Harneys

Managing Partners: William Peake (Global Managing Partner effective from 1 January 2023), Tanya Cassie-Parker (BVI), Nick Hoffman (Cayman Islands), Rachel Graham (London), Vanessa Molloy (Luxembourg), Pavlos Aristodemou (Cyprus), Ian Mann (Asia including Hong Kong), Vicky Lord (Shanghai), Lishi Fong (Singapore)

Number of partners worldwide: Over 60

Number of other lawyers worldwide: Over 110

Number of offices: 11

Firm Overview

Harneys is a global offshore law firm with entrepreneurial thinking built around professionalism, personal service and rapid response. Open, progressive and personable, they provide advice on British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Bermuda and Anguilla law to an international client base which includes the world’s top law firms, financial institutions, investment funds and private individuals. Their network is one of the largest among offshore law firms, with locations in major financial centres across Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Caribbean, allowing them to provide services of the highest quality to clients in their own languages and time zones.

Main Areas of Practice

Banking and Finance: 

Harneys Banking and Finance has decades of experience in offshore credit and security legal issues relating to debt finance, including loan finance, debt issuance, lease financing, shariah compliant finance, distressed debt and enforcement of security and derivatives. They are regularly instructed in respect of multi-billion-dollar debt finance transactions involving top international banks. Their areas of speciality include trade finance law, debt restructuring, property and acquisition finance, development finance, international debt issues and derivatives transactions.

Corporate: 

Harneys Corporate excels at complex cross-border transactions involving BVI, Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Cyprus vehicles. Their significant track record includes complex mega-deals, high value private equity transactions, landmark IPOs and the full spectrum of public and private M&A and joint ventures. They advise sellers, purchasers, investors and lenders on the full spectrum of M&A deals ranging from a straightforward share purchase to a takeover of a listed company by statutory merger.

Investment Funds: 

Harneys Investment Funds advise on all aspects of the life of a BVI, Cayman, Cyprus or Luxembourg fund including formation, restructuring and closure, both in distressed and planned scenarios. The funds lawyers sit side-by-side with the team from our associated funds services business allowing them to provide integrated legal and administrative support to their funds clients. They have also established a dedicated Regulatory practice providing regulated clients with essential legal support.

Litigation & Insolvency: 

Harneys Litigation & Insolvency have been at the forefront of the development of offshore jurisprudence for decades and have been involved in the most significant global disputes winning keynote victories for their clients and often helping shape the law. Their team spans the BVI, the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai and Singapore. They provide clear, timely and innovative solutions for their clients in complex multi-jurisdictional disputes.

Regulatory & Tax: 

Harneys Regulatory & Tax advise clients across all jurisdictions in which they operate in relation to all aspects of AML compliance and terrorist financing regimes as implemented locally, including advice on contentious and non-contentious matters. They assist on the law of suspicious transactions reporting, requirements for introduced business and every aspect of the KYC process.

Restructuring: 

Harneys Restructuring offers specialist expertise required to navigate the complexities which can arise for a distressed company in a cross-border environment. Led by a team of ranked partners, the group works closely with their Transactional, Litigation, Funds, Trusts, Tax and Regulatory teams, providing clients with a seamless service and bespoke legal advice that is tailored to their individual needs. They have acted on some of the largest and most complex cross-border restructurings over the past decade.

Private Wealth: 

Harneys Private Wealth work closely with clients’ onshore tax and legal advisors to provide personal, commercially sensitive, and pragmatic advice whether a client is acquiring or registering a business, managing multiple and complex cross-border assets, purchasing fine art, property or a private island. They ensure that the offshore element of a structure is fully suitable to clients’ needs but also sufficiently flexible to adapt and evolve as those needs change.