IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

	Carey Olsen Mourant Ozannes
	Ogier
	Collas Crill
	Babbé Bedell Cristin
	Appleby

Carey Olsen has been referred to as "a very experienced law firm" with partner Andrew Boyce coming in for particular praise. "He can handle all clients' matters with competence.... [more]

Carey Olsen has been referred to as "a very experienced law firm" with partner Andrew Boyce coming in for particular praise. "He can handle all clients' matters with competence. He's reliable, knowledgeable, and responsive," says one. "Even now he's a partner overseeing transactions, he is fully engaged at all stages of the legal process."

One of the notable deals led by Boyce last year was advising Stenham Asset Management on their acquisition of Montier Partners, worth $3 billion. Carey's role in this transaction was to advise on the Guernsey legal and regulatory aspect of the deal.

The firm has also strengthened its financial and corporate practice, hiring partner Christopher Anderson from Bedell Cristin. He specialises in buy out, mid-market and secondary funds, as well as the establishment and regulation of captive insurance and reinsurance structures.

In line with the market, partner Ben Morgan and senior associate Richard Bowry have been busy with restructuring work with the duo advising on the pre-IPO restructuring of AZ Electronic Materials on the LSE, which raised £382 million.

In the M&A market. Graham Hall, advised the Close Brothers Group on the sale of its trust, fund administration, asset management and banking businesses in Jersey and Guernsey to Kleinwort Benson. The transaction was worth £29.1 million.

Hall remains a favourite among clients with one describing him as an "icon".

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	Carey Olsen Mourant Ozannes
	Ogier
	Babbé Bedell Cristin Collas Crill
	Appleby

Carey Olsen maintains its position in tier one of the funds table this year after competitors strongly affirmed its leading position in the market. "We wouldn't argue with Carey Olsen's ranking, they're very good at investment funds," says one rival, while another one agrees: "I saw a lot of funds work from Carey.... [more]

Carey Olsen maintains its position in tier one of the funds table this year after competitors strongly affirmed its leading position in the market. "We wouldn't argue with Carey Olsen's ranking, they're very good at investment funds," says one rival, while another one agrees: "I saw a lot of funds work from Carey."

Client feedback has been very encouraging and positive. They highlight the firm's "relationship building" and "high speed of service" as its most valuable feature for them. "The most important thing for us is the speed of the service and the relationships that Carey Olsen has built with us, which very much mirrors the company's culture. For example, they don't have voice mail, and they don't have all the things that irritate clients. They treat every client as if that is very important to them," says one,

Andrew Boyce came in for personal praise. "He is very knowledgeable in the funds sector. He's a very strong leader and time manager, with a significant value in managing the legal process, often involving proactive interaction with other law firms," says one. "He has created unique structuring solutions in the Guernsey funds space. He makes commercial recommendations, and he has a good grasp of what's a legal issue and what's a commercial issue."

One of the notable deals led by Boyce last year saw the firm acting for Inflexion on the establishment and regulation of its buyout fund, which is a closed-end registered collective investment scheme. It had raised £375 million by October 2010.

In a similar deal Ben Morgan advised AnaCap Debt Opportunities' on the set up and regulatory work in relation to a fund worth £100 million at final closing. Elsewhere Tom Carey also worked on the establishment of a £380 million Alchemy Special Opportunities Fund II. The capital raised will be invested in financially distressed European companies through debt and equity securities in order to achieve risk-adjusted returns.

"They understand the English law perspective as well as the Guernsey law perspective. They're very good at providing us with good explanation of complex questions. They come up with new ideas, come up with good solutions to problems, so they certainly have the ability to be innovative and creative," one client comments on both Morgan and Carey. "They're good people to work with."

Another outstanding deal saw the head of the corporate and finance group Graham Hall advising Distressed Debt Investment Fund's $197.2 million capital raising, and a further raising amounting to $244 million by last October. One competitor says: "Graham stands out considerably from others, he is the leading lawyer in a true sense for Carey." While another one agrees: "Graham Hall is very well-known from investment funds and he's definitely very good."

