Ken Levinson has more than 30 years of tax experience, more than 20 years of aviation experience, and more than 15 years of insurance, captive insurers and risk management experience.
Prior to joining Faegre Baker Daniels, Ken was a managing director of the Midwest region in the captive and warranty practice of KPMG. Earlier in his career, Ken held positions with Northwest Airlines (with executive management responsibilities for the corporate tax and risk management departments and as senior finance officer in the cargo division) and Marriott Corporation (with responsibilities for international finance, international tax, and tax administration and controversies). For nine years, Ken originated and taught the two-semester international tax course at Georgetown University Law Center's LL.M. graduate tax program, and now teaches the international tax course at the University of Minnesota Law School.
He also served as assistant branch chief in the Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel. In this role, Ken was assigned to the Department of Justice as technical advisor to assist in the "Project Haven" criminal tax investigation involving offshore tax havens.
In the tax area, Ken advises clients on a wide range of international issues including worldwide tax planning, transaction structuring, foreign bank account reporting, M&A, licensing, international franchising, expatriate tax issues, audits, controversy management, negotiation and litigation, and compliance for all federal, state and foreign taxes. He has also served as an expert witness in international tax matters in court.
In insurance and risk management, he advises clients on the strategic design and implementation of insurance programs; structuring, financing and implementation of captive insurance companies; identification and resolution of tax issues involved in captive insurance arrangements; analysis of domiciles; surplus lines taxes; negotiation and purchasing of insurance placements and policies; loss prevention; and management/negotiation of claims.
Ken's finance experience includes serving as senior finance officer of an airline's operating division with over $850 million in sales, with responsibilities for strategic planning, budgeting, capital projects, accounting and several major customers. He has also had responsibility for international project finance and the negotiation of international hotel syndications, hotel financing, management agreements and leases.