Shoemaker

John has 30 years’ experience in legal & regulatory compliance, and is a common law lawyer with educational emphasis on taxation, trusts & estate planning.
 
He also has extensive experience in ensuring multi-jurisdictional compliance for product offerings (working with outside counsel & adapting products for sale in relevant jurisdictions), including product management skills to direct complex products from concept to fully operational status.

• Estates & Trusts
• Wealth Transfer Planning (International)
• Tax

• John served for 7 years (2010- 2017) in various roles within UBS, including Global Head of Product Management and Director, Trusts & Foundations Product Management 
  • As Head of Product Management of UBS Wealth Planning Trusts & Foundations, John was responsible for UBS’s entire fiduciary product shelf. His responsibilities included; creating, delivering, and supporting the most profitable, fully-compliant, demand-driven wealth structures in the industry, promoting them tirelessly to internal and external clients, and keeping them cutting edge by vigilantly monitoring market developments and nimbly adapting the product shelf to changing needs.
• As Director, Trusts & Foundations Product Management, of UBS Wealth Planning, John was responsible for the following operations: 
  • Responsible for division-wide Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Compliance Plan, which involved entity classification assignment and compliance path selections for multiple thousands of proprietary & fiduciary entities, as well as development of internal policies and procedures to implement due diligence and reporting operations.
  • Coordinated new Foreign Grantor Trust offering launch which involved shepherding internal control function sign-offs, revision of external legal opinions and product guidance drafting to achieve an industry leading compliant offering, resulting in new structure set-up goal achievement.
  • Assisted with review of multi-national structuring guidelines for product management, which involved updating of legal background opinions, revision of existing procedure manuals and the conducting of training sessions to bring staff up to speed on the new workflow revisions.
  • Provided project management for legacy case block review, which involved process manual drafting, hosting of a launch teleconference and bi-weekly monitoring of project milestone progress.
• As Staff Attorney, Regulatory Compliance, for Coventry Health Care of Kansas (2007-2010), John was responsible for the following:
  • Responsible for multistate compliance filings, which involved drafting of compliant policy language, coordination with regulatory staff to secure approvals and staff training to achieve a timely and efficient product launch across a broad line of offerings.
  • Managed Federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) adherence, which involved staff training and monitoring, logging of compliance checks and maintenance of an audit database.
  • Coordinated Market Conduct and Professional Management audits, working closely with external auditors and regulatory authorities to answer enquiries, craft a consistent message on behalf of the company and move quickly to address any failings or shortcomings in our processes or business activities.
• As Staff Attorney, Consumer Assistance, for the Kansas Insurance Department (2002-2007), John was responsible for legal work and fraud investigation. This involved managing up to 60 open cases simultaneously, coordinating correspondence, interviews and disciplinary action.
• As Campaign Manager for Kansans For Praeger (2001-2002), John was responsible for the following:
  • Coordinated media, finance, public appearances, and other aspects of a successful statewide political campaign for Kansas Insurance Commissioner
  • Day-to-day duties included fundraising, remarks preparation, graphic design for advertising, and staffing the candidate on travel.
• As Chief-of-Staff and Legislative Analyst for the Kansas Senate Vice-President & President (1992-2002), John acted as the chief policy advisor, and developed and implemented all policy objectives, strategies and operating plans for the Vice-President and President and managed and directed all activities and staff of the office, as well as coordinated the activities of the Leadership with members and committee office(s).

• Chambers HNW
  • Private Wealth Law (Singapore), 2020-2024

• Kansas, 2004
• U.S. Supreme Court, 2017
• U.S. Tax Court, 2021

• Washburn University School of Law, J.D., 2004
  • Trial Advocacy Team Member
• University of Law, UK, M.Sc., Law & Private Wealth Advice, with distinction, 2023
• University of Alabama School of Law, LL.M., Taxation, 2014
• University of Kansas, B.G.S., Political Science, 1993

• Society of Trust & Estates Practitioners (TEP)
• Kansas Bar Association
  • Board of Governors
• Singapore Trustees Association
  • Honorary Auditor, 2021-2023
  • Associate Member
• STEP Singapore Branch Committee, 2020-2021
• American Bar Association
  • International Law Section
    • Chair, International Tax Committee, 2024-2025
    • Vice Chair, International Tax Committee, 2023-2024

• Contributor, “Comments on Regulations under Sections 643(i), 679, 6039F, 6048 and 6677,” ABA Tax Section, July 8, 2024.
• Moderator, “Is Privacy a Naïve Illusion or a Reality in International Structures and Planning,” ABA International Law Section, May 10, 2024.
• Panelist and Moderator, “So You Want To Be An Expat Attorney,” ABA ILS Lawyers Abroad Committee Webinar Series, 2023-2024.
• Author, “FATCA Success and Reciprocity,” Dissertation Submission, June 11, 2023.
• Presenter, “The Recent Increase in Global IRS Examinations - Lessons Learned and Points of Review for Foreign Trustees,” Singapore Trustees Association Annual Conference, October 9, 2023.
• Panelist, “Modern families and gender identity: Gender identity in estate planning,” STEP Thought Leadership, October 19, 2022.
• Panelist, “Maximising the Opportunity – Estate & Succession Planning and Asia’s Next Generations,” Hubbis, September 10, 2020. 
• Interview, "Singapore-based US-centric Lawyer John Shoemaker on the Art and Practice of Compliance," Hubbis, August 5, 2020.
• Speaker, “China Private Client Virtual Round Table,” Webinar, June 3, 2020. 
• Speaker, “Indonesia Private Client Virtual Round Table,” Webinar, June 2, 2020.
• Speaker, “Philippines Private Client Virtual Round Table,” Webinar, May 20, 2020. 
• Presenter, “Navigating International Compliance Waters for Financial Institutions and Families,” Compliance in Asian Wealth Management Forum 2020, Singapore, January 16, 2020.
• Presenter, “Are you prepared for a FATCA/CRS tax audit?” International Compliance Association 2nd Annual APAC Conference, Singapore, October 16, 2019.
• Speaker, “Planning for U.S, Connected Families After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” Singapore Trustees Association 2019 Conference: Trustees and the Gordian Knot of Regulations, September 27, 2019.
• Panelist, “Asian Wealth Solutions Forum,” November 2018.
• Quoted, “Getting snagged in new US tax net,” The Straits Times, March 23, 2018.
• Chair, “The Automatic Exchange of Information Congress” Osney Media, London, UK, October, 2016.
• Chair, “Tax Congress for Financial Institutions”, Osney Media, London UK, September 2017
• Panelist, “Singapore Trustees Association Annual Conference” Singapore, Marina Bay Sands Convention Center, November 2017
• Chair, “Operational Impact of the OECD Common Reporting Standard” Marcus Evans, Singapore July 2017
• Presenter, “The Nassau Conference” Nassau, Bahamas September 2015

• English-speaking Theatre of Zurich, 2010 – 2015
• Topeka Civic Theatre Acting Volunteer, 1995 – 2010
• Big Brothers/Big Sisters Everybody Wins Reading Program Mentor, 2001- 2010
• Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity, 2001 – Present
• Shawnee Country Club Men’s Golf Association – Secretary, 2002-2006
• Shawnee Country Club Greens Committee – 2003-2006
• Precinct Committeeman, 1998 – 2005
• Go Topeka Committee Member, 2000-2001
• Leadership Kansas, Class of 1999
• Topeka Board of Zoning Appeals, 1998-2001
• Community Action Board of Directors, 1996-2000
• Kansas University Athletic Corporation Board, 1992-1994