Advisory
Strategic counsel that stays with you across borders
Regulations shift, jurisdictions change their substance rules, and your circumstances evolve. Advisory means having someone who tracks all of it so you don't have to.
What ongoing advisory looks like in practice
A structure is not a set-and-forget arrangement. Over a three-year horizon, the average client we work with encounters at least one jurisdiction updating its substance requirements, one banking relationship requiring review, and one change in their personal tax residency that affects the structure's logic. Without an adviser who is tracking those moving parts, small administrative oversights become expensive corrections. Our advisory retainer is a standing relationship: a named contact who reviews your structure annually, monitors regulatory developments in your relevant jurisdictions, and is available for reactive questions when a deal is moving fast and you need a clear answer rather than a research project. We do not bill by the hour for retainer clients — a fixed monthly arrangement means you reach out when you need to, not when you have calculated whether the question is worth the fee.
When you might need advisory support
Advisory is particularly useful at three inflection points: when you are acquiring a significant asset cross-border and need to know quickly whether your current structure can hold it, when you are considering a change of residence and need to understand the sequencing implications, and when a jurisdiction in your structure announces a regulatory change that is hard to interpret in plain terms. We also work with clients who are new to offshore structures and want a knowledgeable contact they can call before making decisions — not after. Advisory is not a substitute for legal advice in specific jurisdictions; we are clear about that boundary and will refer you to qualified local counsel when a question requires it.
What an advisory retainer covers
Practical support calibrated to how offshore clients actually operate.
Annual structure review
A formal annual review of your structure against current jurisdiction requirements and your personal circumstances. We produce a short written report noting any recommended changes and the priority of each.
Regulatory monitoring
We track CRS, FATCA, economic substance, and local regulatory changes in your relevant jurisdictions and alert you to anything that requires action — with a plain-language summary rather than a raw regulatory text.
Reactive question access
For retainer clients, you have a direct line to your adviser for questions that arise in the course of deals, negotiations, or personal decisions. Response within one business day for non-urgent matters; same day where the situation requires.
Transaction structuring support
When a new acquisition or divestment requires your structure to adapt, we provide a rapid scoping assessment — usually within five business days — of what changes are needed and in what sequence.
“I pay a monthly retainer and it has saved me considerably more than that on at least three occasions in two years — once when a jurisdiction changed its economic substance rules quietly, and twice when I was about to sign something that would have conflicted with my holding structure. Having someone who already knows your situation is worth a great deal.”
Grace N., Nairobi — technology investor
Is your structure being actively monitored?
If you're not sure, that's the answer. Let's talk about what an advisory arrangement would look like for you.