brochure - the law firm - chevalier & sciales - english version

chevalier & scialesluxembourg law firm

www.cs-avocats.lu

chevalier & sciales

EuropeLuxembourg

51, route de ThionvilleL-2611 LuxembourgGrand Duchy of Luxembourg

Tel : +352 26 25 90 30Fax : +352 26 25 83 88

ATTiTuDE is A LiTTLE ThinG ThAT mAkEs A biG DiFFErEncE

contents01 // About the firm Page 4

02 // AwArds Page 5

03 // PArtnersPage 6

04 // PrActice AreAs Page 7

05 // recent work Page 10

06 // VAlues Page 11

© 2016 Chevalier & Sciales

the firm // the people // our work //

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Chevalier & Sciales is a Luxembourg law firm established in 2005 and specialising in the investment management, banking and financial services industry. Our services cover all types of Luxembourg investment vehicles and advice and assistance for entrepreneurs, investors, financial sector professionals and fund managers.

The firm’s practice, though exclusively focused on Luxembourg law, is global and multidisciplinary. Chevalier & Sciales offers a comprehensive service covering all the key legal

and tax aspects of the investment process from devising creative and tax-efficient investment structures to their complete implementation. Our team of highly skilled lawyers, who have cross-disciplinary expertise and in-depth understanding of financial markets, is responsive to clients’ requests and delivers accurate and practical advice.

About the firm //


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LEGAL 500

The firm has been consistently recommended in the Legal 500 rankings in recent years in the areas of investment funds, banking and finance, and for investment fund and corporate litigation.

On 13 April 2016, The Legal 500 released the results of its 2015 research of the legal market. Chevalier & Sciales has been praised as “professional and hardworking” in the newly-published 2016 edition of the Legal 500 country-by-country survey of the top law firms and individual practitioners in for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The firm is recommended by Legal 500 for investment funds and for banking and finance.

The citation (http://www.legal500.c o m /c / l u xe m b o u r g / i nve s t m e n t -funds) says the Chevalier & Sciales funds team, headed by partner and practice head Olivier Sciales and senior associate Cécile Rechstein, is “perfectly suited for fund managers planning to go to Luxembourg”, providing high-quality advice in various aspects of fund work including the establishment and restructuring of UCITS and SIFs. The Chevalier & Sciales funds practice is ranked in the

Legal 500 tier, alongside Luxembourg firms such as Baker & McKenzie and Hogan Lovells.

Legal 500 also recommends Chevalier & Sciales for banking, finance and capital markets, (http://www.legal500.com/c/luxembourg/banking-finance-and-capital-markets), noting that the firm regularly advises clients on securitisation and debt capital markets transactions, with practice head Rémi Chevalier handling transactional work as well as financial services litigation.”

GuiDE To ThE WorLD’s LEADinG invEsTmEnT FunD LAWyErs

The Guide to the World’s Leading Investment Fund Lawyers, which draws on a survey of more than 4,000 senior practitioners and in-house counsel involved in more than 60 jurisdictions, lists Chevalier & Sciales in this field and individually recognises Olivier Sciales as one of the leading Luxembourg lawyers in the area of Investment Funds.

Awards //

the legAl 500 section on inVestment funds recommends oliVier sciAles As inVestment fund sPeciAlist.

the legAl 500 section on bAnking And finAnce recommends rémi cheVAlier As A securitisAtion sPeciAlist

the guide to the world’s leAding inVestment fund lAwyers recognises oliVier sciAles As one of the eight leAding luxembourg lAwyers in the inVestment funds AreA

http://www.legal500.com/c/luxembourg/investment-funds



http://www.legal500.com/c/luxembourg/banking-finance-and-capital-markets





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Partners //

A founding partner of Chevalier & Sciales and Avocat à la Cour at the Luxembourg bar, Rémi Chevalier’s main practice areas are investment funds, banking and finance, and related litigations. He is currently representing and assisting clients in litigation arising from the global financial crisis relating to investment funds and the financial industry. He has also been involved in complex Luxembourg securitisation transactions and the establishment of Luxembourg investment funds.

He holds a law degree from Rouen Business School and a degree in business law from Jean Moulin University in Lyon, France, where he also obtained a master’s degree in tax and business law. Rémi Chevalier has been recognised by Euromoney’s Guide to World’s Leading Securitisation Lawyers as one of the jurisdiction’s leading experts in securitisation. He speaks French, English and Spanish.

