Harney Westwood & Riegels (or Harneys) is a global offshore law firm that provides advice on British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Bermuda and Anguilla law to an international client base that includes law firms, financial institutions, investment funds, and private individuals. They have locations in major financial centers across Europe, Asia, America and Caribbean. In 2016 Harneys was named Offshore Law Firm of the Year by The Lawyer in its annual awards.

History

Harneys was established in 1958 by Harold Harney. Along with its affiliated fiduciary services business, Harneys is the second-largest private employer in the BVI. In its early days, Harold Harney founded the first resident legal practice firm in the BVI, later joined by Neville Westwood in 1967 and Michael Riegels in 1973. Notable alumni of Harneys include: The firm has worked with the government of the BVI over the years in relation to the development of the offshore finance industry in the Territory. Three of the partners of the firm formed part of the "gang of five" that drafted the original International Business Companies Act, and members of the firm were also closely involved in the drafting of subsequent key legislation, including the Insolvency Act 2003, the BVI Business Companies Act 2004 and the Securities and Investment Business Act 2010.

Offices

The firm expanded with new offices for several years, followed by a surge of five new offices in two years in 2014–2015. The first new office was opened in Anguilla (1998), followed by London (2002), Hong Kong (2005), the Cayman Islands (2008), Cyprus (2009), Montevideo (2010), Singapore (2014), Vancouver (2014), Shanghai (2015) and Tokyo (2015). In 2013 the firm entered into an alliance with BLC Chambers in Mauritius to give it Mauritius legal capability.

Practice

Specializing in corporate and commercial law, the firm is known for its corporate & finance, investment funds, and commercial litigation practices (see Rankings). It also had dedicated practice groups relating to regulatory compliance (including tax information exchange) and sanctions. Partners at Harneys wrote the first, and to date only, legal textbook on British Virgin Islands law: British Virgin Islands Commercial Law, published by Sweet & Maxwell. Harneys is one of only two law firms in the world (the other being Allen & Overy) which provides official opinions to ISDA on close-out netting analysis for three or more different jurisdictions (BVI, Anguilla, and Cyprus).

Rankings

Harneys is ranked in most jurisdictions where it practices (normally in Band 1) various international legal directories. As of 2014, Harney's ratings include:

Footnotes