Executive Board, and Chair of the Centre for Studies in African Taxation (CSAT).

Belema is also Extraordinary Lecturer in the Department of Economics, University of Pretoria, where she lectures on international taxation. She is also a member of the UN Subcommittee on Wealth and Solidarity Taxes. 

Before joining IBFD, Belema worked in London as a UK-qualified Chartered Tax Adviser.

Belema is an authoritative speaker, lecturer and presenter on international tax issues. She has lectured and presented extensively in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. She is the Director of the annual Africa Tax Symposium, the leading global conference on African taxation. She is also joint Technical Director of the annual International Tax Conference (Mumbai), jointly organized by IBFD and the Foundation for International Taxation, India. 

Belema is a noted writer and editor in the field of international taxation. She is widely published, including as an author of the esteemed publication, Global Tax Treaty Commentaries, for which she writes the chapter on Treaty Residence. She also serves on the editorial boards of leading international tax publications, including the Bulletin for International Taxation and the European Taxation journal.

Belema also serves in an advisory capacity for various African governments, particularly on matters relating to tax policy, tax treaties and effective domestic tax legislation.

Victor van Kommer

Victor van Kommer (1959, Dutch) became Tax Services Director at IBFD in 2011 and a member of its Executive Board in 2008.

Mr van Kommer previously worked with the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration, where he was also in charge of the Planning and Control Department, and later served as a member of the management team of the Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Division (FIOD). He has published several books on tax systems and its organization, implementation issues, performance management and tax reform process. His recent Handbook on Tax Administration has been translated into several languages. Mr van Kommer is involved for many years in many IBFD projects related to tax and developments (mainly in Africa and Asia) and his added value is in tax policy, investigation, compliance, revenue forecast, integrity and public finance issues.

Mr van Kommer holds a master’s and PhD degree in Tax Law from the University of Leiden, was Professor Tax Policy at the Utrecht University School of Economics, from 2008 until 2022 and is now Professor Tax and Economics at Nyenrode Business University.

Hanita van der Meulen

Hanita has a distinguished career spanning over 35 years in Sales & Marketing and Business Development. She is a seasoned executive with a proven record of accomplishment in business transformation.

Hailing is from Rotterdam, Hanita is known for her down-to-earth and hardworking approach, a quality that has defined her success throughout her professional journey. She began her career in marketing and advertising agencies, working with clients such as Nissan, Nintendo Philips and Canon. She later ventured into independent consultancy, where she achieved significant milestones.

One of her noteworthy accomplishments includes leading a team at Marketing & Advertising Agency Publicis in Algeria. In this role, she provided strategic guidance to international and local clients, contributing significantly to the agency’s revenue growth in a market recovering from a decade of turmoil. Her strategic advisory role with Friesland Campina also stands out, where she played a pivotal role in shaping a go-to-market strategy for a new premium product.

In 2013, Hanita joined OCLC where she started as the Marketing Manager for EMEA & ANZ. There she pioneered the establishment of an international marketing department, introducing innovative market and sales automation practices in the European landscape. Later she assumed the role of Territory Manager MENA and South Asia. In this capacity, she secured strategic and valuable relationships by landing multiyear contracts. 

Hanita later joined the British Standards Institute as Global Account Director and Interim Commercial Director Europe, emphasizing strategic thinking and value creation. In this role, she cultivated and nurtured long-term, value-based partnerships to drive sales and revenue growth.

Now, Hanita brings her wealth of experience and a proven track record to IBFD’s Executive Board. We are confident that Hanita’s strategic vision and international expertise will further enhance IBFD’s growth and success.

Wieneke Brandt

As of January 2024, Wieneke Brandt is the Director Product Management & Delivery.

Wieneke graduated in Tax Law from Groningen University in 1992. After starting in the tax practice at Coopers & Lybrand she made the transition to the publishing business. Wieneke has worked both for Wolters Kluwer (19 years) and RELX (9 years), where she was responsible for managing innovative publishing portfolios in multiple sectors, which equipped her with a unique blend of product management and leadership skills. 

She has the ambition to enable IBFD to unlock more value from its high-quality data and expertise by combining curiosity about customer value with interdepartmental collaboration and the use of technology. She knows that ambitious professionals who are happy at work are the key to success.