International Private Fund Formation Brochure - SJ Berwin

Shaping the market
Our team continues to exercise a strong influence on the development of the
funds market as a whole, both through our membership of industry committees,
and directly through representations to regulatory and government bodies at a
national and supra-national level.
We are involved in every major development affecting investment funds. We
are intimately engaged in the ongoing progress of the EU’s controversial
Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, and are currently working on
several other business critical issues for private equity.
This continues our long history of impact on the market. Our senior partner,
Jonathan Blake, designed the limited partnership structure which is now the
industry standard for European fund formation. In 1987, SJ Berwin negotiated
the UK tax and regulatory treatment of limited partnership structures with the
UK Government. This culminated in the BVCA Statement and Guidelines, which
SJ Berwin drafted, with the result that the limited partnership has become the
most common private equity fund vehicle in Europe.
Other successes include the removal of the 20 partner limit and the tax treatment
of carried interest under Schedule 22 in the United Kingdom, key changes
to French legislation pertaining to FCPRs (fonds communs de placement à
risques) and securing preferential treatment for carried interest in Germany.
In Madrid, through our membership of ASCRI, we have been involved with the
drafting and the implementation of the Spanish Private Equity Act.
“ ... ultimately it is the intimate relationship the team has with the funds
industry that serves it so well.”
Chambers Legal Directory 2010
5