A look at the most read stories on eprivateclient this week...
Monday
Boutique London US/UK tax practice Ostberg Sinclair & Co added Joshua Tennant to its team. Mr Tennant joined the firm - which launched in October last year - as a partner and will lead its trust, estate, and family offering. Joining from KPMG where he had worked since late 2022, Mr Tennant has extensive experience in the US/UK private client sector and on a wide range of US and international tax matters, specialising on matters involving US connected trusts, estates, and pensions. He provides tailored and bespoke estate planning from both a US and UK perspective, working with his client’s wider team of advisers to ensure the tax position is aligned with the overall plan outcome, be that asset protection or wealth succession for future generations.
Last quarter had the highest rate of PE-backed deals in the UK in over two years, with 38 percent of UK merger & acquistion (M&A) deals in Q4 of 2023 being backed by private equity (PE), chartered accountants and business advisers Lubbock Fine found. Lubbock Fine said the increase shows confidence is beginning to return among PE investors as PE-backed UK M&A deals had slumped to just 31 percent of all deals in the same period last year. In recent years, PE-backed M&A deals have accounted for high proportion of all M&A activity, with 46 percent of UK M&A deals being PE-backed as recently as Q1 2021.
Tuesday
Jersey’s newest law firm opened its doors on 18 March 2024. Founded by Advocates Clare Nicolle and Nick Marshall TEP, boutique law firm, Nicolle Marshall LLP, was established with the aim of providing “high quality, jargon free advice tailored to the needs of its individual and corporate clients”. The new firm is focused particularly on wealth structuring and estate planning for both local and international clients. Mr Marshall was previously a partner and advocate at Preston Legal in Jersey where he advised trust and corporate service providers on private wealth structures, and on a wide variety of corporate/commercial matters. Ms Nicolle was also previously at Preston Legal as a partner, having spent two years there. [Read more]
International law firm Withers partnered with KARNA Partnership, a multi-service law firm based in Indonesia. As associated firms, Withers and KARNA Partnership will work closely to expand the range of cross-border advice available to their respective clients by sharing knowledge, collaborating on marketing efforts, making mutual referrals, and developing joint training programmes. This follows Withers' recent appointment of new managing partners at the Singapore office.
Wednesday
International law firm Charles Russell Speechlys hired Andrew Ross as a partner in its real estate disputes team. Mr Ross joined the firm from Travers Smith, where he headed up its property disputes offering. Mr Ross has significant experience acting for clients in all manner of property disputes, ranging from rights of light disputes at central London developments, to shooting and fishing rights on country estates. He has acted for property funds, landlords, tenants, developers, professional sports clubs and many other types of clients. His recent work includes advising on and acting in claims relating to rights of light and rights of way, restrictive covenants that restrain building and LTA 1954 disputed lease renewals.
Hong Kong’s family office sector now has more than 2,700 single-family offices in the city, according to a market study published by Deloitte in collaboration with FamilyOfficeHK. The Market Study on the Family Office Landscape in Hong Kong highlighted Hong Kong's ascent as a global hub for family offices, in addition to its long-established status as an international asset and wealth management centre. Hong Kong’s history of family wealth management, a substantial part of the asset management sector, can be traced back to as early as the late 1800s. Over the years, Hong Kong has developed into one of Asia's largest cross-border wealth management centres. Recently, the city has increased its investment in, and commitment to, the development of an enhanced family office regime. [Read more]
Thursday
London law firm Edwin Coe hired Lara Mardell as an of counsel in its private client team. Ms Mardell provides English legal and UK tax advice to individuals, particularly those with international connections, including the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. She advises those coming to or leaving the UK on UK tax and structuring, and works with advisers in other jurisdictions to provide co-ordinated cross-border advice, taking into account not only tax but a client’s overall life goals. She frequently also advises professionals including trustees, foreign lawyers and wealth managers. Ms Mardell joined Edwin Coe having previously worked as a legal director at BDB Pitmans in London, as head of private client and trusts (Asia) at Ogier in Hong Kong and prior to that as an associate at Withers.
A plan to close HMRC's self assessment helpline between April and September and direct taxpayers to online services was axed just a day after it was announced. HMRC said it was halting the closure in response to the backlash the news received "while it engages with its stakeholders about how to ensure all taxpayers’ needs – including small businesses – are met" as the tax agency looks to shift more people to online self-service in the longer term. "Making best use of online services allows HMRC to help more taxpayers and get the most out of every pound of taxpayers’ money by boosting productivity," HMRC's chief executive Jim Harra said. [Read more]
Friday
As part of the ongoing UK-OT Illicit Finance Dialogue, The British Virgin Islands (BVI), The Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos agreed to set up illicit finance units. Areas of focus for the multi-jurisdictional working group, which the BVI has co-chaired with the UK over the last year, have included sanctions, law enforcement collaboration, beneficial ownership and international regulations on illicit finance. Sanctions units will now be established in the BVI, the Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos and, to ensure that law enforcement keeps abreast of trends in financial services, authorities in the Overseas Territories will also be attending training by the UK's National Crime Agency on cryptocurrencies. [Read more]
The value of equity release mortgage sales to people aged 60 years and older fell 48 percent in the past year end 31 October 2023, from £5.2 billion in 2021/22 to £2.7 billion in 2022/23, according to figures from Bowmore Financial Planning. The value of equity release mortgages is now the lowest it has been in the past five years, having stood at £2.9 billion in 2018/19. Higher interest rates have pushed up the cost of equity release mortgages, making them less attractive, Bowmore Financial Planning argued. The firm added that a recent review of later-life mortgages by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) may have further contributed to the decline. The review found that many firms offering equity release were giving poor advice and misleading customers. [Read more]