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Asia continues to be a strong source of work for Guernsey firms with signs pointing to good prospects from China and an uptick in new work from Japan in 2017, says Ogier's Guernsey Practice Partner Advocate Marcus Leese.
Marcus, who became the first Guernsey Advocate to operate in the Asian time-zone when he took a four-year secondment to help develop the firm's Hong Kong office, says that Guernsey is an increasingly attractive option to Asian clients because of the range of structures available.
And Nicholas Plowman, who now leads the Hong Kong office, says that Ogier's strength in dispute resolution, corporate and asset management work – along with Mandarin-speaking lawyers – means that the firm is well placed for 2017 when Ogier's Hong Kong office will celebrate its tenth anniversary.
Marcus said: "Hong Kong, South East Asia and mainland China continue to be a strong source of work for us. And that demand is only growing.
"Onshore clients do have a lot of choice in terms of offshore jurisdictions for establishing structures, but Guernsey has a lot of attractions.
"First and foremost is the range of structures that are available: reserved powers trusts, foundations, non-charitable purpose trusts, perpetual trusts, and so on, many of which are attractive to South East Asian clients. The strength, credibility and flexibility of Guernsey's company law is also a real plus as is our position as a leading jurisdiction for structuring investment into the UK, especially real estate investment."
Marcus has recently returned from the STEP Asia conference in Hong Kong, and spoke at a panel event at the launch of the We Are Guernsey Hong Kong office in March.
Nicholas, who was named one of the top ten offshore lawyers in Asia by Asian Legal Business in its Offshore Client Choice List 2016, said that prospects for offshore firms in Asia looked strong for 2017 when Ogier's Hong Kong office will celebrate its tenth anniversary.
He said: "We feel China will continue to be the strongest market for offshore law firms in the region next year and we would like to think that Japan's economy will turn a corner in 2017, with an uptick in new work coming through in their asset management space.
"Dispute resolution, corporate and asset management work remain the service lines that will be the strongest for the offshore law firms and Ogier is well positioned to deliver in these areas with our Chinese language capability which is now a critical requirement to succeed in the region.
"I would expect to see dispute resolution and restructuring and insolvency work continue to remain strong for the offshore law firms as we see disputes rise with the stress placed on existing offshore structures in Asia."
