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Mike Williams

Mike Williams 

Group Partner*† | Jersey

Corporate, Finance & Funds

  • is a great lawyer to work with. He manages to tread the tricky line of providing good advice whilst remaining on good terms with everyone.  Always picks up the phone when I call
    Legal 500
  • Conor Walsh and Mike Williams are both very professional, attentive and accessible and always meet the required schedules – even the tightest ones. Their high qualities and dedication are things you can always count on.
    Legal 500
  • Mike very hands on and client focused.
    Legal 500 (UK) 2023
  • Mike Williams is a pleasure to work with. Knows the law, knows how clients work and gets the job done. Fun to work with
    Legal 500
  • Michael Williams is very, very thorough, diligent and supremely commercial.
    Chambers UK 2023
  • Mike Williams is incredibly hands-on and responsive during a transaction. He gets the job done on time and within budget.
    Legal 500 2022
  • Mike Williams is uniquely helpful and considered.
    Legal 500 (UK) 2023
  • Mike Williams does a great job of helping the Collas Crill team to look after us on the Jersey side and seamlessly fitting in with the work that we do for our clients. Mike is a great lawyer and very pragmatic. He always has the big picture in mind.
    Legal 500 2022
  • Mike is a good and commercial lawyer.
    Chambers UK 2024
  • He's exceptionally calm, strategic, he gives clear advice, and his people skills are exceptional.
    Chambers and Partners 2022
  • Mike is user-friendly and provides a very good service.
    Chambers UK 2023
  • He's a very good technical lawyer.
    Chambers and Partners 2022
  • Mike Williams is highly experienced, very concise and clear yet very approachable and easy to deal with. His advice is always definitive and identifies issues and finds pragmatic solutions.
    Legal 500 2022
  • Mike Williams leads the team. As well as being a cracking lawyer, he is always around to help, extremely reliable and great fun to work with. His team has a strongly supportive ethos which makes them a pleasure to have on our side.
    Legal 500
  • What attracts me to Mike Williams is that he is not only advising on both the BVI and Jersey but he actually lived and practised in both countries.
    Legal 500 2022

Overview

Mike is an experienced corporate, banking and finance lawyer in Jersey.

"I enjoy the variety of work and diversity of clients we have at Collas Crill.  No two deals or clients are ever the same."

Experience

Mike's corporate practice involves advising listed companies, private groups, family offices, sovereign wealth funds, private equity vehicles, directors and shareholders on areas like mergers and acquisitions, corporate migrations, group restructurings, joint ventures and class rights, shareholder disputes, private placements and public offerings (including IPOs and secondary offerings), corporate governance and directors' duties and employee incentive schemes.

His banking and finance practice involves advising borrowers and lenders on areas like acquisition and leveraged finance, asset finance, Islamic finance, project finance, real estate finance, debt restructuring and security enforcement. He also advises arrangers, dealers and SPVs in relation to debt issues (including note programmes and securitisations) and structured products.

Background

Prior to joining Collas Crill, Mike worked for another leading offshore law firm in both Jersey and the BVI. He has also worked for Allen Allen & Hemsley in Sydney and Clifford Chance in London.

Mike was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2001 (currently non-practising) and the British Virgin Islands in 2012.

Mike is ranked band 3 in Chambers and Partners UK 2023.

 

*admitted in England and Wales, and British Virgin Islands 

†not a member of Collas Crill LLP in Jersey

Business Assistant
Liz Putt  
My services
Banking and Finance
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Banks today face an ever increasing raft of challenges, both regulatory and commercial, as well as competition for deals from non-bank lenders and alternative funders. We provide our banking clients with a comprehensive service on- and off-transaction, including our plain English precedents for their business. We help our clients keep up with the changing landscape in order to remain competitive in the market place whilst delivering quality service to their own customers. Our clients focus on relationship banking and we work hard to support them in doing so. We also advise P2P lenders and invoice discounters on their lending and security arrangements, and their documentation.

Corporate Advisory
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With a depth of multi-jurisdictional experience, we ensure that advice is provided in the context of other key offshore centres and with a knowledge of the bigger global picture. Our clients appreciate our proactive attitude, sensible and user-friendly advice, accuracy and honesty in pricing matters, and our senior-level involvement in all matters. In an increasingly complex, competitive and regulated market, we'll make sure your business or venture reaches its full potential.

