Phyllis Townsend
Biography
Practice Focus
Representative Legal Matters
-
Advising a client with family members in the Middle East, UK and US on the establishment of a Jersey private fund with offices in the UK and Dubai (DIFC) for investment of the liquidity generated by the family business (a conglomerate).
-
Advising clients in the Middle East on high-value acquisitions (typically USD 100m+) and a (re)structure of private, investment and operating assets (including a US hotel, to which a co-investor is being introduced).
-
Advising a client based in the Middle East on establishing a private trust company structure and family offices for US and global investments.
-
Advising clients on establishing a family office in the UK, both structured as a company and LLP, and addressing the specific tax, reporting, transfer pricing and regulatory requirements applicable in each case, as well as ancillary requirements, including employment agreements and management incentives.
-
Advising both trustees and beneficiaries on restructurings of complex contentious trust structures, which own operating businesses, investment portfolios and other assets (including UK real estate), often involving offshore court processes and discussions with HMRC in relation to the UK tax implications of the restructuring.
-
Advising the family office and “protected trusts” of a UK resident non-UK domiciled individual on high value (USD 1bn+) investments, including the application of UK anti-avoidance legislation, restructuring and structures for investment, divestment and upstreaming and down-streaming of funds.
-
Representing a client, jointly with US colleagues, in relation to becoming UK tax compliant under the Worldwide Disclosure Facility, including advice on the application of the UK-US double tax treaty.
-
Representing a client in a large tax investigation by a foreign tax authority, including advice around the enforceability of foreign judgments.
-
Providing VAT and structuring advice in relation to superyachts, aircraft, cars and artwork, for private and commercial use, as well as investment assets, in the Middle East, Europe and the US.
-
Advising various clients in detail on changes to the taxation of and structures for UK residential real estate, and structures for the acquisition of global real estate acquisitions.
-
Advising an international private bank on their wealth management offering.
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP)
- Law Society of England & Wales
Admissions
- England & Wales~United Kingdom (2010)
Education
- BPP Law School, London (Legal Practice Course) (2008)
- University College London (LLB) (2007)
- University of Paris II (Panthéon-Assas) (Masters I in Business Law) (2007)
- University of Paris I (Pantheon-Sorbonne) (Bachelor in European and International Law) (2006)
Languages
- English
- French
- German