Cains

Established in 1899 and headquartered in the Isle of Man, Cains is a leading independent offshore law firm at the forefront of maintaining the Isle of Man as a premier international finance centre.

A full-service commercial law firm, the expert team of legal specialists work across various disciplines advising clients from both the Isle of Man and around the globe on banking and finance, corporate and commercial, employment and data protection, litigation, property, regulatory and restructuring and insolvency legal matters.

Proven skills, international industry expertise and in-depth knowledge combine to ensure the team can handle the most demanding, complex and innovative instructions from a broad range of local and international clients including global banks, financial institutions, multi-national enterprises, regulatory bodies, in addition to public and private companies.

Cains has an unbeatable track record of working in partnership with leading global law firms from other jurisdictions to effect international transactions, including market listings and cross-jurisdictional M&A transactions, ensuring a seamless service for all clients.

Principal areas of work
Banking and finance:  Cains’ banking and finance team has a widely acknowledged and long-standing reputation for providing market-leading legal services to international banks, global financial institutions, alternative lenders, aircraft and ship owners and various borrowers. The team regularly advises on complex multi-jurisdictional commercial real estate, acquisition, project and asset finance matters, capital markets including debt issues and securitisations, bilateral and syndicated loans and derivative transactions and sales of performing and non-performing loan portfolios.

Corporate and commercial: Corporate and commercial matters are the foundation of Cains’ legal offering and the specialist team, which is one of the largest in the Isle of Man, is renowned for dealing with the most complex and noteworthy corporate transactions with a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, joint ventures, capital markets and investment funds, for a diverse portfolio of local and international organisations including Fortune 500 companies.

Employment: Cains’ employment specialists provide expert legal advice to clients at every stage of the employment “life cycle” from recruitment, through all aspects of the working relationship, to cessation of employment and post-termination concerns. With close governmental ties the team is regularly instructed to assist clients new to the Isle of Man by providing re-location assistance, including advice on employer registrations and immigration and work permits.

Data protection: Cains’ data protection team represents clients on the full spectrum of contentious and non-contentious data privacy and information rights issues. Familiarity with key Isle of Man sectors and the particular challenges enables our lawyers to provide comprehensive, relevant, and valued insights on topics including GDPR, data governance, record retention, impact assessments and transfers of personal information.

Listing services: Cains Listing Services Limited (CLSL) is a Category 1 and 2 member of The International Stock Exchange (TISE), approved to act as Listing lgent and sponsor in relation to the listing of bonds and equities on the TISE.  Cains’ team offers exceptional levels of corporate listings experience, having advised both domestic and international clients on debt and equity listings across international recognised stock exchanges including the main market of the London Stock Exchange, AIM, NASDAQ, EASDAQ, Frankfurt, NYSE, HKEX, SGX-ST, Dublin, LuxSE, JSE and Warsaw.

Litigation: Cains’ leading litigation department has unrivalled experience representing a broad range of clients across the full spectrum of contentious and non-contentious work and is widely recognised for its expertise in both international and domestic cases, including high-value and complex insolvency, commercial, corporate, asset tracing, fraud and trust litigation cases. The highly skilled team regularly provides financial services and regulatory advice to clients and can assist with white collar prosecution and defence work.

Property: Cains’ property team provides expert and comprehensive legal advice on all aspects of commercial and residential property transactions including property acquisitions and sales, leases, loan structuring deals, commercial real estate restructuring and refinancing arrangements. The team regularly works with UK, Irish and offshore financial institutions, as well as local and international investors, developers, retailers, manufacturers and utility companies.

Regulatory: Cains’ multi-disciplinary regulatory team has experience in advising on the full spectrum of regulatory and compliance matters relevant to businesses operating in or from the Isle of Man, including providing up-to-date guidance and advice on all aspects of financial services regulation including licensing and authorisation, risk management and compliance, anti-money laundering and data protection. The team works alongside government bodies and industry associations to help shape the Isle of Man’s regulatory frameworks and policies.

Restructuring and insolvency: Cains’ restructuring and insolvency team has been extensively involved in both the contentious and non-contentious aspects of the largest and highest profile commercial restructuring and insolvency matters in the Isle of Man.  The team regularly advises on restructurings effected via schemes of arrangement, debt restructurings (including debt for equity swaps), corporate rescues and insolvencies of financial institutions and corporate debtors. Members of the team have particular expertise in working with on-shore law firms and other restructuring and insolvency specialists, to structure and implement recovery and, where necessary enforcement, processes, at times utilising Isle of Man law purpose trusts to hold distressed assets.