Michael Adkins 

In the current climate of increasing regulation we understand the pressures on our clients, both from local regulators as well as international organisations. Our team of dedicated risk and regulatory professionals are on hand to assist. We act for a number of leading clearing and private banks located in our jurisdictions.

It is important for businesses to understand what constitutes a dominant market position in order to avoid becoming involved in anti-competitive practices, especially during mergers and acquisitions. Penalties can be significant and directors may be disqualified, or worse. In addition to regularly gaining merger approvals, our commercial team also advises a number of major businesses on the practical effect of the competition regimes on their businesses.

Our dispute resolution specialists collaborate seamlessly with our corporate, banking and finance teams across jurisdictions to advise on litigation, restructuring and risk and regulatory matters. We provide a global perspective, working closely with our clients to ensure that they are best placed to respond to customer issues, fraud risks, rapidly changing market conditions and regulatory demands.

In regulatory disputes there are often fine lines between the usual wrangling with the regulator and something more serious – by matching our mix of experienced contentious and non-contentious lawyers to the particular problem at hand, we achieve better and more efficient outcomes. As regulatory experts, we frequently act on contentious matters and can leverage our experience to help clients achieve the highest regulatory standards and avoid common pitfalls.

Our dispute resolution specialists collaborate seamlessly with our corporate advisory and banking teams across jurisdictions to advise multinational corporations, trust companies, banks, funds, insurers, governments and directors. We provide a global perspective, working closely with our clients to ensure that they are best placed to respond to customer issues, fraud risks, rapidly changing market conditions and regulatory demands.

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 in relation to both the non-contentious and contentious aspects of shareholder relations with a focus on corporate governance to prevent contentious issues arising. We have also advised both boards and activist shareholders in relation to highly contentious general meetings and associated issues arising out of investor actions.

Thanks to the depth of our experience and the resources of our team, we've acted on some of the largest pieces of litigation brought against directors offshore. We are well placed to deal with the 'bet the farm' proceedings that can occur in these type of disputes and have represented parties involved in intra-company disputes, including executive, non-executive and independent directors, majority and minority shareholders, companies and liquidators. We understand that shareholder disputes are often not black and white and our team finds innovative and commercial alternatives to those which the Court may offer – taking a collaborative approach with our clients to ensure that the right result is achieved.

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. 

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.

Knowing what to do and when to act when things go wrong is a key part of our service to our clients on both lender and borrower side. Our clients include banks, funds, directors, shareholders and insolvency practitioners. We undertake security reviews and advise on pre-emptive measures. We appreciate the need to act promptly and decisively, and at the same time are sensitive to potential negative publicity for our clients.

We're used to working as part of a multi-jurisdictional team, capable of reacting and responding quickly to urgent requests for assistance with locating and freezing assets. As sophisticated defendants become more adept at dissipating assets, we've been involved in cases that created new law in relation to a party's ability to trace assets and recover their losses. With their ability to deal with complex issues the team deliver clear, commercial advice on the availability and likely success of recovery methods.

For financially distressed companies in need of restructuring and reorganisation, or for those where the opportunity to do so has passed or failed, we work to achieve the most beneficial outcome in these difficult situations. 

Currently working on some of the largest and most complex cross-border insolvencies in the jurisdiction, we frequently advise top law firms from the People’s Republic of China, the US, the UK and other jurisdictions. We are regularly briefed by Sovereign Wealth Funds and Fortune 500 Companies to advise on particular restructurings, as well as investment managers from Europe and the US.

At whatever stage we are engaged, our involvement will assist in identifying the ongoing risks facing a client and to enable that client to continue to identify and effectively manage deteriorating relationships with creditors, financiers, investors or other interested parties.

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.

Restructuring takes many forms, and we have broad experience in reshaping businesses to the changing needs and demands of the market. The team possesses a hands-on and comprehensive grasp of the intricate challenges that may emerge in restructuring scenarios, whether involving mergers, acquisitions, reorganisations or recapitalisation activities.

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.

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