Conyers Dill & Pearman
Encyclopedia
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
in 1928 (although it can trace its roots back to 1903), the firm has subsequently opened legal practices in a number of other offshore financial centre
Offshore financial centre
An offshore financial centre , though not precisely defined, is usually a small, low-tax jurisdiction specializing in providing corporate and commercial services to non-resident offshore companies, and for the investment of offshore funds....
s, including the British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
, the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...
and Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
. It also has offices in a number of onshore commercial centres, including London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
.
The firm's founder, Reginald Conyers, played an important role in the development of the nascent financial services industry in Bermuda in the 1920s and 30s. Following on from the Bermuda Railway Company Act 1924, Conyers was faced with the legal problem of conveying huge numbers of land parcels by the company. This led to two things. Firstly, he took on two partners in his practice, Bayard Dill and James Pearman (and thus the firm was officially born). Secondly, in 1935 the firm was instrumental in the enactment of the first "exempt company
Offshore company
The term offshore company is ambiguous. It may refer to either:# A company which is incorporated outside the jurisdiction of its primary operations regardless of whether that jurisdiction is an offshore financial centre i.e...
" legislation in Bermuda, which leads some to claim that Bermuda was the world's first offshore financial centre. Later, in 1957 another partner of the firm, David Graham, laid the basis for the development of Bermuda as a domicile for ship registrations
Flag of convenience
The term flag of convenience describes the business practice of registering a merchant ship in a sovereign state different from that of the ship's owners, and flying that state's civil ensign on the ship. Ships are registered under flags of convenience to reduce operating costs or avoid the...
in a letter to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
.
Perhaps uniquely amongst multi-jurisdictional offshore firms, Conyers' expansion has been entirely by way of organic growth, rather than by acquisition of smaller firms in jurisdictions it wishes to operate in. The firm can legitimately claim to be the first offshore firm to operate in multiple jurisdictions; the original Bermudian firm opening a British Virgin Islands office in 1996.
Conyers Dill & Pearman is a member of Lex Mundi, a leading association of independent law firms.
At the 2008 ALB China Law Awards, Conyers Dill & Pearman was crowned:
- Deal of the Year - Real Estate & Construction Deal of the Year
In 2008 at the 2008 ALB Japan Law Awards and 2008 ALB China Law Awards, Conyers Dill & Pearman was crowned:
- Firm of the Year - Offshore Law Firm of the Year
Conyers Dill & Pearman was awarded Deal of the Year - Equity Market Deal of the Year at the 2008 ALB Hong Kong Law Awards.