Grant Thornton announced it strengthened its Financial Services Tax team, with the appointment of new partner, Richard Milnes. He will be focused on broadening Grant Thornton’s tax advisory and transactional services to the banking sector.

Milnes’ expertise covers corporate and financial structuring for financial services groups and advising on the tax implications of regulatory reform and emerging industry taxes.

Milnes joins Grant Thornton from EY, having previously worked for Shell and as head of tax planning for Lloyds TSB before moving to a front- office tax structuring and transactional role at Lloyds.

Dana Ward, head of Financial Services Tax, said, “Richard joins our team at an exciting time for us, as we continue to grow from strength to strength. His in-depth technical knowledge and commercial acumen will no doubt add significant weight to our tax offering in the financial services space.”

Milnes added, “Grant Thornton’s expertise in the financial services sector is truly impressive and I look forward to complementing and helping grow this through genuine, relationship-driven services across the banking and capital markets landscape.”

Grant Thornton’s Financial Services Tax group was recently named winner of the Lexis Nexis 2013 award for Best Tax Team in a national firm.