The firm also increased its capacity last year with the hire of former Bedell Cristin partner Christopher Anderson. He specialises in buy out, mid-market and secondary funds, as well as the establishment and regulation of captive insurance and reinsurance structures.

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	Mourant Ozannes Ogier
	Bedell Cristin Carey Olsen
	Appleby
	Voisin & Co Walkers
	Collas Crill Pinel O'Shea

Head partner Alex Ohlsson at Carey Olsen is singled out by his peers and came in for personal praise. "I have very high regard for Alex Ohlsson.... [more]

Head partner Alex Ohlsson at Carey Olsen is singled out by his peers and came in for personal praise. "I have very high regard for Alex Ohlsson. He's a good lawyer in a sense he knows the technical regulatory framework but he also gives good commercial advice, clients like him. He's very much plugged into Jersey generally," says one peer, while another one agrees: "Yes, Alex's very well-known, high profile, and generally very well-regarded."

Although well respected, Carey's market share is still considered to be slightly lower than the firms in tier one: "I think Carey Olsen, we do see on a number of deals, certainly less than Mourant and Ogier."

One of the areas which kept the firm busy in 2010 in line with the market was redomiciling. Partner Mike Jeffrey, worked alongside Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to advise on plumbing and heating company's Wolseley's migration to Switzerland, this involved replacing the existing parent company with a Jersey incorporated parent company, which now owns shares listed on the LSE's main board.

Among last year's notable M&A deals, the team, again led by Jeffrey, found itself involved in advising Sandpiper CI Group in relation to the UK supermarket chain Waitrose's takeover bid in both Channel Islands from Sandpiper. The other side of the deal was advised by Ogier in both Jersey and Guernsey.

Partner Guy Coltman also advised on West China Cement's listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE), the first Chinese-owned business to be listed on the HKSE through a Jersey vehicle.

On the securitisation side, the team worked alongside Clifford Chance acting for Bank of Scotland, in relation to the establishment of an asset-backed securitisation MTN programme. The series of notes, worth €250 million, was the first public securitisation of credit card receivables for Bank of Scotland.

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	Mourant Ozannes
	Bedell Cristin Carey Olsen Ogier
	Appleby Voisin & Co Walkers
	Collas Crill Pinel O'Shea

Carey Olsen increased its capacity last year with the hire of partner James Mulholland from O'Melveny & Myers, who specialises in international funds and corporate work with a particular interest emphasis on private equity.One deal highlight last year saw a team led by partner Robert Milner acting for GCP infrastructure investment on the establishment of a closed-ended unregulated fund which has achieved a listing on the LSE main market.... [more]

Carey Olsen increased its capacity last year with the hire of partner James Mulholland from O'Melveny & Myers, who specialises in international funds and corporate work with a particular interest emphasis on private equity.

One deal highlight last year saw a team led by partner Robert Milner acting for GCP infrastructure investment on the establishment of a closed-ended unregulated fund which has achieved a listing on the LSE main market. GCP has raised £40 million and aims to provide investors with a long-term return of 8% per annum by generating exposure to subordinated PFI debt or similar assets. It also demonstrates the usefulness of Jersey's unregulated exchange traded fund regime and the flexibility of Jersey corporate structures generally.

A major development at the firm is the retirement of lead partner Eve Kosofsky who the market sees as one of the firm's key funds partners: "Eve Kosofsky is certainly a leading individual in Carey Olsen who has reputation in funds," says one rival. The market will wait to see what succession the firm puts in place.

Last year Kosofsky acted for Investment Services UK, a London-based fixed income specialist, on the establishment of Amrah Global Opportunities Fund. The aim of the Jersey-based open-ended fund is to provide enhanced returns through access to a portfolio of fixed income securities principally in the emerging markets.

Kosofsky was also involved in another notable deal advising on the restructuring of Close Global Funds, Close Brother's offshore investment vehicle, lifting the suspension of the main fund's trading on the Channel Island Stock Exchange. The fund is a retail fund with 30 sub-funds.

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