Appleby

The firm: Appleby is a leading offshore law firm. The team of legal specialists advise global public and private companies, financial institutions and private individuals. Appleby is regularly recognised for its integrity and excellent client service, these are the values the firm prides itself on and are at the very core of its business.

Appleby’s global presence allows it to provide timely and comprehensive legal advice at the times that matter most to clients. Appleby is located in the key offshore jurisdictions of Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Mauritius, and the Seychelles, as well as the international financial centres of Hong Kong and Shanghai. Appleby works with clients to achieve practical solutions whether in a single location or across multiple jurisdictions. Appleby is a full service law firm providing expert advice across corporate, dispute resolution, property, regulatory and private client and trusts practice areas.

Principal areas of work
Mergers and acquisitions: Appleby’s mergers and acquisitions team regularly works with FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies around the globe to help them deploy strategic growth and restructuring initiatives, whether involving single jurisdictions or complex multi-jurisdictional, multi-disciplinary transactions. Appleby’s highly-experienced corporate team in Hong Kong is focused on providing on-the-ground advice on Cayman, Bermuda and BVI law matters in the Asia time zone.  Their M&A practice regularly works with Chinese corporations, venture capital firms, tech start-up businesses, closed-end investment firms and credit funds operating across the Asia Pacific region.

Banking and finance: Appleby’s banking and asset finance team are experienced in all aspects of law relating to banking, ship and aircraft registration and finance, asset backed finance and project and infrastructure finance. They provide advice to major banks and financial institutions, ship and aircraft owners, lessors, and lessees and have deep and trusted relationships with numerous international law firms, shipping groups and financial institutions around the world.

Funds: Appleby’s Hong Kong investment funds practice predominantly practices Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and Bermuda law and covers the entire Asia Pacific region, and with its Cantonese, English and Mandarin skills, has a leading edge in advising Hong Kong, Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese fund managers. They advise on fund formation and ongoing operation for all types of offshore investment fund structures, co-investment arrangements, separate account mandates, asset-holding joint ventures and “club deals”, across the spectrum of alternative asset classes - private equity, hedge funds, credit (including mezzanine and distressed), venture capital, real estate and infrastructure. Appleby’s Fund Disputes Team is also an industry leader - one of the few offshore firms to field a specialist team dealing with fund disputes. Appleby’s fund finance team are experts in advising banks and finance providers in the development of sophisticated financing solutions. The team are globally recognized as leaders in the fund finance sector and have advised on a variety of different financing structures involving funds that have ranged from a hundred million to billions of dollars in subscribed investor commitments.

Insolvency and restructuring: Appleby’s insolvency and restructuring team advise directors, institutional lenders, creditors (secured or unsecured), borrowers, or insolvency practitioners in large insolvencies that have offshore or cross-border elements. The team has extensive insolvency and restructuring experience across a wide range of industries, including retail, hospitality and leisure, healthcare, financial services, real estate and manufacturing. The Hong Kong corporate restructuring practice predominantly practices Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and Bermuda law and covers the entire Asia Pacific region, with a focus in the current market on restructuring of China real estate debt issuers.

Trust disputes: As family arrangements become more complex, trustees and beneficiaries are frequently being drawn into disputes which lead to court proceedings. Appleby’s talented, experienced and solution driven trust disputes team is committed to delivering the highest possible level of client service and regularly work together across their global locations to provide expert multi-jurisdictional advice.

PC&T: Appleby’s private client and trust team provide trust and foundation services to private individuals, families, and fiduciary companies. They advise on all aspects of trust law, including the establishment, administration, restructuring and termination of private, charitable, and commercial trusts and foundations. They act in a personal capacity as Protector, Enforcer and Director (of private trust companies) for a number of discretionary trusts and are frequently instructed by blue-chip trust institutions.

Dispute resolution: Appleby’s dispute resolution team is well-known for their Cayman, BVI, Bermuda and Jersey law advice across a wide range of shareholder disputes, insolvency and restructurings, funds disputes and M&A and privatisation disputes. The team works closely with their disputes lawyers in Cayman, Bermuda and the BVI, with every matter serviced by a multijurisdictional team.

Employment: Appleby’s specialist employment team provides advice on employment and immigration law to a range of global clients, including banks, financial services businesses, companies and directors, as well as their onshore legal advisers. With close ties to local governments, they are often consulted on, and help to share, new laws brought into force across the jurisdictions in which they operate.

Fraud and asset tracing: Appleby’s fraud and asset tracing team are experts in helping clients to trace and recover assets across international jurisdictions, regardless of where proceedings originate. Their clients include major financial institutions, multinational corporations, government agencies, state-owned corporations and high net worth individuals, who have been defrauded or have received the proceeds of fraud. They also advise directors and officers, and other service providers caught in the fallout of fraudulent activities.

Property: Appleby are a leading provider of property services in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Isle of Man and Jersey. Their property team provides expert legal advice on all aspects of commercial and residential property, including sales and purchases, leasing, development and property finance transactions. They are frequently recognised for their experience and excellent client service and are consistently ranked in the top tiers for property work. They regularly work directly with developers, investors, business occupiers, banking institutions and private individuals.

Regulatory: Appleby’s regulatory and compliance team is one of the world’s largest offshore, comprised of experts who not only have first-hand knowledge of local regulation, but who have in many cases, helped to shape it. Their team are skilled at putting technical regulatory information and decision-making in a commercial context, and clients know that they can assemble the team to deliver an international service, quickly and seamlessly.

Technology and innovation: Appleby’s multi-disciplinary technology and innovation group comprises experts from each of their ten offices to help businesses meet the new challenges and support clients across a broad range of emerging technologies including blockchain, virtual currencies, ICOs, data protection and financial technologies.