José Santos

José, managing partner (British Virgin Islands) and Head of Corporate advises corporate and private clients in relation to wealth-holding structures, corporate, corporate finance and investment fund services.   He joined Forbes Hare from Maples and Calder as a corporate partner in 2010.  He trained and qualified with Baker McKenzie in London, and has over 20 years’ experience working for leading firms in London, the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands.  He is bilingual in English and Spanish and also has a good working knowledge of Brazilian Portuguese. José heads the firm’s Latin American practice.

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On the corporate side, José specialises in all aspects of corporate and commercial transactions including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, debt and equity financings, public financing (including listings on all the major markets), structured finance and offshore investment funds.  He has particular niche expertise in Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) transactions, having advised on the majority of the leading British Virgin Islands and Cayman SPAC offerings and subsequent business combinations.

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In the private client sphere, José advises families, individuals and their professional service providers in relation to the establishment and management of compliant wealth-holding structures.  A significant proportion of this work originates in Latin America.