Also a founding partner of Chevalier & Sciales and Avocat à la Cour at the Luxembourg bar, Olivier Sciales specialises in investment management and focuses principally on the structuring and implementation of UCITS and SIF funds. His clients include firms managing mutual funds, hedge funds, and private equity and real estate investment structures.

He obtained a law degree with distinction from the University of Antwerp and an LLM from Cornell University in New York. Olivier Sciales has been recommended by various specialist publications including the Legal 500 and Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Investment Funds Lawyers, and speaks regularly at seminars and conferences on topics including UCITS, the AIFM Directive and Luxembourg holding and financing companies. He speaks French, English and Dutch.

an unremitting devotion to the goals you want to achieve

rémi chevalierInvestment ManagementPartnerTel: +352 26 25 90 30

[email protected]

olivier scialesInvestment ManagementPartnerTel: +352 26 25 90 30

[email protected]


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invEsTmEnT FunDs

Chevalier & Sciales has strong expertise and in-depth knowledge of investment and asset management, providing comprehensive advice on legal and regulatory issues for asset management firms and investment funds. Our interdisciplinary approach assists clients with the organisation, establishment and operation of investment funds, including retail and sophisticated UCITS, master-feeder structures, Specialised Investment Funds, closed-ended funds, hedge and private equity funds, as well as the negotiation of service and management agreements. We go beyond solving purely legal and tax issues, helping investment managers and fund promoters improve their competitiveness by structuring flexible, easy-to-administer and cost-effective investment vehicles.

Our range of services includes:

• Assessment of the impact of the AIFM Directive on both managers and their funds.

• Advising fund managers on local private placement rules for marketing their funds in Luxembourg.

• Assessment of the impact of UCITS IV and UCITS V.

• Review of eligibility of target assets, risk diversification requirements and other investment restrictions.

• Support in the registration of Luxembourg funds in other jurisdictions (in co-operation with local service providers).

• Fund restructuring (liquidation or merger of funds, compartments or share classes), amendment of fund documents and liaising with the CSSF.

• Assistance with changing of service providers including custodian bank, fund administrator, auditor or registrar and transfer agent.

• Assistance with listing of UCITS and SIFs on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange’s regulated or Euro MTF markets.

• Structuring of Shariah-compliant UCITS and SIFs.

bAnkinG AnD FinAncE

Chevalier & Sciales represents investors, lenders and borrowers in the negotiation of cross-border financing transactions, and the enforcement of their rights under financing and surety agreements, and helps them comply with increasingly complex regulatory issues. We bring extensive experience to advise on sophisticated financing tools and related surety

Practice Areas //



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instruments including derivatives such as credit default swaps, total return swaps, commodity swaps, options and forward transactions, as well as bridge financing, senior and subordinated debt, securitisation transactions, syndication agreements and pledge agreements.

In general, our range of services further includes:

Debt and equity capital markets:

• Bond issues and debt issuance programmes

• Equity linked transactions including private placements

• Listing on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange

• Clearing and settlement

Securitisation and structured finance:

• Asset backed securites

• True sale and synthetic securitisations

• Non performing loans

Banking and financial services:

• Leveraged finance

• Project and acquisition financings

• Restructuring

• Secured lending

• Setting up of PSF services

corporATE AnD TAx

Our corporate and tax practice offers clients a full range of services relation to transactions and ongoing business needs. We assist public and privately-held companies in a wide range of industries with proactive tax-planning, including the request of advance tax agreements, corporate and tax restructuring, cross-border transactions and general corporate and tax matters. Chevalier & Sciales’ integrated multidisciplinary approach combines in-depth corporate and tax expertise.

Our range of services includes:

• Incorporation of Luxembourg holding and financing companies and advice on appropriate legal structures.

• Domiciliation of Luxembourg holding and financing companies and provision of corporate secretarial services.

Practice Areas //


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• Advice on corporate governance issues, including the drafting of joint venture agreements and shareholders’ agreements.

• Advising on corporate reorganisation and recapitalisation.

• Establishment of hybrid financial instruments.

• Requests for advance tax agreements.

LiTiGATion

Chevalier & Sciales is active in financial litigation, often involving complex and sophisticated matters relating to commercial, banking and financial law, and encompassing both jurisdictional and arbitration issues. The amounts at issue vary in scale from several million to hundreds of millions of euros. Examples of litigation proceedings in which Chevalier & Sciales has acted for its clients include:

• Litigation regarding compensation for substantial financial market losses, principally resulting from investment in uncovered options and extensive use of Lombard credits.

• Commercial arbitration dealing with the responsibility of a state undertaken by a commercial company

and a civil procedure for execution of the arbitration decision, which involved a penalty of more than €100 million.

