Appleby‘s ’exceptionally commercial’ team specialises in funds and debt financing, supporting both borrowers and lenders with a variety of finance transactions while also advising on the setup of NAV, GP and co-investor facilities. The practice is also noted for its subscription finance work, as well as providing regulatory support for multi-jurisdictional transactions. Leading the group are Jeremy Berchem, noted for his expertise in bond issuances and debt instruments, as well as associated restructuring matters, and Stuart Tyler, who focuses on debt and acquisition financing.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'Small, partner led team with tremendous deal experience, providing strong commercial advice.'

  • 'User friendly and accessible - I can reach the partner whenever I need to and I know their advice will be pragmatic and practical.'

  • 'This firm really goes the extra mile in terms of assisting with urgent complex transactions where often pragmatic solutions are needed whilst still protecting fully the effectiveness of the documents and the bank's position. The firm's teams in other offshore jurisdictions are also very responsive and often key in assisting us.'

  • 'Jeremy Berchem, always available, responsive and second to none in terms of knowledge. Always willing to talk through a situation and suggest alternative approaches and resolutions, often with tight timelines involved.'

  • 'Exceptionally commercial, understand that a deal is not just about the legals, give sensible advice and stick to fee quotes. Just a lot better than the others.'

  • 'Quality legal advice delivered without fuss but with lots of common sense and understanding of our goals.'

  • 'People that are responsive and always on hand to support with value add queries, providing relevant legal guidance without any pushback.'

Key clients

  • Bank Julius Baer
  • Bank of America Merrill Lynch
  • Barclays Bank Plc
  • Deutsche Bank
  • Goldacre Ventures Limited
  • HSBC Group
  • ICG Real Estate Debt Investments S.a r.l
  • Investec Group
  • JPMorgan Chase Bank
  • Lineage Logistics Holdings LLC
  • Lloyds Banking Group
  • LondonMetric Property Plc
  • Manhattan Loft Gardens Limited
  • National Westminster Bank
  • Noé Group
  • ReAssure Limited
  • Santander UK plc
  • Silicon Valley Bank
  • Société Générale
  • States of Guernsey
  • Suntera Global
  • The Royal Bank of Scotland Group
  • The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited
  • Wells Fargo

Work highlights

  • Advised the States of Guernsey on putting in place a bilateral £100m facility with Lloyds Bank, replacing the existing £250m syndicated facility.
  • Advised Investec Bank on 16 fund finance and property finance transactions in 2022.
  • Advised the private bank division of HSBC Bank, Guernsey branch, on over 15 transactions concerning lending to high-net-worth-individuals.

Lawyers

Leading partners
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Appleby
Jeremy Berchem is a Group Partner in the Corporate team. From April 2020 to April 2023 Jeremy was the Office Managing Group Partner in Guernsey. Jeremy has extensive experience of all areas of banking and finance work including advising both lenders and borrowers in relation to all aspects of subscription, acquisition, property and asset finance transactions. In addition Jeremy advises on the issuance of bonds and other debt instruments and their listing on the TISE, the sale and purchase of companies, corporate governance matters and the restructuring of corporate and debt structures. He also has a broad corporate and commercial practice and advises on general corporate matters. Notable transactions include: Acting as Guernsey counsel to HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA in connection with its acquisition of HSBC’s private banking business in Guernsey. Acting for Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Plc acting as agent for a syndicate of 3 banks in the accession of various sub-funds to, and amendments to, existing subscription facilities of up to EUR 4,000,000,000 currently made available to a major Guernsey fund. Acting as lead counsel to The Royal Bank of Scotland International Limited in respect of various investor backed loan facilities made available to Lakestar funds. Acting as Alderney counsel to a syndicate of lenders (including Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch, Lloyds Bank plc, NatWest, Barclays Bank PLC, JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. and Santander) in connection with the amendment and restatement, including a facility increase, of a £1.5 billion facility and a USD 2 billion facility. Acting as Guernsey counsel to the States of Guernsey in putting in place with Lloyds Bank plc a bilateral £100,000,000 facility to replace the States’ existing £250,000,000 syndicated facility. Acting regularly for Investec Bank plc in connection with funds finance and property finance transactions. He has acted on 16 transactions during 2022. Acting regularly (in excess of 15 transactions during 2022) for the private bank division of HSBC Guernsey in lending to high net worth individuals and their structures.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Jeremy Berchem, Stuart Tyler