eprivateclient

The week on eprivateclient: Fieldfisher, Highvern, Withers and more....

News Team, 20/05/2022

A look at the most read stories on eprivateclient this week…

Monday

With the value of some cryptoassets continuing to plummet as economic and inflationary pressures challenge global financial markets and with further falls expected as the bear market tightens its grip, UK investors can ‘bank’ losses with the tax authorities and offset against future gains, according to accountants, business and financial advisers Kreston Reeves.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss announced further sanctions against the family and friends of Vladmir Putin. The latest sanctions target those whom the Russian president rewards with state positions and wealth in return for their loyalty.

Tuesday

eprivateclient exclusively revealed that UK law firm Irwin Mitchell appointed private wealth and business specialist Siri Siriwardene to drive growth amongst business owners and high net worth clients. Mr Siriwardene joined from BLM, where he was head of commercial advisory and private wealth.

West End law firm Seddons and Farringdon-based commercial law firm Lawrence Stephens reached a mutual decision to discontinue merger negotiations. Plans were first announced in April and would have created a full-service law firm of over 180 people with a joint £25 million annual turnover. The merger was expected to complete in October and would have seen the combined firms move into new London premises.

Wednesday

A boutique UK platform for solicitors, barristers, chartered legal executives and paralegals to offer legal services nationwide announced it was gearing up for significant expansion, including into financial advice.

UK law firm Trethowans appointed a new partner with over 40 years of experience to head up its agricultural and rural property team in Winchester. Caroline Lindon-Morris, who originally practised in corporate and commercial law before specialising in agriculture, joined Trethowans in April following seven years at Blake Morgan.

Thursday

International law firm Fieldfisher hired former eprivateclient Top 35 Under 35 Alice Vink. London-based Ms Vink joined from rival international law firm Stephenson Harwood where she had worked for the past five years, having joined there from Collyer Bristow in 2017. Prior to that Ms Vink trained and worked at Macfarlanes for over three years.

Law firm Withers successfully obtained a worldwide proprietary injunction on behalf of a Singaporean NFT investor to freeze the sale and ownership transfer of a rare Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT, or non-fungible token, on the Ethereum blockchain against a Metaverse personality. The Singapore High Court’s injunction to protect an NFT was the first in Singapore and Asia, and recognises NFTs as an asset.

Friday

Fiduciary and family office services provider Highvern hired 2021 eprivateclient Top 35 Under 35 Scott King as an associate director. He joined the firm’s private wealth team in Jersey from Accuro, where he worked for the last three and a half years.

The rate of marriages in England and Wales continued to decrease, according to new data from the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) reflecting modern couples’ “choices about how they seek to formalise their relationships.". In 2019 there were 219,850 marriages in total, a decrease of 6.4 percent from 2018. There were 213,122 marriages between opposite-sex couples, down 6.5 percent from 2018, and 6,728 marriages between same-sex couples, down 2.8 percent from 2018.