Guernsey's courts have been praised for the ability to handle "big ticket" private wealth cases by one of London's leading private wealth litigators.

Jeremy Kosky, Litigation Partner at Clifford Chance, heads the firm's wealth and asset management arm, advising trustees, beneficiaries and protectors in often high-profile and long-running trust disputes.

He was on the panel at Guernsey's first Private Wealth Forum event in the capital, where he flagged high-profile Carlyle, Guernsey's largest investment fund court case, which concluded in 2017, as boosting the island's profile and reputation for being able to handle complex litigation disputes.

US private equity firm Carlyle and seven senior employees were sued in Guernsey, and subsequently cleared, by liquidators of a separate Carlyle fund which collapsed in the global financial crisis. The case was valued at more than £1 billion. The trial ran just short of six months and included 48 days of cross-examination and nearly 5,000 documents submitted, which culminated in a 525-page judgment in September 2017.

Mr Kosky, below, praised the Guernsey courts for a "virtually paperless" trial and a judgment made within nine months of the hearing concluded, particularly, he said, when Guernsey had little track record of litigation of such a size.

"I am now an advocate for Guernsey, that it has a proper court system, terrific judges, and it knows how to handle and accommodate big ticket disputes," he said.

Mr Kosky has extensive offshore experience, working with local counsel in Guernsey and other offshore financial centres.

"We welcome Jeremy Kosky's endorsement of our courts," said Dominic Wheatley, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance. "The skill and expertise of the Guernsey bar and the Guernsey judiciary is a strength of the island and our financial services sector. Parties to disputes can have the confidence to invest in Guernsey, knowing that if issues should arise, any dispute will be fairly and expertly dealt with."

For more information about Guernsey's finance industry please visit www.weareguernsey.com.

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