Corporate Governance and Shareholder Relations
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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 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.

Debt Issues
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We advise on structured bond issues, including covered bonds, convertible debt, private equity and intra-group debt finance and hybrid deals that make use of offshore special purpose debt vehicles. We also advise onshore issuers with listing Eurobonds and other debt instruments on The International Stock Exchange in Guernsey and the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange. Our partners and senior lawyers have significant experience and understanding of the nuances of such transactions, and are very well placed to provide practical, tailored advice.

Equity Issues
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We advise on all forms of public offerings by companies incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey and Jersey. Our clients include trading companies, SPACs, brokers, advisors and NOMADs, and recent transactions have included listings on both the London Stock Exchange's Main Market and AIM, as well as other leading international exchanges. We cover the full scope of transactions for listed companies, from IPOs to rights issues, secondary offerings, equity bridge financing, mergers and acquisitions, including schemes or arrangement and reverse takeovers, and de-listing.

Mergers and Acquisitions
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Mergers and Acquisitions

Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
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The demand for professional advisers who understand the needs of clients in the region has never been more important. With Shariah-compliant products and Islamic finance becoming increasingly mainstream and integrated into the global financial system, it is important to partner with a team who understands the complexities of these structures, while also understanding how more traditional structures can be applied to meet the needs of Middle Eastern clients.

Securities and Capital Markets
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Our capital markets team has substantial onshore as well as offshore capital markets experience, giving us in depth understanding of all aspects of capital markets structures and the commercial drivers that underpin transactions. We advise on the full range of equity and debt capital markets transactions, including initial public offerings, structured finance and securitisations, bond issuance, and TISE and CSX listings.

Deal 6 Mar 2023

Just and equitable winding up

Lynne Calder, Of Counsel in the Jersey Dispute Resolution team, was appointed by the Royal Court of Jersey as Amicus Curiae in a case involving an application for the...

Guide 8 Feb 2023

The Collas Crill guide to Jersey Limited Liability Companies (LLCs)

As of 14 February 2023, the legislation, policy and guidance facilitating the full introduction of the Jersey LLC (including an ability to elect to be a body corporate)...

News 20 Oct 2022

Collas Crill: Chambers 2022 UK

Collas Crill has maintained its strong position in the Chambers & Partners United Kingdom 2022 directory, upholding its rankings across all practice areas, with the...

Guide 5 Oct 2022

Collas Crill explains… Reinstating a dissolved Jersey company

Jersey is a popular place to establish an asset holding company because the Companies Law is modern, flexible and modelled on English companies legislation.  The Companies...

Insight 1 Sep 2022

BVI Company Law changes, 1 Jan 2023

Further to our update earlier this year we are now able to advise how the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 (the Act) will change from 1 January 2023. As anticipated, the...

News 7 Oct 2021

Jersey First for Finance article

Group Partner Mike Williams and Associate Alexander Price feature in the latest edition of Jersey First for Finance. Supported by Jersey Finance, this year's publication...

Showing 6 of 95 Results

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Event 3 Sep 2019
Past Event

YPIFF

Collas Crill will have a multi-jurisdictional team of Islamic Finance specialists in attendance at the Young Professionals in Islamic Finance (YPIFF) Forum which will be...

Event 12 Mar 2019
Past Event

MIPIM 2019

Our UK real estate and corporate, finance and funds teams continue to grow and with offices in Guernsey, Jersey, London, BVI, Singapore, Hong Kong and Cayman we offer our...

Event 4 Jul 2018
Past Event

JADO Summer Drinks Reception

Collas Crill is sponsoring the Jersey Association of Directors and Officer's (JADO) Summer Drinks Reception. Taking place between on Wednesday 4th July 2018 at the Radisson...

Event 12 Jun 2018
Past Event

JIBS Conference

Consultant Shelagh Mason will be on the panel of this year's 3rd Annual Real Estate & Real Estate Funds Conference. Group partners Mike Williams, Michael Morris, Ian...

Event 12 Mar 2018
Past Event

MIPIM 2018

Our real estate finance and funds teams continue to grow and with offices in Guernsey, Jersey, London, BVI, Singapore, Hong Kong and Cayman we now offer clients a truly...

Showing 5 of 5 Results