Giuseppe Nicolosi works with local allies Prasetyo, Sarwoko & Sandjaja, and oversees some 1,600 professionals based in Jakarta and at branch offices in Medan, Surabaya and Batam. “One of the main areas we focused on was to help Indonesian companies expand overseas, especially to China and India. The other area was to offer advice and help to establish Indonesian companies and foreign corporations that are doing business here,” he adds.

"A great part of our expertise lies in taxation,” explains Nicolosi. “Our experts devise programmes that make sure companies structure themselves for efficient tax planning. This sometimes even extends to court hearings when clients feel they have valid objections. This is especially useful for multinationals that come under a number of national jurisdictions, which can complicate things,” he adds.

Uno traded a high paying job in the financial sector to start a company with a friend. “I became an entrepreneur in 1997, which was right around the time of the economic crisis. I started Recapital with a long-time high-school friend. Basically, we thought of providing financial advice on a boutique basis for Indonesian clients. At that time, foreign and large Indonesian players dominated the industry, so we carved out a niche in providing alternative investments. We started small with only four people.

“Another major undertaking is what we call abstract financial audits. That simply means that when we audit the books and statements of a company, we actually do this on behalf of the shareholders and not the management,” he explains. “Then, of course, we do due diligence, company evaluations, mergers and acquisitions, takeover transactions and security systems.”