Sam Sturrock 

Our capital markets team have significant onshore as well as offshore experience, giving us an in-depth understanding of all aspects of security issues and capital markets transactions. We advise on the structuring of securitisation vehicles, the promotion of securities and the full range of equity and debt capital markets transactions, including both public equity and debt offerings and mergers and acquisitions, including schemes or arrangement and reverse takeovers.

Our fund specialists offer advice on all aspects relating to the establishment, authorisation and structuring of funds and related investment vehicles. We have particular expertise acting for emerging managers who are building their business and acting for institutional investors, including acting for private equity funds and sovereign wealth funds on joint venture and fund investments, as well as planning their internal corporate structures. We provide a highly personalised service working with our clients and their onshore counsel to build strong relationships over the long term.

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.

Fund financing covers a range of financing possibilities but most commonly involves capital call or subscription facilities. It is a specialist area that requires an understanding of fund structuring, the risks involved in lending to funds and specific security requirements. Underlying relationships between investors, borrowers and lenders are key to the success of the industry. We work with lenders and borrowers to maintain these relationships at every stage of the process, with our commercial, efficient and pragmatic approach to managing transactions.

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.

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.

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.

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 HNWs. 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 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.

We regularly act in relation to significant mergers and acquisitions activity in our jurisdictions, whether as lead counsel for strictly local matters or as part of an international team for multi-jurisdictional transactions.

Our risk and regulatory team provides legal support to businesses applying local rules regarding foreign tax reporting and production orders. Our goal here is to ensure our clients remain compliant, while conducting their business efficiently and in line with their clients interests and expectations.

We are able to advise clients on the establishment and structuring of the full range of regulated service in our jurisdictions. Our experience allows us to shape licence applications to fit regulatory expectations as well as tailoring procedures and processes to reflect the latest and best practices in compliance and corporate governance.

Our services include general regulatory and compliance advice and support, non-financial services regulatory matters including utilities, data protection and corporate governance, due diligence, reviews, audits and health checks. We advise clients from a diverse client base with a focus on the financial services industry including fund administrators, trust companies, banks, investment managers, local companies and individuals.

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

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.