Rapid growth in the private credit market has been a key factor in increasing the attractiveness of Luxembourg for law firms, especially their fund structuring teams. Earlier in the year, White & Case added tax partner Guilhèm Becvort and funds partner Emmanuel Gutton in Luxembourg.
“Luxembourg has really come on the map for major sponsors worldwide, and many US sponsors who want to fundraise in Europe,” said Luxembourg-based White & Case partner Arnaud Cagi-Nicolau. “This has been the driver of the Lux expansion, which has also led to new law firm entrants in the market.”
According to White & Case partner Emily Brown, Head of the Investment Funds Practice, the 2013 Luxembourg limited partnership is similar to British and other international vehicles that the funds industry is familiar with and the trend towards Luxembourg accelerated post-Brexit. “What Luxembourg did very well was to create a model that worked in a way that international funds and their investors felt very comfortable moving to Luxembourg from wherever their current jurisdiction was,” she said. “So I would say that any firm that has had a thriving funds or private equity practice has had an eye on Luxembourg since then. It has just been a matter of time as the industry has picked up to work out whether or not you need boots on the ground in order to be able to deal with that work.”
Brown added that Luxembourg has been a key jurisdiction for funds and from a client point of view it is easier to partner with one firm that has an office in Luxembourg than to divide between internal and external counsel or multiple firms.
Cagi-Nicolau added that another factor amplifying Luxembourg’s attractiveness is that the jurisdiction has always been keen to adapt to market trends such as democratisation of PE or alternative assets. For Cagi-Nicolau, the Lux model will continue to evolve and grow as new players expand their businesses in the country.
The full article can be found here (paywall).
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Read the orginal article: https://www.whitecase.com/news/media/drawdown-why-law-firms-are-expanding-fund-finance-luxembourg
