Corporate

Managing Partner

Jeffrey Kirk is the managing partner of the Appleby British Virgin Islands office and he leads the BVI office Corporate Practice Group. He advises on public and private M&A, capital markets, banking & finance, FinTech including digital assets, investment funds & services, private equity, (re)insurance and other corporate matters. He is also the global head of the Appleby Islamic Finance Practice Group. Jeffrey has worked in the Appleby London, Bermuda, Hong Kong, Cayman Islands and BVI offices and has extensive experience advising on the laws of the BVI, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

His pre-Appleby experience includes being in practice at leading London law firms; in-house counsel at Lloyd´s of London and his South African experience includes practicing in a leading regional South African law firm, being in-house counsel at an international asset management group and general counsel for a leading underwriting firm.

English

His memberships include being a member of the Hong Kong Insurance Law Association, the Law Society of Hong Kong (registered foreign lawyer), the Law Society of England & Wales (non-practicing) and the Law Society of the Northern Provinces (South Africa) (non-practicing), the Bermuda Bar Association and he is admitted to practice as a barrister and attorney in Bermuda and as a solicitor and notary public in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (British Virgin Islands) and is a member of the BVI Bar Association.

University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) BPP Law School, London (England)

In the 2020 Chambers Global listings, Jeffrey was ranked as an eminent practitioner and is regarded by commentators as a “sensible operator” and was held in high regard for his depth of knowledge and long-standing client relationships. In 2019, Chambers Global described Jeffrey as “articulate and precise” as well as being the “consummate all-rounder”. In 2018 they noted that he is praised by interviewees as a “brilliant lawyer” who is “articulate and picks things up easily.” Having formerly practised in the firm´s Hong Kong office, he is particularly noted for his expertise working with Asia-based clients, and is hailed by sources for his “service-oriented advice.” In other previous years’ editions of Chambers Asia-Pacific and Chambers Global, he was rated for his debt capital markets expertise and gained affirmation from clients as being “very prompt, practical and responsive. He combines legal expertise with commercial understanding” and that “He stands out for his insurance and reinsurance expertise.”

He has also been ranked as a leading individual by The Legal 500 since 2014, which noted that he stands out for his “responsiveness and ability to deal with demanding clients.” IFLR1000 has also ranked Jeffrey as “highly regarded”.

Jeffrey is a frequent speaker and panelist at seminars and conferences including AFSIC (Africa Financial Services Investment Conference, London), Business BVI Outlook, the Fund Forum Asia, Islamic Finance News Hong Kong Road Show, Business Bermuda and the Islamic Real Estate World Asia Conference. He is often interviewed and invited to write articles on all aspects of offshore finance, hedge funds, (re)insurance, SPVs and other corporate issues and has contributed to numerous publications including The Lawyer, the Hedge Fund Journal, China Offshore, Banking Today, Bloomberg; Asia Insurance Review, Middle East Insurance Review, Legal Week, Business Today, the Bermuda Royal Gazette and the China Business Law Journal. He is a co-author of the BVI chapter of the Asset Management Review.