ISOLAS LLP

Firm Details:

Chairman/CEO: Marcus Killick OBE

Number of employees: 100

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Firm Overview:

Established in 1892, ISOLAS is a full-service practice, celebrating over 125 years as one of Gibraltar’s leading law firms.

ISOLAS is consistently ranked as a leader in the market by all the major international directories. The firm is proud of its reputation for combining expert legal advice with commercial pragmatism.

ISOLAS is valued by its clients and partners for being a trusted partner, a natural consequence of the close, partner-led relationship with its clients.

Practice Areas:

ISOLAS has represented Gibraltar on the global playing field, as the jurisdiction continues to shape innovation and regulation in the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and crypto space.

The Firms’ fintech team was instrumental in the implementation of Gibraltar's regulatory framework, co-chairing the Government's working group on blockchain for three years, specifically established to develop the infrastructure to accommodate a specific DLT regulatory framework in Gibraltar and for its use as a transfer or storage of value mechanism.

ISOLAS acted for the first licensee under the new DLT regulatory framework, implemented in January 2017 and continues to act for a large section of licensees/applicants. The firm is heavily involved in industry groups dedicated to enhancing and developing the regulatory and commercial framework to support DLT companies.

The Hon Albert Isola CBE returned after serving His Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar as Minister for His Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar. Albert returned taking up his position as Senior Partner which he left on sabbatical as he successfully stood for election in 2013 becoming Minister for Minister for,

•Financial Services and Gaming; 2013 – 2023

•Minister for Digital Services; 2015 – 2023

•Minister for Commerce and the Port; 2015 – 2019

Amongst other notable successes as Minister, Albert introduced legislation for the regulation of DLT leading to Gibraltar being the first jurisdiction globally to regulate in the Crypto space. He also led on the establishment of the Gibraltar International Bank and was responsible for the modernisation of Gibraltar’s Financial Services Act updating and consolidating some 80 pieces of legislation and working closely with His Majesty’s.

Head of Fintech, Partner Jonathan Garcia, is recognised as a leading expert in this space. His expertise led to his appointment to the Working Policy Group on Financial Services established by Minister of Financial Services to advise and support the Minister on all aspects of the financial services industry in Gibraltar.

He has contributed to several international reports on the topic, as well as regularly authoring content on industry developments and trends, including for the US Chamber of Digital Commerce. Jonathan specialises in the interaction between fintech and traditional funds, having advised on several crypto funds, and is Chair of the Gibraltar Funds & Investment Association, where he regularly advises the Gibraltar Government on the development of new legislation in this area.

Jonathan also contributed to the first book published by Global Legal Insights on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency regulation for 2019, the United Nations ODC manual for law enforcement agencies and various other publications.

Jonathan is a founding member of the European think tank (thinkBlocktank) established in Luxembourg, and through this a member of INATBA (International Association for Trusted Blockchain applications) where he has contributed to the working groups on blockchain governance and finance.

In addition to his contributions, Jonathan has also participated in the UNODC Southeast Asia working group with their focus being on trading platforms and international regulatory developments and assisted in the training of various regulators in 2020.

They have also spoken at events, including the Korean Blockchain Week and Legal Hackers event in Seoul on building sustainable governance for blockchain technology, the PWC Global Blockchain and Law event organised in Zurich and the European Blockchain Conventions in Copenhagen and Barcelona, the LaBitConf event with a focus on South America in Chile as well as various events in Beijing organised by the Huobi group.

Key Clients:

Xapo, Huobi, Coinfloor, RSK, Gnosis, Coinfirm, Bitso, Lendingblock, LMAX, ZUBR, SSW Group and Vega Protoco

Contact: Jonathan Garcia

Tel: +350 2000 1892

Email: [email protected]