Campbells

The firm

Campbells is a leading full service offshore law firm established in 1970.  From our offices in the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Hong Kong we provide comprehensive corporate and litigation advice and services to clients worldwide in relation to Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands law. We are regularly trusted to advise some of the most prominent names in finance, investment and insurance and we are frequently involved in the largest and most complex transactions, disputes and insolvencies in both jurisdictions.

Our legal team is internationally recognised for its expertise by leading directories and trade publications and we are also proud to be actively involved in the development of legislation, sitting on critical government legislative committees. Campbells is a member of the international legal networks Meritas and World Law Group.

Areas of practice

Arbitration & Mediation: Campbells is at the forefront of arbitration and mediation in both the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands. They have a number of attorneys with highly specialised international arbitration and mediation experience gained onshore in major arbitration and mediation centres.

Banking & Structured Finance: Campbells has extensive experience advising on debt, equity, credit-linked and asset backed securities, derivatives and other structured products, working with professional advisors and leading financial institutions worldwide; in addition to advising on syndicated lending and related security structures and advising on the establishment and licensing of financial institutions in the Cayman Islands and their on-going legal and regulatory requirements.

Blockchain & FinTech: Campbells’ blockchain and fintech practice is recognised as holding a leading position in the market. They have advised many high profile and innovative international businesses in this space, including crypto exchanges, token issuers and investment funds.

Compliance & Regulatory: Campbells advises both local and international banks, insurers, company managers, trust companies, investment managers, administrators and directors on regulatory and compliance matters.

Corporate & Commercial: Campbells has considerable experience in all areas of offshore corporate and commercial law and has worked on some of the most important and innovative cross-border transactions undertaken in the Cayman Islands. They have a strong reputation and particular expertise in the following areas: M&A; restructuring; joint ventures; investment funds; insurance and reinsurance, including captives and insurance-linked securities; capital markets; debt and equity listings; banking and structured finance; asset acquisition and finance, including shipping and aircraft finance; vessel and aircraft registration and mining and resources.

Fraud Litigation & Asset Recovery: Campbells’ specialist fraud and asset recovery team is a market leader in bringing and defending fraud claims and has a wealth of experience in taking urgent steps to identify, preserve and recover assets located within and outside the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands and the Marshall Islands. They also have extensive experience in claims and issues arising out of financial fraud, white collar crime, economic sanctions and government corruption involving offshore entities and assets.

Insolvency & Corporate Restructuring: Campbells acts for local and overseas insolvency and restructuring professionals, creditors, investors, minority shareholders, directors, investment managers and other professional service providers in connection with all aspects of the restructuring and winding up of companies, investment funds, limited partnerships and structured finance entities.

Insurance & Reinsurance: Campbells is recognised as holding a leading position among law firms in the insurance/reinsurance sector in the Cayman Islands and heads the market in both contentious and non-contentious insurance matters. Their practice includes corporate and regulatory work for insurers and reinsurers, whether captive or otherwise; advising local insurers on domestic insurance law matters; assisting in dispute resolution; and advising special purpose insurance companies, such as catastrophe bond issuers and finite risk vehicles.

Investment Funds: Campbells’ investment funds practice works with many of the leading onshore attorneys and investment managers on both hedge fund and private equity/venture capital matters, ranging from start-up manager to managers in the >US$1 billion AUM category. They have extensive expertise of all key structures, including master-feeder structures, multi-class funds and segregated portfolio company structures, as well as experience advising on investment fund financing, the use of derivate products and related matters. They have a reputation for being at the forefront of emerging issues and working with advisors in other jurisdictions to devise cutting-edge responses. They are also recognised for their excellent advisory capacity, particularly for fund corporate governance and distress scenarios.

Litigation: Campbells is widely recognised for the strength of its litigation practice. They have one of the largest specialist litigation teams, and routinely act in the most significant, high-value and complex disputes in both the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands. They provide a full suite of litigation and dispute resolution services to a diverse, international client bases from their offices in Cayman, BVI and Hong Kong. Campbells has a wealth of experience spanning a broad range of disputes, with particular expertise in investment fund disputes, trust litigation, asset tracing, shareholder disputes and dissenting shareholder fair value petitions. Their clients range from large international, financial and trading organisations to liquidators and trustees in bankruptcy of international and local entities, participants in investment and trust structures, family offices and government agencies. Litigators at the firm regularly appear before the Grand Court, Court of Appeal and Privy Council.

Private Equity & Venture Capital: Campbells has extensive experience advising on the formation of private equity and venture capital funds and all stages of the life-cycle of investments made by such funds, including implementing the investment structures utilised for underlying investments and listing and M&A transactions in respect of portfolio investments. They are regularly involved in the establishment and maintenance of fund vehicles for numerous high profile investment managers and investment/financing transactions related to underlying entities, with a particular focus on investments in information and environmental technology and investment into Brazil, China and India.

Real Estate & Local Practice: Campbells handles all aspects of property transactional work from sales and purchase to conveyance and related residential and commercial financing both for individuals and corporations. They work with developers, financial institutions, relators and property managers from initial stages of purchase, planning, development, financing projects (either for lending institution(s) or developer) to the ultimate completion of the transaction.

Shipping & Aviation: Campbells advises some of the world’s principal shipping companies, airlines, financial institutions and lessors. They have considerable expertise in all areas of asset finance, specialising in securitisation transactions and ship and aircraft financing (involving the establishment of special purpose offshore companies and other vehicles, such as exempted limited partnerships).

Support Services: Campbells Corporate Services Limited (CCSL) holds a trust licence issued by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority and provides a full suite of entity administration, regulatory and trustee services.

Trusts: Campbells has wide ranging experience in all aspects of commercial and private trusts including: trust formation and advising on the regulatory requirements and operational requirements related thereto; trust structures for the purposes of taking security or securitisation; pension trusts; STAR trusts; fixed interest and discretionary trusts; reversed power trusts; removal of trustees; recertification of trusts and the establishment of private trust companies.