Wayne Atkinson

Wayne Atkinson 

Partner | Guernsey

Financial Services and Regulatory

  • Wayne Atkinson’s laid back manner with clients belies his tenacity in ensuring that both he and his team get the job done on a timely and cost-effective basis.
    Legal 500 (UK) 2024
  • Technically sound and very responsive.
    Chambers UK 2024
  • Wayne and Gareth managed to create a structure and framework from scratch and get a regulator to approve it. Their willingness to take on this piece of work and execute it makes them stand out.
    Legal 500 (UK) 2023
  • Resonates with clients.
    Legal 500 (UK) 2024
  • Responsive and innovative.
    Legal 500
  • Wayne Atkinson is easily approachable and responsive. He provides an amazing service.
    Chambers UK 2023
  • Wayne Atkinson has a particularly pragmatic approach backed up by an in depth knowledge and excellent coordination and communication skills.
    Legal 500 (UK) 2023
  • Always available, approachable and thinks outside of the box.
    Legal 500 (UK) 2024
  • Technically very knowledgeable.
    Legal 500 (UK) 2024
  • Always proactive, excellent at balancing legal requirements with the needs and wishes of the client.
    Client feedback
  • His knowledge of law and its application is extensive and has resulted in good results for many of the clients we have introduced to the firm.
    Legal 500 (UK) 2024
  • Wayne Atkinson is a very thoughtful lawyer who sees a big picture without neglecting minutiae. Very experienced.
    Legal 500 (UK) 2023
  • Wayne Atkinson is very responsive and understands clients’ businesses.
    Legal 500
  • Wayne Atkinson is very responsive and understands clients’ businesses.
    Legal 500 2022
  • Always proactive and excellent at balancing legal requirements with the needs and wishes of the client.
    Client feedback
  • He's a good technical lawyer. I have found he delivers efficient, focused points of advice, which is exactly what you want.
    Chambers & Partners 2022
  • Extremely knowledgeable but not protective of that knowledge...very approachable and always willing to assist.
    Client feedback
  • Incredibly helpful.
    Client
  • Credible across all areas.
    Client feedback

Overview

Wayne heads up the Financial Services and Regulatory team in the Channel Islands. He is a qualified Guernsey Advocate and BVI Attorney.

Wayne works with a broad range of regulated entities and investment funds on fundraising, transaction and investment structuring, commercial contracts and mergers and acquisitions.

As one of the leaders of Collas Crill's risk and regulatory team he also regularly advises businesses on regulatory compliance including money-laundering issues, listing rules requirements, competition law, data protection, ESG matters and Guernsey financial services regulation more generally.

"It's my job to help clients achieve their objectives with as little unnecessary cost, stress and risk as possible."

Experience

Wayne has built considerable expertise in assisting company boards and activist shareholders in relation to contentious general meetings and associated issues arising out of investor actions.

A regular speaker at seminars and conferences in relation to company law, regulatory and fund matters, Wayne is well known for his down-to-earth plain speaking approach to explaining complex legal and regulatory issues.

Background

Having attended St John's College at the University of Cambridge, Wayne trained and qualified as a corporate lawyer with Herbert Smith in London, working primarily in the firm's investment funds and regulatory team. Following this he spent a number of years in the British Virgin Islands advising on a range of investment funds and general corporate transactions before joining Collas Crill in 2009.

He joined the Board of the Guernsey Nature Commission in 2023.

Awards

Wayne is listed as a Next Generation Partner in Legal 500, and in band 3 in Chambers and Partners UK 2024.

*Business Assistant
Samantha Hobbs

Samantha Hobbs

 
My services
Business relocations, migrations and continuations
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An increasing number of business leaders are looking to relocate their business and indeed live offshore. Our pan-departmental relocation team has the knowledge and experience to assist in all aspects of such a move and welcome you to our islands. We are well placed to advise on and project manage such a relocation and can support with company migrations and continuations, regulatory approvals, housing licences and real estate matters through to introductions to other service providers and complementary local businesses.

For guidance on relocating your business in and out of the BVI, Cayman Islands, Guernsey or Jersey, click here.

Corporate advisory
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Successfully navigating the modern global business environment, taking advantage of opportunities as they arise while avoiding legal and regulatory pitfalls, is a challenge for any entrepreneur, business or corporation.

As commercially minded lawyers committed to providing a high quality and cost-effective service we understand those challenges and, more importantly, seek to turn them into opportunities.

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Corporate reorganisations
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Our team has deep experience in complex, multi-jurisdictional corporate reorganisations and reconstructions.

