The Shore Thing
This is an article taken from the Estate & Trust Practitioner’s Magazine in January 2006
If you are looking for a lifestyle change, but still want to do quality work, how about a move offshore?
AP Executive outlines the options:
Guernsey, Jersey and Isle of Man
Guernsey and Jersey have both developed over a period of 40 years to be popular and highly successful finance centres. The professional infrastructure has evolved alongside the financial services industry in both centres and the prospect of City-quality commercial work in a more refreshing environment has attracted a good number of top-flight lawyers, including magic circle rainmakers.
While Jersey is geographically the biggest
and enjoys a larger slice of offshore financial
business, both islands have niches that differentiate them — for example, Guernsey is the
largest captive insurance centre in Europe.
Both have introduced expert funds, which
have further boosted fund work in the
islands, particularly alternatives such as
hedge funds, private equity funds and property funds.
Many of the larger Channel Island firms
have expanded into other finance centres, giving them multi-jurisdictional capability.
Lifestyle reasons for choosing the islands
include a short flight time from London and
shorter commute times to and from the office, a
better climate and easy access to the sea and
watersports.
"The past 12 months in Guernsey have perhaps seen more fluidity in the legal market than
ever before,"says Robert Sheppard, managing
partner of Guernsey firm Ozannes.
Regulatory changes in the Isle of Man,
including reductions in corporate and income
tax, make it a jurisdiction to watch. The sister
Crown Dependency to Guernsey and Jersey is
committed to investing in and developing its
infrastructure to ensure its further success. This
approach has attracted a number of financial
institutions and law firms, which have relocated
there or expanded into the island and it still has
ambitious plans for growth.
One Isle of Man firm is establishing a London office, which speaks volumes for the
amount of work it is attracting from the City.
Indeed, a number of firms have strategic partnerships with law firms in other jurisdictions.
While the island does not enjoy the warm climate of some offshore centres, it does offer
other benefits including mountains and open
space for those in favour of outdoor pursuits.
Bermuda
Although the island remains a centre for captive insurance and funds, the growth in Bermuda’s legal sector has slowed somewhat during
the past five years.
The jurisdiction historically attracted English-speaking and common law-qualified
lawyers from the UK and Australia. However,
with the saturation of the market, coupled
with a number of consolidations and mergers
among the big law firms, the recruitment of
lawyers from other jurisdictions has declined.
The new Government’s recent tightening of
the island’s immigration policy, which favours
employing locals, has contributed to the
reduction in the number of non-Bermuda
nationals being granted work permits beyond
the five-year period.
Cayman Islands
Contrary to the commonly-held belief that
Hurricane Ivan would destroy Cayman as an
offshore centre, business is booming. This is
particularly true of the legal industry. In
response there has been a real recruitment drive
for funds and general corporate lawyers of
City pedigree to meet the demand for these
types of services.
Georgetown was back in business within an
impressively short time of the hurricane hitting Cayman, which gives an indication of the
robust nature of the islands. The business centre has continued to grow and Cayman
remains an attractive location for companies
and individuals.
The Cayman approach to immigration is
more flexible than in locations such as Bermuda, so applying to work there is a less tedious
and time-consuming process. This makes it an
attractive destination for any UK lawyer looking to relocate to sunnier climes without leaving behind the quality City work.
British Virgin Islands
With a number of recognised law firms such as
Maples & Calder and Harney’s, as well as 7,500
registered incorporated companies established
in the islands, the British Virgin Islands (BVI)
continues to grow and attract business.
These firms tend to specialise in areas such as
corporate and commercial law, trusts and
trustees, international maritime law, intellectual property, banking and finance, real estate
and commercial and trade practice. Many of
these firms also facilitate financial services law
and company formations and have international branches or affiliates.
Offshore mutual funds have really taken off
in the BVI and consequently the fund industry
is particularly buoyant at the moment, with
demand for qualified fund lawyers at a high.
The BVI is heavily marketing the jurisdiction as a business centre, a case that is strengthened by the recent launch of the VISTA trust
product which, like mutual funds, will bring a
significant amount of business to the islands.
Its competitive advantages over Cayman and
Bermuda are cost, quality and speed of service.
Like Cayman, the BVI has a more flexible
approach to immigration and actively encourages non-local professionals to come to the
islands to work.
Dubai
Dubai is enjoying a time of enormous growth
and expansion. With the development of the
Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC)
the state is fast becoming recognised as one of
the leading international financial centres. On
completion of construction, the several million square feet of office space in the DIFC
will, in effect, become a city within a city. It
will have a unique infrastructure of deregulation and market liberalisation, which will generate further business interest in the area.
Although Dubai is an exciting place to be now, for the past 20 years global organisations have been strongly committed to the area. That said, this level of growth and expansion is predicted to continue for at least the next five years, meaning that recruitment activity in all areas of the legal industry should remain high.