Dr. Federica Casano
- Position: Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Internationa and European Taxation
- Areas of expertise: International & European taxation; tax law; tax policy; tax and development; corporate and personal tax competition; tax avoidance; blacklisting; tax havens; tax evasion; illicit financial flows
- Email: F.Casano@leeds.ac.uk
- Location: 2.23 Liberty Building
- Website: LinkedIn | ORCID
Profile
I joined the School of Law at the University of Leeds in 2024 as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Business and Tax Law. Prior to this, I conducted my Ph.D. research in tax law and policy at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands, where I empirically investigated the efficacy of the EU tax list of non-cooperative jurisdictions as an EU external tax policy instrument from legal, political, and sociological perspectives.
I have a Ph.D. degree in Tax Law from Leiden University (the Netherlands), a LL.M. degree in Law from the University of Bologna (Italy), and a LL.M. degree in International and European Business Taxation from Tilburg University (the Netherlands).
I received the Meijers prize and the Van Wersch Springplank prize for the paper: "EU Public Intervention in the Energy Market: A Stroke of Good Luck or Misfortune?". The jury noted it addressed a highly topical issue of significant budgetary and social importance: the legitimacy of government measures to alleviate substantially increased energy costs.
In my internship experience at the European Commission, DG FISMA, I contributed to countries’ peer-review on the implementation of beneficial ownership standards for the OECD FATF and the EU AML blacklist.
Responsibilities
- Study-Abroad Coordinator
- Acting Academic Personal Tutor Lead (September-December 2025)
Research interests
My research interests cover broadly any matter of national and international taxation; a particular interest is the intersection of taxation and social justice. My research often resorts to Empirical Legal Studies (ELS) to employ a mix of legal analysis and empirical methods that examine the design and enforcement of tax policies and legal frameworks.
Within my areas of expertise, I am available to share insights and respond to media inquiries .
Professional memberships
- European Society of Empirical Legal Studies (ESELS)
- The Society of Legal Scholars (SLS)
- Law and Society Association (LSA)
- Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA)
- Tax Research Network (TRN)
- African Tax Research Network (ATRN)
- Council of European Studies (CES)
Student education
I teach in the areas of commercial law, contract law, and tax law. I supervise undegraduate, postgraduate, and PhD dissertations.
Research groups and institutes
- Centre for Business Law and Practice
- Centre for Law and Social Justice