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

Mourant Ozannes continued its post-merger expansion in Cayman last year taking on partners Simon Palmer from Maples & Calder and Robert Duggan from Walkers. In addition Julian Fletcher was promoted to the partnership. These moves, in addition to the wide network established by the merger, will no doubt help the firm to expand in the offshore centre.

The financial & corporate team is led by Richard de Basto, who also had a hand in some of the firm's largest deals last year.

The team has a clear strength in bank side mandates and this was demonstrated by the firm's deal list from the last 12 months. In one example, de Basto acted for Deutsche Bank on a $2 billion securitisation of an emerging market utility company and he also advised BNP Paribas on its funding of a global fund management group.

On the corporate side, Neal Lomax acted for Centennial Partners on its acquisition and reorganisation of a US fund manager.

Lomax also heads the funds team at the firm and has had a hand in several of the firm's key matters in the last year. In one example, which saw him acting alongside the newly promoted Julian Fletcher, he acted for Canadian fund manager Polar Securities on the establishment of several new funds and the restructuring of others. In a similar deal, the pair advised The Sentient Group as it established several new private equity funds.

James Wauchope was also kept busy and acted for Franklin Templeton Investments over the establishment of several new funds.

In an Islamic finance linked deal, Wauchope also acted as Cayman counsel to Bahrain based investment management firm The Family Office in connection with several new fund structures some of which are shariah-compliant.