• Litigation relating to errors committed in the execution of a discretionary investment management mandate or otherwise.

For more information on all of our practice areas, please visit our web site at www.cs-avocats.lu.

Practice Areas //



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For many years Chevalier & Sciales has created alternative and traditional UCITS and SIFs, and more recently UCITS IV master-feeder structures, for an institutional clientele including banks and leading fund management groups. We have been involved in the restructuring of UCITS management companies and represented clients in major litigation related to investment funds.

The following cases stand out for their significance or complexity:

• Establishment of an alternative UCITS fund for a Swiss manager.

• Establishment of a SIF platform and creation of around 24 sub-funds.

• Launch of sophisticated UCITS retail fund platform for a major European bank.

• Restructuring of an offshore master-feeder into a UCITS master-feeder structure.

• The well-publicised launch of a private equity fund investing in small and medium-sized businesses with principal operations in South-East Asia.

• Launch of an investment fund investing in US life settlements for a US promoter.

• Assisting clients with the

establishment of Luxembourg SIF and SICAR umbrella structure.

• Acting as counsel to a major investment bank on the closing of compartments of a Luxembourg FCP and to their SICAV, with combined assets totalling $900 million.

• Acting as counsel for Luxembourg SICAVs on the drafting of agreements for the distribution of units throughout Europe.

• Representation of institutional, hedge fund and high net worth investors in Madoff-related fraud litigation.

• Restructuring a single-compartment SICAR into a multiple compartment structure.

• Advising clients on the acquisition of secondary debt secured by real estate and related Luxembourg tax implications, including drafting of hybrid financial instruments and requests for advance tax agreements.

• Advising clients on the use of a Luxembourg holding and financing company for the acquisition of real estate in Eastern Europe.

For more information on recent work in other practice areas, please visit our web site at www.cs-avocats.lu

recent work //


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EnTrEprEnEuriAL spiriT

We are strongly committed to devising innovative and profitable solutions in such a way as to create value for our clients. We understand their need for us to be responsive, accurate and cost-effective, and we always seek to exceed their expectations.

ExpErTisE AnD ExpEriEncE

Our expertise combined with an interdisciplinary and international experience of complex cases, detailed knowledge of the financial industry, an uncompromising focus on quality and a learning continuous process.

Our partners are often invited to speak as experts in their practice areas at seminars and conferences and write or are quoted frequently in legal publications. Our attorneys and legal staff closely monitor changes in the law and regularly attend seminars and courses, as well as reviewing materials to ensure our firm continues to possess a thorough and up to date understanding of the law.

rEsponsivEnEss

Our firm strives to provide excellent services to our clients in a timely manner. The firm communicates with its clients to provide them with the

assistance they need when they need it, returning phone calls and emails promptly responding to all inquiries with straightforward answers.

inTEGriTy

To build and maintain long-term and personal relationships with clients, our fee arrangements and other terms of business are transparent. We are flexible and try to help clients manage their legal costs, particularly in financially challenging times. When providing fee estimates we endeavour to ensure that these are accurate and that our clients’ total costs remain fair and reasonable.

Relationships with service providers and Luxembourg authoritiesOur firm has extensive experience in negotiation with the CSSF and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and has built strong relationships with Luxembourg custodian banks, fund administrators and auditors.

Values //

about chevalier & sciales

Chevalier & Sciales is a Luxembourg law firm established in 2005 and specialising in the investment management, banking and financial services industry. Our services cover all types of Luxembourg investment vehicles and advice and assistance for entrepreneurs, investors, financial sector professionals and fund managers. The firm’s practice, though exclusively focused on Luxembourg law, is global and multidisciplinary. Chevalier & Sciales offers a comprehensive service covering all the key legal and tax aspects of the investment process from devising creative and tax-efficient investment structures to their complete implementation. Our team of highly skilled lawyers, who have cross-disciplinary expertise and in-depth understanding of financial markets, is responsive to clients’ requests and delivers accurate and practical advice.

Disclaimer

The information contained herein is of general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we have taken care when compiling this document, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate at the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act on such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation. Chevalier & Sciales does not accept any responsibility whatsoever for any consequences arising from the information in this publication being used.

for further information please contact:

olivier sciales, [email protected]

rémi chevalier, [email protected]

www.cs-avocats.lu

chevalier & sciales51, route de thionvillel-2611 luxembourggrand duchy of luxembourg

tel : +352 26 25 90 30fax : +352 26 25 83 88

brochure - the law firm - chevalier & sciales - english version

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