Appleby To Focus On Middle East Markets
Appleby, the leading offshore law firm, has today announced that it has opened a representative office in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The office, operating under the name of Appleby (Middle East) Limited, a part of the corporate administration arm of the Appleby Group, will cover the whole Middle East region. Appleby had previously planned to open in Dubai, but has now chosen to open their first Middle East office in Bahrain instead. However, the Group will continue to look at further options in the region.
Jeanne Bartlett, Appleby’s global leader for Islamic and Structured Finance and a partner in the legal practice in the Cayman Islands, will be the Managing Director of the new office.
The Bahrain office will offer Middle East clients convenient access to Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Jersey, Mauritius, Isle of Man and Seychelles structures. Last month Appleby announced the opening of a new office in the Seychelles and its pending (1st October 2009) merger with top Isle of Man law firm, Dickinson Cruickshank. On completion of the merger, the firm will have 73 partners and over 800 staff making it the world’s largest offshore law firm by partner numbers.
Commenting on the new office opening Managing Director Jeanne Bartlett said: “This is a significant opportunity for us to expand our offering to Middle East markets where we already have extensive experience of Islamic and structured finance (conventional and Shari'ah), and investment funds.”
Huw St. J. Moses, OBE, Managing Partner of the Cayman Islands office added: “We aim to be the leading provider of legal, fiduciary and administration services in the offshore world. In order to do this, we need to be where our clients are and provide the widest choice of offshore options. By opening in Bahrain our Middle East clients will have access to our services across a wide range of offshore options. This ease of access to such a variety of jurisdictions is unsurpassed by any other offshore firm.”