Cayman, BVI, and Jersey Offices All See Increase in Distressed Work
GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Walkers, the global
offshore law firm of choice for companies, financial organizations, and
international law firms has seen a rise in distressed funds work in the
first half of 2008. The firm, which has dedicated distressed funds groups
in its Cayman, British Virgin Islands (BVI), and Jersey offices, has seen
its integrated approach of combining funds, insolvency, and litigation
expertise as a valuable offering for its clients who are establishing new
funds as well as those liquidating current funds.
"We are seeing a lot of new instructions from distressed funds in our
BVI office," said Richard May, a partner on the Distressed Funds team in
BVI, which was launched in March 2008. "It is important that hedge funds
ensure that they get their redemption provisions right from the beginning
and structure their funds appropriately to protect themselves against
potential liquidity issues that might crop up in the future. By paying
attention to the details at the start, they can save themselves and their
investors a lot of headaches later."
The Walkers Distressed Funds group was developed to help investment
funds best serve the interests of their investors. The team has
broad-ranging experience across funds, litigation, and insolvency work to
provide a full range of services for the entire lifecycle of a fund. The
firm has found that by integrating these practices early on, the funds are
more aware of their options -- especially when jurisdictions such as the
U.S., Cayman, BVI, and Jersey can have differences in how funds can be
liquidated and the rights of investors.
"When funds go into distress, it is important that the actions taken
are in the best interests of the funds themselves and the investors, and
that other parties are not permitted to obstruct what is most favorable for
the funds," said David Steenson, a Jersey litigation partner on the
Distressed Funds team. "The goal is to work with the funds directly, where
possible, to help them assess their options and put the best strategy in
place to benefit both the funds and the investors."
Walkers can counsel funds on how best to deal with suspensions and
illiquidity issues, contractual rights, and pre-emptive actions or threats
from investors. Because of the multi-practice approach, the team is skilled
at handling contentious and non-contentious situations.
"Our goal is to help our clients navigate through difficult
situations," said Sandie Corbett, a Cayman insolvency partner in the
Distressed Funds group. "That includes both ensuring that their fund is
built on a solid foundation and that they fully understand how their fund
operates from the outset so that they are best placed to cope with problems
in the event that they end up in litigation. The better prepared they are
both as a fund structure and from an education standpoint, the better
chance they have of winning in court, if the situation advances to that
stage."
About The Walkers Group
From offices in the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Dubai,
Hong Kong, Jersey, London, and Tokyo, the Walkers group provides legal and
management services to leading FORTUNE 100 and FTSE 100 global corporations
and financial institutions, private equity houses, capital markets
participants, investment fund managers, and growth- and middle-market
companies.
The Walkers group is comprised of leading offshore law firm, Walkers;
fund services provider, Walkers Fund Services Limited; and SPV and
corporate services providers, Walkers SPV Limited, Walkers (Jersey)
Limited, and Walkers (BVI) Limited.
In 2006, Walkers was named as the Who's Who Legal Law Firm of the Year:
Cayman Islands, the PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook Leading Cayman Islands Law
Firm, The Lawyer's Offshore Law Firm of the Year, and was one of two firms
honored as "Offshore Legal Team of the Year" by the Society of Trust and
Estate Practitioners (STEP).
For more information on the Walkers group, visit us on the Web at
http://www.walkersglobal.com or contact us by e-mail at info@walkersglobal.com. To
contact Walkers by phone, call our Cayman Islands office at +345-949-0100.
SOURCE Walkers
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Related links:
http://www.walkersglobal.com
CONTACT:
Melissa Arnoff of Levick Strategic
Communications for Walkers, +1-202-973-1336, Mobile,
+1-202-276-0070, marnoff@levick.com
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