Ian Clark

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, during all phases of the corporate life cycle.

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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.

Regulation and legal risk management are placing increasing burdens on companies and businesses in terms of time, costs and resources, and the consequences of getting this wrong can be severe.

We can assist with all regulatory and compliance issues in Jersey, Guernsey, BVI and Cayman including:

• anti-money laundering and proceeds of crime legislation
• FATCA and CRS reporting
• licensing
• economic substance
• beneficial ownership
• sanctions
• tax information exchange requests
• AIFMD

Additionally we can help with regulator investigations and visits, enforcement and remediation including representation before regulators, tribunals committees and courts. We have an excellent record in defending corporates and their directors and officers in regulatory proceedings.

Please view our Regulatory page for more information. 

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Good corporate governance and a sound understanding of directors duties is critical. Regardless of size, establishing a best practice approach should be fundamental to all boards.

The board of directors are responsible for ensuring the company achieves its objectives and the corporate governance framework they adhere to should underpin their accountability to the company and its members. We advise company boards at all stages in the corporate lifecycle, in solvent and insolvent scenarios.

We have also acted on some of the largest pieces of litigation brought against directors offshore.

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Disputes between directors can threaten the stability and governance of a company. We advise boards, individual directors, shareholders and stakeholders in contentious matters involving boardroom deadlock, removal or appointment of directors and conflicts of interest.

Drawing on our corporate, regulatory and dispute resolution expertise, we provide strategic advice in navigating internal power struggles and fiduciary issues. Our cross-border teams work cohesively to resolve disputes efficiently, protect business continuity and mitigate reputational risk.

Whether acting in private companies, joint ventures or complex corporate structures, we help clients manage director-level disputes with clarity and confidence.

Regulation and legal risk management are placing increasing burdens on companies and businesses in terms of time, costs and resources, and the consequences of getting this wrong can be severe. We can assist with all regulatory and compliance issues in Jersey, Guernsey, BVI and Cayman including: 

• Anti money laundering and proceeds of crime legislation
• FATCA and CRS reporting
• Licensing
• Economic substance
• Beneficial ownership
• Sanctions
• Tax information exchange requests
• AIFMD

Additionally we can help with regulator investigations and visits, enforcement and remediation including representation before regulators, tribunals committees and courts. We have an excellent record in defending corporates and their directors and officers in regulatory proceedings.

Offshore vehicles are used for a huge range of purposes either standing alone or as part of large multi-jurisdictional structures.

Our highly commercial team specialises in advising clients on the most effective uses of such vehicles and their on-going operation, including normal and cellular companies as well as foundations, unit trusts, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, segregated portfolio and restricted purpose companies.

We are able to advise what jurisdiction among the 'Big Four' that we advise on will best suit our client's needs and regularly advise on solvent restructuring by way of merger, consolidation, continuation or balance sheet optimisation as well as court based corporate procedures such as schemes and plans of arrangement.

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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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.

In addition to advising on the establishment of investment structures we advise on the drafting and interpretation of investment management and advisory mandates including performance fees and remuneration packages. Our practical yet precise approach in this highly technical area is driven by significant onshore experience.

We are not a team of lawyers who 'don’t do the maths' but understand performance related fee structures and incentives need to consider and capture the widest range of potential scenarios – our depth of expertise enables us to achieve that.

Our investment practice is not limited to regulated investment funds. With private capital deployment a global trend we also advise clients on a range of unregulated and private structures. These include structures allowing new promoters to build a track record or investment clubs to access particular investments without incurring the time or financial cost of entering the regulatory regime.

In addition, we frequently work with our award winning private client team to provide investment fund like solutions for family offices or high-net-worth individuals. Our team's experience in this often overlooked area of the investment sector can help our clients manage regulation and plan their structures for future growth without unnecessary limitations.

In a world of rising expectations, we are increasingly instructed by sovereign wealth funds, ultra-high net-worth individuals and funds of funds to review potential fund investments and negotiate side-letters or co-invest arrangements. We offer our clients a fast, efficient service with minimum fuss. This aspect of our practice gives us unparalleled insight of what is and isn't the 'market standard'; something all our clients benefit from.

We advise clients on regulations and requirements in the BVI, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey and Jersey in relation to anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) to help them ensure they meet their obligations.

Economic substance legislation is in place in each of our offshore jurisdictions, requiring all businesses with entities in those jurisdictions to carefully consider whether they fall within scope and if so, what they need to do in order to ensure that they are in compliance with the relevant legislation. We advise businesses on their obligations in this area.

Our regulatory team provides legal support with TIEAs and other types of agreement to ensure our clients remain compliant, while conducting their business efficiently and in line with their own clients' interests and expectations.

We advise in relation to a broad range of legal issues involving crypto and digital assets:

• Collective investment schemes including advising Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) regarding licensing, regulation and the migration of structures between jurisdictions
• Corporate structures (including foundations, decentralised autonomous organizations (DAOs) and token offering structures) together with associated services, development and access agreements
• Private wealth structures including succession planning and dealing with digital assets as part of estate administration on death
• Digital asset fraud and recovery on insolvency, including obtaining freezing injunctions in relation to crypto assets
• Defence of directors, trustees, managers or other defendants facing civil, criminal or regulatory action as a result of dealings with digital assets  

We advise Web3 and digital firms looking for regulatory guidance and support in drafting terms of service; token issuers and digital businesses looking to incorporate virtual assets; financial services firms considering adding a digital assets offering; investors establishing structures and appointing agents/trustees/custodians to invest in or hold digital assets; and high-net-worth individuals and family offices conducting succession planning for digital asset holdings.

We can also advise regulated corporate service providers to make informed decisions on the use of crypto platforms and crypto asset exchanges.

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