Legal Services – Bahamas
Investment Funds
We assist with various forms of investment vehicle structures, including Standard, Professional and SMART Funds, and Private Equity Funds, including:
- Structuring investment vehicles, including through companies, unit trusts, limited partnerships and investment condominiums (ICON)
- Drafting documents such as shareholder agreements, offering documents, management agreements
- Monitoring and updating regulatory requirements
- Conducting due diligence and negotiating contracts
- Advising funds on investment buy and sell processes
- Advising on obtaining regulatory consents, registration, and licensing
- Advising on legal and commercially viable solutions for funds, managers, investors, and liquidators in distressed or insolvent investment funds, as well as creating side pockets to isolate the liquidity of individual assets
- Advising on careful handling of investor rights, creditors, and fund obligations, directors, and agents during periods of distress or insolvency
- Liquidation of fund structures
Banking and Finance
We advise on various types of financial contracts and companies in the banking and financial sector that operate structures in The Bahamas, including agencies, subsidiaries and related structures.
Specific advice in the areas of:
- Bank licensing and regulation
- Regulation, inspection and communication with the Central Bank of Bahamas, as a regulator of banks and financial entities
- Correspondent banking arrangements
- AML, sanctions and data protection laws
- Legal issues of credit and security contracts
- Security arrangements
- Loan and Facility Agreements
- Project finance, including real estate development
- Escrow accounts
- Debt issuance, Bonds, and other debt instruments
- Fund Financing
Corporate
We have deep expertise and experience with corporate matters, and we advise our clients in all aspects of the use of corporate structures including IBCs, SACs, ICONs, limited partnerships, LLCs, Foundations and other typical of vehicles, including in the following areas:
- Mergers and acquisition, dissolutions
- IPO and listing on international exchanges such as NASDAQ, NYSE, LSE, HKSE
- Commercial Agreements
- Shareholders Agreements
- Acquisitions and sales of companies
- Acquisitions and sales of entity assets
- Public offers for the acquisition of shares
- Private Equity and Venture Capital Operations
- Structuring limited partnerships
- Strategic alliances and Joint Ventures
- Corporate restructuring and combinations: mergers, acquisitions and incorporations
- Mezzanine operations
- Restructurings and liquidity issues
- Fiduciary obligations of directors
- Governance and regulatory obligations
Contentious and Litigation
Extensive experience with complex corporate and commercial litigation and dispute resolution.We provide advice on the complete process of managing contentious matters, including:
- Negotiation and settlement discussions
- Court filings and motions
- Preparation of all materials for contentious litigation
- Representation and argumentation in civil courts
- Management of cross border matters involving counsel and matters from numerous jurisdictions, including assistance with Bahamas filings that are part of broader global case management
- Litigation Management
Local Services
Our expertise in immigration, labour and real estate laws comes from over two decades of providing services at the highest level of regulation in these areas. In particular, we assist with:
- Relocation and immigration assistance
- Business license applications and structuring
- Employment and labour rights assistance
- Real estate development and acquisition licensing
- Real estate permits for foreign buyers
- Real estate financing and project management
- Aircraft and vessel financing, acquisition and registration
Regulatory
Extensive experience with regulatory issues impacting all types of structures, as well as specific topics for highly regulated businesses such as banks and other financial service providers.
We provide advice on diverse regulatory issues in The Bahamas, including:
- Licensing or registration of regulated entities
- Immigration and real estate acquisition licenses and permits
- Real estate acquisition licensing and construction project advice and management
- Local labour and business regulations
- Assistance with issues related to specific sector laws
- Financial service provider regulations, inspections, and remediations
- AML regulations, sanctions, inspections, and audit of processes and systems
- FATCA and CRS
- Economic substance regulations
- Data protection regulations
Private Clients
We advise our Private Clients with administrative-family and personal services, such as:
- Constitution and management of international investment structures, from simple IBC companies (PICs) created to hold bank and brokerage accounts, real estate or other assets, to more complex structures such as investment funds (Funds), which serve to manage global investment portfolios
- Consultancy and assistance to Family Offices
- Drafting and developing wills, trusts and other legal structures designed to govern asset transfer and estate planning
- Advice on the management of succession management with “cross-border” aspects, including the closure of foreign successions and letters of administration
- Immigration and relocation services, including local concierge services that cover all aspects of relocation, from legal support to administrative assistance with day-to-day tasks
- Assistance in the acquisition of properties and structuring of vehicles, as well as financing lines used in the acquisition and management of properties
- Opening and ongoing management of international bank and investment accounts
- Management of compliance documentation, verification, notarization and other forms of document certification
Contact:
contact@martinsadvisory.com
