Edgar Lavarello

Edgar Lavarello, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Gibraltar firm's tax and advisory leader. Edgar graduated from Loughborough University with a joint honours degree in Economics and Accountancy in 1985 and qualified in the City of London, where he spent some five years specialising in the insurance sector prior to returning to Gibraltar. His experience comes from a variety of businesses, including financial services, shipping and entertainment, as well as from a number of disciplines including audit, tax and insolvency.

Edgar joined one of PwC’s predecessors’ firms in 1990 as a senior auditor with specific responsibility to develop the Firm’s financial services and insurance expertise. In 1992 he was seconded to the Expo in Seville as part of a three man team tasked with the administration of the company that had been awarded the licence to provide the food and beverage contracts within the 200 hectare Expo site serving over 200,000 customers a day. On returning to Gibraltar, he continue to work as part of the local audit team but much of his work included due diligence, financial and tax compliance reviews, forensic accounting and insolvencies which took him to the US, the UK and the Canary Islands. 

Edgar was admitted to partnership in 2001 and in that same year, was asked to head the tax and advisory department, which at the time consisted of only three staff. Since that day, the department has grown to a full complement of over 40 staff providing tax and advisory services to both local businesses and international investors. This has allowed him to provide tax and advisory services to a wide range of companies, including banks, insurance companies and investment managers on both local and international tax matters as well as group restructurings and reorganisations. He has been involved in the incorporation, merger, liquidation and termination of private and public companies, unlimited companies, limited partnerships, charities, friendly societies and many other less common entities. Edgar is able to draw on the experience and support of a dedicated tax and advisory team whose knowledge and experience is unrivalled in Gibraltar. 

In 2003 he was appointed to the Gibraltar Governments panel of approved Court liquidators and in 2010 he became the only authorised Trustee in Bankruptcy in Gibraltar. He has been appointed liquidator on a number of high profile liquidations and bankruptcies involving fraud and/or money laundering, the majority of which have resulted in arrests and criminal prosecution of those involved. 

He is a member of the European Union Direct Tax Group and the European Business Initiative on Taxation, which allow him to keep up to date on European and OECD tax initiatives such as BEPS, FATCA, and CRS. 

Edgar served as President of the Gibraltar Accountants Society between 2005 and 2007 having previously served as treasurer to the Society from 1995 to 1999 and again from 2003 to 2005. He was the Firm’s representative on the Society’s tax committee from 2002 until 2009 when he was asked by the Gibraltar Government to assist in the drafting of the Income Tax Act 2010. Later that same year, he was asked by the Government to conduct a similar review of the bankruptcy and insolvency rules in Gibraltar which led to the new Insolvency Act 2011 and the Insolvency Rules 2014. He has also written the Gibraltar chapters for the European Insurance Handbook, International Tax Summaries and Jordan’s International Corporate Procedures Manual as well as being a regular speaker on taxation and insolvency in Gibraltar.

Edgar has served as financial advisor to the Gibraltar Government on a number of occasions and has sat on a number of Authorities and sub-committees. In 2003, he was asked to advise the Gibraltar Health Authority on it's £39 million investment of the new St Bernard’s Hospital. Other appointments include those to the Auditors Registration Board, the Finance Centre Council, the Gibraltar Deposit Guarantee Board and the Gibraltar Port Authority. In 2012 he was appointed to the board of the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission where he served as chairman of the audit and risk committee for six years.

In 2017 he was appointed to the board of the Gibraltar Police Authority and he is currently the Board’s representative on the Royal Gibraltar Police Ethics Committee. In 2019 he was appointed a member of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority and in 2020 he was appointed to the board of the Decision Making Committee of the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission. These are all positions which he still holds.

Edgar is a keen sailor and since 1990, has served as honorary treasurer of the Royal Gibraltar Yacht Club which was founded in 1829 and is the oldest yacht club outside the United Kingdom. In 2010 he was appointed to the post of honorary treasurer of the Gibraltar Branch of the British Red Cross and he is closely involved with the charity at all local levels.