We advise on all aspects of the life of a BVI, Cayman, Cyprus, or Luxembourg fund including formation, restructuring, and closure, both in distressed and planned scenarios. Our funds lawyers sit side-by-side with the funds team from our associated funds services business allowing us to provide integrated legal and administrative support to our funds clients. We have also established a dedicated offshore regulatory practice providing regulated clients with essential legal support.
We pride ourselves on being able to offer bespoke services to our clients whether institutional or boutique managers. Our size, collegiate atmosphere, and flexible teams allow us to work across departments and offices. We do the work in the location that is most suitable to the client and are able to provide time zone and language-appropriate service to clients around the world.
Fund restructuring
One of our core strengths is our experience in dealing with changes to a fund’s structure during the life of a fund. These may be necessitated by a planned expansion in the fund or a liquidity issue within the portfolio. Such changes are often complex and require careful consideration of the existing rights of investors and obligations of the fund, its directors, and agents. Restructurings commonly involve the creation of side pockets to isolate the effect of individual asset illiquidity.
We have been involved in many of the largest and most complex restructurings and cases arising out of recent market events including advising on many issues coming out of the Madoff affair and other high profile fraud cases involving BVI, Cayman, Cyprus, and Luxembourg funds. We have deep expertise in the formulation of strategies that provide solid legal and commercially viable solutions for funds, managers, investors, and liquidators to deal with the challenges posed by distressed or failed investment funds.
Manager and administrator formation and transfers of control
We provide advice and assistance to those wishing to establish a fund manager or administrator in the BVI, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, and Luxembourg and to established managers and administrators wishing to provide services to BVI, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, and Luxembourg funds. This includes advising on the licensing requirements and ongoing obligations for domiciled and non-domiciled managers and administrators and advising on their service contracts with the funds.
We advise on the sale of regulated managers and administrators alongside leading onshore law firms. We have experience in dealing with all aspects of the transfers, including the regulatory, legal, and commercial issues involved in such transfers.
Regulatory consents and fund investments
We advise on all aspects of investment funds business, including obtaining regulatory consents and advising on and issuing opinions in relation to transactions entered into by funds, including ISDA agreements and structured investments.