Banking & Financial Services Lawyers

Late-stage liquidity and the Bermuda fund toolkit

Private-market liquidity once followed an exit. Today, however, it must often be engineered. That matters in Bermuda, where asset management is not only a substantial sector in its own right, but also complemented by Bermuda’s re/insurance and insurance-linked securities market.

Charles Hambling

BVI Court Prevents BVI Company from Redomiciling to Preserve Enforcement Against its Shares

In our article published on 14 November 2025 we addressed an interesting case in which the Court appointed a liquidator to a foreign dissolved company, titled “BVI Court Appoints Liquidators to Foreign Dissolved Company”.  That article referenced a further, related, 2-day hearing that was heard and ultimately determined earlier in the year (on 6 May 2025) in which the Claimants sought to prevent a BVI company from re-domiciling itself to Palestine (the Re-domiciliation Application). This article summarises the key aspects of those Applications.

Daniel Mitchell, Fay O’Halloran

Comparative Analysis of Cayman and BVI Companies as Listing Vehicles

This article provides an in-depth company-law comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of Cayman Islands and BVI companies as listing vehicles, with a view to assisting businesses in selecting the appropriate jurisdiction of incorporation for their listing vehicle.

Calamus Huang

The Seychelles Financial Services Authority IBC Restrictions Reminder: Circular No. 5 of 2026 and What It Signals for Seychelles IBCs

Supervisory bodies rarely issue formal reminders purely for housekeeping. When the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA) steps in to remind International Business Companies (IBC) of prohibitions that have sat in the statute books since 2016, it reflects a straightforward reality: surveillance and market monitoring have exposed widespread non-compliance on the ground.

Malcolm Moller

Restructurings Frustrating Creditors And The Enforcement Of Arbitral Awards: The English High Court's Decision In State Oil Company Of Azerbaijan v Mansimov

The English High Court has issued a significant judgment on the enforcement of arbitral awards, the reach of section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 and the limits of the Marex tort, with potential relevance to the Cayman Islands' Fraudulent Dispositions Act.

Alan Bercow, William Spence

The limited liability company: ten years on

Nearly a decade after they were first introduced in Bermuda, parties have started to appreciate the benefits offered by limited liability companies — and consequently we have begun to see LLCs used with increasing frequency.

Matthew Ebbs-Brewer

MGAs, capacity and control

Max Tetlow and Cathryn Minors of Appleby examine the forces pushing MGAs toward better alignment and more disciplined capital.

Cathryn Minors, Max Tetlow

New CIMA Rules on AML/CFT/CPF Compliance and Financial Sanctions Issued in the Cayman Islands

On 20 July 2026, further to an industry consultation, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) published the following two new Rules set to introduce binding risk management, governance, sanctions screening and other compliance requirements for regulated financial service providers in the Cayman Islands: (i) Rule on Effective Compliance Programmes for the Prevention and Detection of Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Proliferation Financing for Financial Services Providers (AML Rule); and (ii) Rule on Compliance with Financial Sanctions and Targeted Financial Sanctions (Sanctions Rule and, together with the AML Rule, the Rules). All CIMA-regulated financial services providers, including investment funds, insurers and reinsurers that are conducting ‘relevant financial business’ as defined under the Proceeds of Crime Act (Revised) (POCA) (FSP), are encouraged to review and update their documented framework of AML/CFT/CPF and sanctions compliance policies, procedures, controls, oversight and reporting mechanisms (Compliance Programmes) to ensure compliance with the Rules by the time they come into force on 18 September 2026.

Martin Byers, Maree Martin, Miriam Smyth

The Rights of Sanctioned Litigants to access to the Court: Court of Appeal issues Key Decision in the BVI

The Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal has delivered a significant judgment in AO Alfa-Bank v Kipford Ventures Limited, overturning a stay of proceedings and reinstating a US$142 million freezing injunction. The decision provides important guidance on access to justice, sanctions, and interim relief in the BVI.

Andrew Willins, KC, Tamara Cameron