Offshore

As well as providing bespoke solutions to complex tax, succession and private wealth management issues, we support clients in resolving trust and probate issues and advise on sophisticated business, real estate and fund structuring.

A substantial proportion of our work has an international dimension, with much of our advice involving entities and structures based in offshore and equivalent jurisdictions including Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Switzerland, Gibraltar, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Cyprus, Malta, Luxembourg and Mauritius. In addition to our own in-house resources we also draw on an extensive overseas network of lawyers, accountants and other advisers, and have developed close relationships with private banks, trust companies and service providers in these jurisdictions.

We frequently advise trust companies on a full range of issues affecting them and their clients, including compliance matters, the structuring of new business, providing independent advice to settlors, reviewing problem cases and handling disputes. Our contentious trust group draws on expertise from our highly-rated litigation and private client practices on issues such as variation of trust, breach of trust, removal of trustees, fraud and asset tracing, constructive trust claims, validity of wills, claims against professional advisers, undue influence and breach of duty allegations.

Our dedicated funds team specialises in all aspects of alternative investment funds including real estate, private equity, debt and infrastructure funds, and other asset-holding structures, from inception to dissolution and beyond. We act for principals, managers and investors and many of the structures on which we advise are wholly or partly based offshore.

• Swiss family trust – acquisition of properties in the UK, USA and Israel in order to build a US$200m property portfolio.
• Bermuda based fund – investment in a hotel project in Dubai with a total transactional value of US$160m. This involved: negotiating the purchase contract; negotiating the operator contract with a leading Indian hotel group; and negotiating the funding for the transaction.
• Formula 1 team – liaising with offshore administrators of owners of a leading Formula 1 team on various high profile restructuring and trading issues.
• Undue influence – landmark undue influence cases such as the lead case of RBS v Etridge (House of Lords).
• Testamentary capacity – landmark testamentary capacity cases such as the lead case of Hoff v Atherton (Court of Appeal).
• Family trust – reorganisation, for a family trust, of a £100m+ real estate investment portfolio, with assets in Switzerland, USA, Guernsey, BVI, Gibraltar, Brunei and Israel with a view to diversifying the interests and reducing the incidence of tax.
• Two substantial offshore family trusts – financing and acquisition of a number of corporate groups via Luxembourg and Gibraltar based structures for a total consideration of €2bn.
• Offshore trust – reappointment of a very substantial offshore trust to permit introduction of joint protectors and modern trustee powers.
• Offshore trust – creation of an offshore trust structure for a non domiciled client resulting in transfer to the trust of a controlling interest in an overseas listed company.
• Entrepreneur – advising an entrepreneur on the tax and other issues relating to the listing of a mineral extraction business on a North American Exchange.
• Entrepreneur – acting for a successful entrepreneur in the resources sector on the listing on AIM of his various interests, held through his offshore trusts.
• Re: Yorke application – acting for a group of trustees and executors on a Re: Yorke application in relation to the assets of the estate of a Lloyd’s Name now held on trust.
• Life tenant – representing the life tenant of substantial dynastic trusts and settlements of one of England’s oldest landed families in divorce proceedings.
• Dispute with beneficiaries – acting for professional trustees in responding to and ultimately resolving a dispute with beneficiaries over the extent of their entitlement to documents held by the trustees.