Whether leading the project, or working as part of an integrated team with co-ordinating onshore counsel, we can assist with the variety of debt and equity restructuring processes and procedures available in our Collas Crill jurisdictions; from mergers and acquisitions, to migrations and redomiciliation, to schemes of arrangement and the more innovative and flexible solutions our jurisdictions are known for.  

With our mix of non-contentious and litigation restructuring specialists, Collas Crill offers the unique advantage of having being able to provide a team to seamlessly take a transaction from start to finish. 

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Data protection
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Data is the most valuable asset for many of our clients and data protection is a growing facet of offshore business. We have advised a number of institutional clients on their commercial obligations in terms of data security and data protection and regularly provide advice on contract terms in this difficult area. We also have significant experience in using the full range of legal remedies available to obtain access to data and information held, and so are ideally placed to advise clients on either side of the data protection equation.

E-gaming and e-business
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E-gaming and e-commerce have become increasingly important sectors to the economy, having grown exponentially in recent years. Collas Crill has a particular specialism in e-gaming. The opportunities are huge, but the legislative and regulatory issues facing the industry require close attention. Our specialists can advise and assist companies and other organisations on the issues in setting up and managing online businesses as well as managing the risks to succeed in a global market.

Housing and immigration
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If you are looking to expand of move your business offshore we can assist your company with all forms of immigration visas and permits.

Investment fund formation
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Our uniquely diverse practice regularly assists with the establishment of both open and closed-ended fund structures. In addition to traditional Channel Island private equity and real estate structures and Caribbean hedge funds, we have advised on a number of alternative and esoteric classes. We work alongside our clients to understand their investment thesis and provide bespoke drafting to build the fund they want as opposed to generic template structures and documentation. We advise clients at every step of the process, including preparing offer documents, investor negotiations, the preparation of agreements, and in the closing of transactions.

Regulatory
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Our multi-disciplinary approach to providing risk and regulatory consultancy services ensures that every aspect of our clients' business is covered. By drawing on the skills and experience of a highly experienced team of lawyers with expertise from across the firm, we are able to deal with all legal compliance issues that could affect your business, whether contentious or non-contentious. The assistance we are able to provide ranges from strategic matters to specific operational issues.

Collas Crill's market-leading fraud, financial and white collar crime practice sits within our regulatory practice. Uniquely offering a mix of both civil and criminal fraud litigation experience, from internal investigations, to injunctions, to defence and enforcement, the team can lead clients through the most challenging of circumstances.

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Utilities
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We work with a number of local utilities assisting them with their work with regulators and pricing control commissioners as well as advising on the effects of proposed changes in legislation, commercial contracts and corporate governance.

Specific regulatory compliance
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Regulation proliferates in all aspects of corporate life these days. We have proven subject matter expertise in specific regulatory fields.

Read more
6 Dec 2023

The Ladies' College retain title in Collas Crill Guernsey Moot

The Ladies' College has won this year's Collas Crill Guernsey Moot – holding onto the trophy for another year. Mathilda Litten and Evie Patterson from the Ladies' College and Josh Fallaize and Zaheer Anees from Elizabeth College went head to head in a fi...

30 Nov 2023

A Ladies' verses Elizabeth College final for Guernsey Moot

The Ladies' College will be looking to hold onto their title when they face Elizabeth College in the 2023 Collas Crill Guernsey Moot final. Mathilda Litten and Evie Patterson from the Ladies' College and Josh Fallaize and Zaheer Anees from Elizabeth Coll...

29 Nov 2023

Fifty billion trees in the Middle East (and what it has to do with us)

This week, the eyes of many of us around the world will be trained on Dubai as it hosts COP28. In September, the UAE Sustainable Finance Working Group put forward for consultation its proposed Principles for Sustainability-Related Disclosures for Reporti...

20 Oct 2023

Luxury assets - regulatory issues

Following our Fast Cars, fake art and $300,000 fish event earlier this year, Collas Crill Partners Wayne Atkinson and Nin Ritchie explore the world of collectibles in our latest 'On the sofa' episode. The collectibles space is constantly changing with ne...

27 Jun 2023

Collas Crill advises on acquisition

Collas Crill has advised Van Mossel, a leading automotive group in Europe as they agreed terms for the acquisition of Jacksons Group. Jacksons, which operates from six locations across the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight, is one of th...

10 Feb 2023

New VASP regulations in Guernsey

The Guernsey Financial Services Commission published its final draft of the Lending, Credit and Finance Rules and Guidance, 2023 (the "New Rules") on Thursday 19 January 2023. These support the Lending, Credit and Finance (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 202...

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