Appleby, an offshore legal, fiduciary and administration service provider, is opening its latest office in Guernsey.
The new office will be operational in the spring of 2010 and will practise Guernsey law with a focus on corporate, commercial, private client, litigation, insolvency and restructuring.
Following approval by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, it will also offer a complete range of fiduciary services.
Appleby Guernsey will initially comprise two group partners, Barney Lee and Helen Crossley, in the corporate team and two partners, Jeremy Le Tissier and Gavin Ferguson, in the litigation/insolvency and private client/trust teams.
In addition, David Clark, a banking partner in Appleby’s London office, will relocate to Guernsey to lead the new office. On the fiduciary side, Chris Ward will join the firm to lead the fiduciary and administration services business having previously served as managing director of Rothschild Trust, Guernsey.
Following the establishment of Appleby Guernsey, the firm will have 12 offices worldwide in the offshore centres of Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Isle of Man, Jersey, Mauritius, Seychelles and Guernsey, as well as the financial centres of London, Hong Kong, Zurich and Bahrain.
The move follows the firm’s launch in the Isle of Man, through its merger with Dickinson Cruickshank, and new office openings in the Seychelles, Bahrain and Zurich in 2009, taking Appleby to 79 partners and over 210 lawyers.
Peter Bubenzer (pictured), Appleby’s global managing partner, says: “We are very excited about this development. Our entry into the Guernsey market further builds our strength and depth across multiple jurisdictions — providing greater resources and a wider choice to our clients. The Guernsey office will offer our corporate, institutional and private clients with greater resources and a broader range of structures and jurisdictions, unmatched by any other offshore law firm. We believe that this move will reinforce Appleby’s position as the first choice for clients in the offshore sector.”
