Conyers Dill & Pearman has opened an office in São Paulo in Brazil in a move the firm claims is the first such incursion by an offshore entity into the emerging South American market.

It says the firm’s São Paulo office has increased the flow of Latin American business into the Cayman Islands, a favourite domicile among South American companies.

The Conyers office has generated requests from Brazilian clients looking for more accessibility as well as international clients investing in the country.

Using holding companies based in the Cayman Islands for making foreign investments gives Brazilian companies several tax advantages while investors in Brazil often prefer to structure their investments through legal jurisdictions with which they are familiar and that includes the Cayman Islands.

Conyers’ São Paulo office will focus on corporate, company and commercial work with an emphasis on investment funds, public company work and holding company incorporations.

The São Paulo office – incorporated locally as Conyers Dill e Pearman (Brazil) Servicos de Consultoria Ltda. – is headed by corporate finance partner Alan Dickson who is joined by corporate and commercial partner Benjamin Dyer. Conyers plans to grow the practice to as many as ten lawyers. The office extends Conyers’ reach beyond the existing offices in Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Mauritius, Moscow and Singapore.

Incorporated in Bermuda in 1928, Conyers added a Guernsey office in 1982. The Hong Kong office followed three years later. The firm founded its shipping practice in 1956 and entered the insurance market in the 1960s.

Affiliated companies provide registered agent, registered office, corporate director and secretarial services and specialised company management services.

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