knowledge 5 July 2016 |

Irish Eyes Smiling at Legal Opportunities From UK’s Brexit Vote - The American Lawyer

​Extract as follows:

At McCann FitzGerald, a leading Irish firm that began preparing for Britain’s big vote back in January, its former chairman and current Brexit group leader John Cronin said that his shop has already received a large number of inquiries from clients interested in moving some of their operations to Ireland.

Cronin said that Dublin is “well-suited to accept this transfer of business” from financial services providers, specializing in areas such as asset management and insurance, because the city has had the requisite architecture—be it through sophisticated Irish firms or more brick-and-mortar developments - in place for large-scale transactions and corporate clients since the rise of the Celtic Tiger in the 1990s. (The “tiger” became a bit timid following the global economic recession of 2008 but has rebounded in recent years.)

McCann FitzGerald expects to see ample work generated by so-called FinTech companies based in the U.K., said Gary McSharry, lead partner of the Irish firm’s New York office, which opened in February. The booming group of companies is currently regulated throughout the EU by “passport” laws, and could also face challenges when it comes to the movement of talent.