Meet Leonard Khaw
Leonard Khaw, a former Tax Partner at Deloitte China, Chief Operating Officer of Deloitte Consulting and Deloitte Asia Pacific Chief Tax Officer.
In 1980, Leonard joined the Deloitte Manchester audit office after graduating from the University of Manchester with a degree in economics and accounting. After obtaining his Chartered Accountant (ICAEW) qualification, Leonard was fortunate to be invited by a senior tax partner at Deloitte to join the tax function.
Reflecting on this experience, what seemed like a casual conversation sparked a deep interest in tax, leading him to pursue a specialized career path in tax until his retirement from Deloitte.
After joining Deloitte, Leonard deeply appreciated the firm's support for professional talent in their career development. In the rich learning environment of "Deloitte University," he successfully obtained his Chartered Tax Adviser qualification and then transferred to the tax function. After accumulating considerable tax experience, he chose to join the tax team of the Financial Services industry at the Deloitte London office.
In the 1980s, London, as a world financial center, not only attracted top financial institutions globally but also fostered a thriving capital market due to its flexible and open business environment. Leonard continuously advanced his expertise in popular financial products during this period, becoming a qualified Deloitte tax expert. He consistently provided clients with professional tax advice, helping them understand, assess, and manage related tax risks.
In 1987, Leonard was transferred to the Deloitte Sydney office, where he spent 10 years deepening his roots. There, he took a significant step in his career by being promoted to Tax Partner at Deloitte Australia, eventually becoming the head of the tax function at the Deloitte Sydney office.
Looking back on those fulfilling years, Leonard said, “Solving problems is the best way to gain experience; the road less traveled often leads to faster growth than the smooth path.”
At the turn of the century, China's economy was booming. To meet the growing service needs of Chinese clients, Deloitte China's business lines continued to expand.
The tax partners of Deloitte China and their more experienced colleagues in Hong Kong seized common opportunities and aimed for shared goals, leveraging changes in domestic and international trends to win many critical tax projects. Leonard recalled excitedly, "I witnessed the rapid growth of Deloitte China's tax function at the beginning of the 21st century!"
In 2009, Leonard joined Deloitte China's tax function as a tax partner and took full responsibility for international tax services. At that time, the volume of business handled by Deloitte China's tax function was on the rise, but there was a severe shortage of tax professionals on the Chinese mainland. Building a talent pool for the firm was a daunting task. Therefore, Leonard's strategy was to recruit Chinese individuals with overseas tax experience and tax experts from Hong Kong, enabling them to pass on their knowledge and experience to local talent, while also providing these local talents with opportunities to gain experience through secondments in Hong Kong and abroad.
Leonard became the Chief Tax Officer of Deloitte China in 2014.
In 2019, as the head of the tax practice, Leonard decided to postpone his retirement by two years and take on the challenge of becoming the Chief Operating Officer of Deloitte China Consulting, supporting the leadership team of the consulting business.
In the same year, the highly respected Leonard was appointed as the first Chief Tax Officer in the history of Deloitte Asia Pacific. He worked to bring together the Chief Tax Officers of various Deloitte firms, focusing on tax matters in the Asia-Pacific region and fostering collaboration among them.
Leonard believes that orderly succession of client relationships and ensuring the success of successors is a hallmark of an excellent leader. He has consistently practiced this leadership philosophy throughout his career: "I am grateful for the recognition and trust from everyone. I have been fully committed to supporting the partners who take over my key client service responsibilities."
Leonard built a China tax team from scratch, putting people first.
Epilogue
Leonard has now retired, after forty years journey at Deloitte. He has chosen to settle down in Sydney. He enjoys his current life with ease—living quietly, surrounded by music and books, sometimes listening to podcasts on the internet, and occasionally visiting family in the United States and Malaysia.
As one of the founding figures of Deloitte China, Leonard's advice to the new generation of young talents at Deloitte is:
- Make clients feel your genuine dedication and professional excellence;
- Build good relationships with key decision-makers and everyone you interact with at client companies;
- Care for your colleagues and team members, helping them advance in their careers, professions, and personal lives to become more successful;
- When problems arise, address them in the right way rather than taking shortcuts, as the latter can lead to greater costs;
- Leverage the flexibility of "future work" to maintain a balanced and healthy mindset, both in life and at work.
