The Maples group has announced the further expansion of its global offering, with the addition of Luxembourg legal services.
From 1 October 2018, the newly established Luxembourg office of Maples and Calder will offer advice on fund formation, finance, corporate, tax and associated regulatory work.
The addition of this fifth jurisdiction to Maples and Calder's offering is highly complementary to its existing British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Irish and Jersey capabilities, particularly for clients using Luxembourg along with the firm's services in these other jurisdictions.
MaplesFS, the Maples group's independent global provider of specialised fiduciary, fund administration, entity formation and management, insurance management and trust and private client services, has had a presence in Luxembourg since 2007. The Maples group is now able to provide a comprehensive range of legal, fiduciary and administration services from Luxembourg, which is complemented by the group's offering from its locations within other key international financial centres.
As clients examine how best to maintain and enhance their European presence and access to its markets in light of continuing developments with Brexit, BEPS and third country passporting, many are including Ireland, Jersey or Luxembourg as jurisdictions in which they now operate. The opening of Maples and Calder's Luxembourg and Jersey offices will build on the firm's highly successful Irish law practice and will allow it to offer legal, regulatory and tax services across these three leading European financial services centres.
Johan Terblanche has joined as Managing Partner of Maples and Calder's Luxembourg office and head of the Luxembourg Funds group. Johan is recognised in the funds arena as a leading lawyer, and has been focusing on fund structuring / formation and regulated financial business for the majority of his practice.
"I am delighted to have joined Maples and Calder to assist with the launch of this new offering in Luxembourg," said Johan Terblanche, Managing Partner of Maples and Calder's Luxembourg office. "We have welcomed an impressive total of 30 new team members, including 16 lawyers, and we expect the team to grow further through the end of the year. I look forward to working alongside my new colleagues in Luxembourg and globally to provide clients with comprehensive solutions."
Corporate expert, Marjorie Allo, has joined as a Corporate partner and head of the Luxembourg Corporate group. Marjorie brings significant experience in corporate restructuring, corporate finance and securities.
"My fellow partners and I are very excited to join Maples and Calder so that we can provide clients with a greater choice of services internationally," said partner, Marjorie Allo. "As with Johan, we are also looking forward to working together with our new colleagues to grow this new practice."
In addition to Johan and Marjorie, the group has made a number of other senior hires to support the establishment of the new office, including Corporate partner, Baptiste Aubry; Tax principal, James O'Neal; and Finance partner, Arnaud Arrecgros.
Baptiste specialises in corporate restructurings and cross border mergers and acquisitions. James will be head of the Luxembourg Tax group, and is a very experienced practitioner who advises Fortune 500 companies, start-ups and private equity firms on many aspects of Luxembourg taxation, including IP planning, cross border financing, mergers and acquisitions, and restructurings. Arnaud's expertise includes cross border financing and banking transactions, including corporate debt facilities, acquisition and real estate financing and restructuring, as well as capital markets matters.
"It has been an exciting and busy year for our firm, with the addition of Jersey and now Luxembourg legal services to our offering," said Alasdair Robertson, Global Managing Partner of Maples and Calder. "The decision to open these offices has been driven primarily by client demand, and we look forward to continuing to provide clients with our excellent level of service across our expanding global network."
