ISOLAS LLP

Firm Details:
Chairman/CEO: Marcus Killick OBE
Number of employees: 100
Languages: English, French, Spanish

Firm Overview:
Established in 1892, ISOLAS is a full-service practice, celebrating over 125 years as one of Gibraltar’s leading law firms.

ISOLAS is consistently ranked as a leader in the market by all the major international directories. The firm is proud of its reputation for combining expert legal advice with commercial pragmatism.

ISOLAS is valued by its clients and partners for being a trusted partner, a natural consequence of the close, partner-led relationship with its clients.

Practice Areas:
ISOLAS has represented Gibraltar on the global playing field, as the jurisdiction continues to shape innovation and regulation in the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and crypto space.

The Firms’ fintech team was instrumental in the implementation of Gibraltar's regulatory framework, co-chairing the Government's working group on blockchain for three years, specifically established to develop the infrastructure to accommodate a specific DLT regulatory framework in Gibraltar and for its use as a transfer or storage of value mechanism.

ISOLAS acted for the first licensee under the new DLT regulatory framework, implemented in January 2017 and continues to act for a large section of licensees/applicants. The firm is heavily involved in industry groups dedicated to enhancing and developing the regulatory and commercial framework to support DLT companies.

Head of Fintech, Partner Jonathan Garcia, has contributed to several international reports on the topic, as well as regularly authoring content on industry developments and trends, including for the US Chamber of Digital Commerce. Jonathan specialises in the interaction between fintech and traditional funds, having advised on several crypto funds, and is Head of Technical at the Gibraltar Funds & Investment Association, where he regularly advises the Gibraltar Government on the development of new legislation in this area.

Recently appointed Consultant and Fintech Ambassador to the firm, Joey Garcia, is the co-chair on the executive committee of the Gibraltar Association for New Technologies (GANT). GANT is comprised of local experts and companies from the blockchain and crypto space and forms part of the subcommittee established to review new legislation.

Joey is also a member and contributor to the Stablecoin Foundation and working group, as well as being a member of the Digital Chamber of Commerce in Washington where he co-authored a segment of their recent report ‘Understanding Digital Tokens, market overview and guidelines for policymakers and practitioners’. He is also a lecturer for legal students at the Gibraltar University on blockchain and distributed ledger technology.

Together, Jonathan and Joey regularly contribute to leading industry publications such as the first book published by Global Legal Insights on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency regulation for 2019, the United Nations ODC manual for law enforcement agencies and various other publications.

The pair are also founding members of the European think tank (thinkBlocktank) established in Luxembourg, and through this a member of INATBA (International Association for Trusted Blockchain applications) where they have contributed to the working groups on blockchain governance and finance.

The team participated in the UNODC Southeast Asia working group with their focus being on trading platforms and international regulatory developments and assisted in the training of various regulators in 2020.

They have also spoken at events, including the Korean Blockchain Week and Legal Hackers event in Seoul on building sustainable governance for blockchain technology, the PWC Global Blockchain and Law event organised in Zurich and the European Blockchain Conventions in Copenhagen and Barcelona, the LaBitConf event with a focus on South America in Chile as well as various events in Beijing organised by the Huobi group.

Key Clients:
Xapo, Huobi, Coinfloor, RSK, Gnosis, Coinfirm, Bitso, Lendingblock, LMAX, ZUBR, SSW Group and Vega Protoco

Contact: Jonathan Garcia
Tel: +350 2000 1892
Email: [email protected]

Recent Highlights & Awards:
Advising Systema and the SSW Group on their respective establishment of ‘experienced investor funds’ and in the case of SSW, this follows the establishment of their flagship crypto private fund in Gibraltar previously – the story, with reference to ISOLAS’ work, was covered in the international finance media. https://www.hedgeweek.com/2020/11/02/291643/ssw-group-launches-private-cryptocurrency-fund