Offshore law firms in the Caribbean basin are no strangers to tempests. Last year’s Atlantic hurricane season was one of the worst on record. The British Virgin Islands (BVI) suffered catastrophic damage; many BVI-based law firms had to evacuate their staff after Hurricane Irma crippled infrastructure across the island chain.
Storm clouds have been brewing metaphorically too. Ongoing regulatory scrutiny across the offshore world continues to hang heavy, with the broader industry still trying to salvage its reputation from the wreckage caused by the Panama Papers leak. So when US President Donald Trump announced changes to the country’s tax laws at the end of last year, offshore firms were bracing for another violent squall that threatened to flatten large chunks of their business.
