Christopher Simpson

Practice Areas

Christopher Simpson is the head partner of the firm’s commercial department. His practice focuses primarily on corporate and commercial, banking and finance, and investment funds, where he advises a client base of leading financial institutions, corporations, and law firms on all aspects of corporate finance including joint ventures, initial public offerings, private placements, mergers, arrangements, corporate restructuring, bilateral and syndicated loans, bond issues, property financing, project finance, special purpose vehicles, investment funds, including crypto funds, and general aspects of corporate law. He advises on business and regulatory matters regarding FinTech and digital assets.

Career

Christopher is regularly instructed by clients on high-value corporate, banking, and investment fund transactions. He has been involved in numerous IPOs throughout his career, including on AIM, TSX, NASDAQ, SGX, and the LSE. He has also been involved in groundbreaking deals, including one of the first-ever court-approved corporate arrangement schemes in the BVI and one of China's largest single-asset real estate financings.

Before joining O’Neal Webster, Christopher practised at Harney Westwood & Riegels in their BVI and Hong Kong offices.

Christopher graduated from the University of the West Indies and the Norman Manley Law School. He is also a graduate of the University of London, where he obtained an LLM in International Business Law. Christopher was admitted to the British Virgin Islands Bar in 2001 and was registered as a foreign lawyer in Hong Kong in 2006.

Publications

Guide to BVI Virtual Assets Service Providers Act, 2022.

Judgment of the European Court of Justice Justifies BVI’s Approach to Beneficial Ownership Registers.

Important Amendments to the BVI Business Companies Act Take Effect on January 1, 2023.

The Importance of BVI Legal Opinions – A Practical Perspective.

BVI Approved Fund Managers and Their Ongoing Obligations.

BVI Companies and Their Registered Agents: A critical relationship.

Investment Fund Managers “Brexit” to the BVI.

Work Highlights

- Acted as BVI counsel to Masplay, S.A. and its wholly owned subsidiary Equinox Los Andes SPA on its multimillion-dollar acquisition of Nike de Chile.

- Acted as BVI counsel to Fredonia Management Limited in relation to its three-cornered statutory merger under BVI law with Fredonia Mining Corp., a BVI incorporated subsidiary of Fredonia Mining Inc. (formerly Richmond Road Capital Corp.), in a Qualifying Transaction in accordance with Toronto Venture Exchange Guidelines.

- Acted for The Bank of Nova Scotia, a leading bank in Canada and leading financial services provider in the Americas, on the sale of its British Virgin Islands operations to Republic Financial Holdings Limited for just over US$100 million.

- Advised on a JPY 3.8 billion British Virgin Islands corporate plan of arrangement approved by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (British Virgin Islands). This represents one of only a handful of such arrangements ever approved in the BVI.

- Acted as BVI counsel to FBN Capital in a US $315 million financing for the acquisition of a majority interest in one of the largest power-generating stations in Nigeria.

- Acted as BVI Counsel to Luminex Corporation in its US $50 million acquisition of molecular diagnostics firm GenturaDX and its subsequent restructuring. That deal was awarded an M&A Deal of the Year Award by M&A Advisor.

- Acted as BVI counsel to Mercantil Colpatria, S.A. in connection with its sale to The Bank of Nova Scotia of a 51% stake in Banco Colpatria, one of Colombia’s leading banks. The deal was valued at about US $1 billion.

- Acted as BVI counsel to Taylor Wimpey PLC in connection with its reorganization following its sale of Scottsdale home builder, Taylor Morrison and its Canadian sister company, Monarch Homes to a consortium of investment funds for US $1.15 billion.

- Acted as BVI counsel to Prime Glory Management Limited on its sale of a residential property in Hong Kong in one of the most expensive residential areas in the world for HK $280,000,000. The property was sold to China LWM Property Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sino-Tech International Holdings Limited (a company listed on the HKSE). The transaction was a discloseable transaction under the Hong Kong Listing Rules.

Education