Thalia Dardamanis
Biography
Thalia Dardamanis is a special counsel in Baker McKenzie's Funds Transaction Group. Practicing for 17 years, she specializes in superannuation and financial services law.
Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Thalia was the head of legal advisory for UniSuper, one of Australia's largest superannuation funds and institutional investors with over AUD 110 billion in funds under management. There she led the team of lawyers who provided legal and regulatory advice across the fund's superannuation, administration and financial advice businesses. Before her role at UniSuper, she was a principal at a boutique Melbourne law firm specializing in superannuation and succession planning and, prior to that, worked in the superannuation practice groups at Maurice Blackburn and Hall & Wilcox.
Practice Focus
Thalia has vast experience advising Australian superannuation funds in relation to all aspects of the superannuation regulatory landscape.
She regularly advises fund managers managing assets for Australian superannuation funds and overseas pension funds and those co-investing with such funds.
Thalia also advises a broader set of financial services clients in relation to licensing, disclosure and compliance requirements and frequently provides advice on transactional, employee share schemes, AML/CTF, ABC, Sanctions and ESG issues.
Representative Legal Matters
- Undertaking the compliance risk assessment for a Canadian pension fund in its acquisition of over 1,200 telecommunication towers for AUD 950 million, and then reviewing and advising on the fund's Australian infrastructure investment manager's Australian financial service licence and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing compliance programs and controls.
- Advising on numerous superannuation related regulatory issues for Australian superannuation funds and multinational employers, including superannuation guarantee obligations, defined benefit calculations and benefit transfer arrangements.
- Undertaking due diligence in relation to various financial services providers and preparing the financial services regulation section of numerous vendor and purchaser due diligence reports.
- Providing Australian financial services licensing advice to foreign financial service providers in the US and the UK seeking to conduct business in Australia.
- Advising on the financial services issues in the merger of two ASX-listed REITs (HomeCo Daily Needs REIT and Aventus) by way of scheme of arrangement and trust scheme to create Australia's leading daily needs REIT with a portfolio size of AUD 4.1 billion and market capitalization of AUD 3.2 billion.
Professional Associations and Memberships
- The Tax Institute of Australia - Member and Chartered Tax Adviser
- The SMSF Association - Member and Specialist SMSF Advisor™
- The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia - Member and Victorian State Executive Committee (2021)
- National Superannuation Technical Committee, The Tax Institute of Australia - Committee Member
Corporate Responsibility
- Volunteer lawyer, Seniors Rights Service
Admissions
- Victoria~Australia (2006)
Education
- Monash University (Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws)
- University of Melbourne (Master of Laws focusing on superannuation and financial services)