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Conyers Dill & Pearman

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Cadbury333 (talk | contribs) at 14:11, 27 January 2022 (→Awards and accolades: added new material on the reported connections of the firm to helping companies avoid taxes). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Conyers
HeadquartersHamilton, Bermuda
No. of offices6
No. of lawyers130
Major practice areasBanking & Finance, Corporate & Commercial, Dispute Resolution, Employment Law, Investment Funds, Private Client & Trusts, Property, Regulatory, Restructuring & Insolvency
Date founded1928
Company typeLaw firm
Websitehttps://www.conyers.com/

Conyers is an international law firm. Their client base includes some FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies, international finance houses and asset managers. The firm advises on law practiced in Bermuda, British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, this is managed by offices in these locations.Conyers Headquarters is situated in Hamilton, Bermuda. Other locations that Conyers have offices in, are the Cities of Hong Kong, London and Singapore. Conyers also provide several corporate, trust, compliance, governance and accounting and management services.

History

Founded in Bermuda in 1928 (although it can trace its roots back to 1903), the firm has subsequently opened legal practices in a number of other offshore financial centres, including the British Virgin Islands (1996) and the Cayman Islands (2004). It also has offices in key financial centres, including London (1998), Hong Kong (1985) and Singapore (2001). It is a member of the offshore magic circle. Conyers' expansion has been entirely by way of organic growth, rather than by acquisition of smaller firms in jurisdictions it wishes to operate in. The firm can claim to be the first offshore firm to operate in multiple jurisdictions; the original Bermudian firm opened a British Virgin Islands office in 1996.

The firm's founder, Reginald Conyers, played an important role in the development of the nascent financial services industry in Bermuda in the 1920s and 1930s. Following on from the Bermuda Railway Company Act 1924, Conyers was faced with the legal problem of conveying huge numbers of land parcels by the company. Firstly, he took on two partners in his practice, Bayard Dill and James Pearman (and thus the firm was officially born). Secondly, in 1935 the firm was instrumental in the enactment of the first "exempt company" legislation in Bermuda, which leads some to claim that Bermuda was the world's first offshore financial centre.[1] Later, in 1957, another partner of the firm, David Graham, laid the basis for the development of Bermuda as a domicile for ship registrations in a letter to The Times.[2] In 2019, the firm became the subject of the Mauritius Leaks and related investigations carried forth by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and its partners.[3]

Practice areas

Conyers offers legal and client services in areas including corporate, banking & finance, insurance & reinsurance, investment funds, private client & trust, litigation & restructuring and real estate & property development.

Awards and accolades

Conyers is a member of Lex Mundi, a large association of independent law firms.

Conyers was recognised as Band 1 by Chambers & Partners in 2018.[4]

Conyers was recognised as a Top Tier Firm by IFLR1000 for 2018,[5] and by Legal 500 Caribbean 2018.[6]

Controversy

According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, thousands of confidential records from the Mauritius office of Conyers shows that the firm was connected to "a sophisticated financial system...designed to divert tax revenue from poor nations back to the coffers of Western corporations and African oligarchs," dating to the early-1990s through 2017.[7] The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe also identified the firm as one of several "intermediaries facilitating the creation of smoke-screen companies for tax evasion purposes."[8]

References

  1. ^ In practice the Bermudian claim does not stand up to scrutiny; Liechtenstein enacted trust laws to attract tax exempt foreign capital in 1926.
  2. ^ The firm's role in the development of offshore finance is noted in Tolley's International Initiatives Affecting Financial Havens (2001), ISBN 0-406-94264-1
  3. ^ Kent, Jonathan (July 24, 2019). "'Stolen' Conyers papers published". The Royal Gazette. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
  4. ^ "Chambers and Partners". chambers.com.
  5. ^ "IFLR1000 - The guide to the world's leading financial law firms". www.iflr1000.com.
  6. ^ "The Legal 500 – The Clients Guide to the best Law firms, top Lawyers, Attorneys, Advocates, Solicitors and Barristers". www.legal500.com.
  7. ^ "Treasure Island: Leak Reveals How Mauritius Siphons Tax From Poor Nations to Benefit Elites," 23 July 2019, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
  8. ^ "Lessons from the “Panama Papers” to ensure fiscal and social justice,"10 October 2016, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
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