ILN members are working together all the time, and sometimes they pick their noses up from the grindstone to share one of their successes with me. Here’s a story about an excellent collaboration among ILN firms in Sweden, Italy, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
In 2010, Thomas Ekenberg and Johan Sund of Ekenberg & Andersson Advokatbyra, Sweden, were retained by an Italian-American client requesting legal advice regarding an investment in Stockholm – namely, the purchase of an apartment and the opening of an art gallery. The origin of the client’s financial resources, which were necessary to proceed with the investment, consisted of an inheritance of considerable value – his portion amounted to around 80 million Euros worth of real estate and other assets – received from his mother in 2002, and originating from the client family’s prominent involvement in the Italian real estate business as far back as the 1930s.
The client claimed that he had been prevented from being fully aware of the majority of the information concerning the Italian patrimony, and from having any direct control of the interests of his assets. As a matter of fact, since his mother’s passing, the client’s interests had been deceitfully managed by his elder brother.
Therefore, the client asked Ekenberg & Andersson Esq. to assist and advise him in acquiring full control and direct management of the assets, which were acquired pursuant to the inheritance from his mother. The need of assistance depended mainly on the contrast between the client and his three siblings, who were all made into pro quota beneficiaries of the family’s assets by means of a complex trust and corporate structure involving the jurisdictions of Panama, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Hong Kong and Italy; the latter country is where all of the real estate and operative companies are located.
As of December 2010, Thomas Ekenberg and Johan Sund involved Antonello Corrado, from the ILN Italian law firm of Corrado Ferrari Mainieri Pedeferri & soci, with whom they have established a strong collaboration for the assistance to the client. In relation to legal advice and assistance concerning the Liechtenstein jurisdiction, the law offices of Harry Gstoehl & Partner have also been involved, as well as wehinger kaelin ferrari ag, Switzerland.
The ILN firms have now successfully acquired, and are continuing to acquire thorough knowledge and control of the trust and corporate structure, full control of the assets for the client, and, in order to achieve and maintain the full and direct management of his interests, are continuing to provide legal advice.
The collaboration among the firms will likely extend to other jurisdictions, namely the UK, where collateral assistance is required.
The client has expressed full satisfaction with the assistance he has received, and has come to the decision to assign full responsibility of the management of his assets and investments, located in Sweden, Italy, and Germany, to Mr. Thomas Ekenberg, Mr. Antonello Corrado, and his attorney and legal advisor in Berlin, where the client made relevant investments in the real estate business some years ago.