Contacts
What this office does
Role of the office. London is one of our clients’ key financial centres. It is where trusts are most often structured, international transactions negotiated and accounts opened for capital moved out of the risks of a single jurisdiction.
How the work is organised. The office is a point of local presence, not a separate practice. Every matter is led by a partner from the head team, who is personally responsible for the result and coordinates the work across all the jurisdictions involved.
How exactly we help here
Our other offices
UK tax reform: from non-dom to the FIG regime
The non-domiciled resident regime has been abolished. From 6 April 2025, the UK abolished the concept of domicile for tax purposes and the remittance basis, on which planning for London’s foreign residents had been built for decades. In its place came the residence-based FIG (Foreign Income and Gains) regime: provided the conditions on prior non-residence are met, a new resident is exempt from tax on foreign income and capital gains for the first four years, whether or not those funds are brought into the UK.
What changes after the transitional period. After four years, a resident is taxed on worldwide income on the ordinary basis, and inheritance tax (IHT) is no longer tied to domicile. It now reaches those who have been UK tax resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 years. For clients with trusts and structures built for the old regime, this means reviewing the ownership structure, not making cosmetic changes to documents.
Residence for business owners after the closure of the investor visa
The investor visa has been closed since 2022. The classic Tier 1 (Investor) route has not been open to new applicants since 17 February 2022. Buying property in London, unlike the golden visa programmes of several European countries, has never given, and does not now give, an independent right to UK residence.
Routes currently available. The Innovator Founder visa is built around endorsement of a business idea by an authorised body and has no fixed investment threshold, but it requires regular confirmation of progress against the business plan. The Global Talent visa is available to candidates with recognised standing in their field, confirmed by the relevant endorsing body. For the owner of an operating business in the UK, the alternative remains to bring in employees, and oneself, through a sponsor licence on the Skilled Worker route, issued to one’s own structure.
English law and London arbitration in cross-border disputes
Why English law is chosen. English law as the governing law of the contract, together with the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) or ad hoc arbitration seated in London, remains one of the most common choices for contracts with an international element. A large body of commercial court precedent and predictability of interpretation reduce uncertainty at the drafting stage, not only when a dispute arises.
Sanctions restrictions on enforcement. For parties connected with Russia, access to certain elements of the process, from paying English lawyers to enforcing a decision through the English courts, may require a separate OFSI licence. We carry out this analysis when English arbitration is being written into the contract, not after a dispute arises, when it is too late to change jurisdiction.
Owning London property through a foreign structure
The register of beneficial owners of overseas owners. Since 2022, any foreign (non-UK) company that owns property in England and Wales has had to register in the Register of Overseas Entities at Companies House and disclose its ultimate beneficial owners. The anonymous ownership of London property through an offshore structure, familiar for decades, no longer works for new properties and some existing ones.
Consequences of failing to register. Without entry in the register, a structure cannot sell the property, grant a long lease or create a charge over it. The restriction is recorded directly in the Land Register (HM Land Registry). For clients who hold London property through existing BVI or Cypriot companies, this status is the first thing we check, before discussing any other question about the asset.
Frequently asked questions
Do you work with trusts under English law?+
Yes. English trusts are one of the main tools for structuring capital through the London office, alongside classic corporate structures.
Do you help to register a company in the UK?+
Yes, from choosing the form (Ltd or LLP) to registration at Companies House and ongoing support with reporting.
Do you take sanctions restrictions into account when working with UK structures?+
Yes. This is a mandatory part of the compliance check for any structure with a UK element, and we deal with it at the very earliest stage, before work begins.