Dentons opens in British Virgin Islands and Saint Lucia

Dentons has opened offices in the British Virgin Islands and on the island of Saint Lucia as part of its expansion plans in the Caribbean.

Dentons is the only Pan-Caribbean law firm, and with more offices in all of Latin America and the Caribbean than any other law firm. 

“Dentons is the first truly Pan-Latin American and the Caribbean law firm in the history of the legal profession,” the firm said in a statement

“The British Virgin Islands (BVI) is widely recognised as a leading international financial center principally due to its internationally recognised regulatory regime, a well-developed and professional corporate infrastructure, efficient company formation and administration processes, political and economic stability, an internationally renowned and respected commercial court and tax-neutrality.

The BVI is a world leader for excellence and innovation in financial services and plays an essential role in the global economy. The BVI Business Company is widely used globally as the core of many private wealth, investment and joint venture structures,” Dentons said.

“Dentons’ new offices in the British Virgin Islands and Saint Lucia enable us to meet client needs in two additional priority Caribbean markets for our clients,” Elliott Portnoy (pictured), Dentons’ global CEO, said.

“We can now connect our clients to our leading talent in the British Virgin Islands and Saint Lucia as well as to our 19,000+ people in 184 locations across 76 countries around the globe.”

“Dentons continues to execute its strategy to scale the firm across the Latin America and the Caribbean region despite the unprecedented challenges created by COVID-19,” Joe Andrew, Dentons’ global chairman, said. “With offices in 25 countries, Dentons is now present in virtually all of Latin America and the Caribbean – a true differentiator for our clients.”

“Since entering the region in 2016, Dentons has combined with elite firms across Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Jorge Alers, Dentons’ Latin America and Caribbean region CEO.

“Our new offices in the British Virgin Islands and Saint Lucia complement our strategy to enhance our offshore practices across the Caribbean, as well as in other offshore financial and corporate centers, such as Panama, Uruguay, Mauritius, Ireland, Luxembourg, Hong Kong and Singapore.”

Dentons’ new office in the British Virgin Islands is led by partner Stuart Bruce who has extensive experience handling complex, high-value cross-border matters across banking and finance, M&A, private equity and JVs, corporate and regulatory advice.

In Saint Lucia, Dentons has expertise in banking and finance, corporate, construction, employment and labour, financial institutions, government, hotels and leisure, insurance, litigation and dispute resolution, public law and real estate.

So far in 2020, Dentons has launched six combinations: Dentons Bingham Greenebaum and Dentons Cohen & Grigsby, the first step in forming a truly national law firm in the United States as part of Dentons’ “Project Golden Spike,” Dentons Kensington Swan in New Zealand, Dentons Lee in South Korea, Dentons Jiménez de Aréchaga in Uruguay and Dentons Rattagan Macchiavello Arocena in Argentina.