Walkers BVI

The firm: Walkers is a leading international law firm that provides legal, corporate, fiduciary and compliance services to global corporations, financial institutions, capital markets participants and investment fund managers. Clients include Fortune 100 and FTSE 100 companies, as well as the most innovative firms and institutions across the financial markets. Walkers’ lawyers are experienced, entrepreneurial, committed to client service and held in high regard by clients for their ability to deliver outstanding legal advice.

Walkers is experienced in all types of international and cross-border transactions, covering a broad range of sectors, with a particular focus on both contentious and non-contentious corporate and finance law, investment funds, private equity, structured products, capital markets, private capital and trusts. Walkers delivers excellent, clear, practical advice based on an in-depth knowledge of the legal, regulatory and commercial environment in Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Jersey and Ireland. The firm is consistently ranked in the top tier of leading global legal directories. Clients describe Walkers as “a top-class firm,” and “stellar,” adding: “They are dedicated and responsive…”

Corporate: Walkers’ corporate group advises global corporations on a wide variety of company, commercial and corporate law matters. It has extensive experience advising on all corporate matters including mergers, acquisitions and disposals, corporate re-structuring, joint ventures, shareholders’ agreements and commercial contracts and agreements of every nature.
Contacts: Matthew Cowman, Omonike Robinson-Pickering

Finance: Walkers has a market-leading finance practice and regularly represents the main US and European banks, as well as corporate, private equity and hedge fund borrowers. The team is especially active on a range of secured banking and finance matters including fund financing, corporate lending, margin loans, corporate bond issuances, resource based project financings and asset finance transactions
Contacts: Matthew Cowman, Omonike Robinson-Pickering

Insolvency and dispute resolution: Walkers advises companies, directors, general partners and insolvency practitioners on all aspects of litigation, corporate recovery, restructuring, insolvency and dispute resolution. The team is internationally recognised as having the premier practice for dispute concerning ultra-high-value assets and fraud disputes. Walkers is also known for its unrivalled expertise in corporate litigation, shareholder and boardroom disputes, and related advice on strategy, risk management and issues of corporate governance, contested takeovers, and contentious and non-contentious restructuring. They advise creditors, debtors, private equity and hedge funds and other stakeholders and have worked with many of the leading international law and accounting firms.
Contacts: Oliver Clifton, Rosalind Nicholson

Investment funds: Walkers’ investment funds group is one of the largest specialist investment funds teams worldwide. They advise many of the world’s most prominent asset managers, fund promoters and institutional banks and investors on all aspects of offshore investment funds including fund formation, structuring, regulation, fund restructuring, fund re-domiciliation, termination and on-going general advice to investment funds and managers.
Contacts: Matthew Cowman, Paul Waldron

Private capital and trusts: Walkers’ private capital and trusts group is a multijurisdictional team of specialist lawyers that focuses on serving the needs of wealthy families, entrepreneurs, family offices, professional trustees and onshore advisers. The team’s work includes establishing private capital investment funds, direct investing, private and commercial trusts, wealth and succession planning, wills and probate, charitable and philanthropic trusts and entities, trust litigation and a broad range of corporate services designed to support back office operations. Clients have come to rely on Walkers as a trusted advisor for its unmatched expertise, discretion and individually tailored advice with a long-term, multi-generational perspective.
Contact: David Pytches

Private equity: Walkers’ private equity group acts for most of the world’s largest and most successful private equity firms. It advises on all aspects of fund formation and capitalisation of investment vehicles, public and private mergers and acquisitions and down-stream transactions, capital call and subscription line financing, leveraged buy out, group restructuring, secured lending, take-private and IPO formation and due diligence.
Contact: Matthew Cowman

Regulatory and risk advisory: Walkers’ regulatory and risk advisory team comprises dedicated specialist financial regulatory and risk management advisory lawyers who bring unique insight from having worked inside various national regulators, including the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. The team regularly advises non-regulated and regulated financial institutions on the interpretation and application of regulatory rules, policies and procedures. Clients include a wide range of businesses in the banking, insurance and reinsurance, investment fund, administrator, fiduciary and investment management, advice, broker-dealer and arranger sectors.
Contact: Lucy Frew

Restructuring: Walkers’ restructuring team offers clients a premier restructuring service for companies in financial difficulty. The team consists of experts drawn from top tier international law firms and chambers, and includes the corporate expertise of Rosalind Nicholson, offering a unique crossover in the BVI between litigation and corporate law (with many years’ experience as one of the UK’s leading company law barristers) on both contentious and non-contentious restructuring initiatives.
Contact: Rosalind Nicholson

Global managing partner: Ingrid Pierce
BVI managing partner: Matthew Cowman
Number of BVI partners: 8
Number of partners worldwide: 124
Number of BVI lawyers: 20
Number of lawyers worldwide: 420