Simon Raftopoulos > Appleby > Cayman Islands, Cayman Islands > Lawyer Profile
Appleby Offices
9th Floor
60 Nexus Way Camana Bay
Grand Cayman, KY1-1104
Cayman Islands
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Simon Raftopoulos
Work Department
Corporate
Position
Partner
Career
Simon Raftopoulos is the Local Corporate Practice Group Head in the Cayman Islands and a member of the Corporate Finance and Private Equity teams.
He represents clients in a wide variety of corporate finance transactions, including private equity and fund finance, joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, initial and secondary public offerings and private placements of equity and debt securities. Simon also represents clients on large private equity transactions and his team has a deep PE formation and transactional presence in Cayman.
Simon is currently recognised by Who´s Who Legal 2022 as one of the World´s leading banking and M&A lawyers and is named in the Asia Business Law Journal’s A-List of top 50 offshore lawyers. Since 2012, he has consistently been ranked and is highly rated globally across many leading legal directories including “Market Leader” by ILFR.
Chambers Global reported that clients laud him for his skills and describe him as “…extremely supportive, responsive and always provides sound guidance on all manner of things” as well as being “…practical and creative.” Past Chambers Global Directories have described him as a “brilliant lawyer, with excellent and creative ideas for complex issues.” He has earned his praise within the legal industry for his “precise and definitive advice” and as a “great banking lawyer who is extremely practical.” Legal 500 reported him as being “a technically brilliant global private equity head.”
Education
- Blackhall Place (Ireland)
- University of Johannesburg (South Africa)
Personal
For over a decade in the Cayman Islands, Simon has provided pro bono work to the community as a whole and is a recipient of the Lee Friedman Award for his unselfish dedication and time given to the Family Resource Centre, Legal Befrienders Service.
Lawyer Rankings
Cayman Islands > Banking, finance and capital markets
(Leading individuals)Appleby has a leading role in the market, and is regularly sought by blue-chip underwriters for its expertise in SPACs, CLOs and lender-side fund financing deals. Coordinating between offices in Cayman, Bermuda and Jersey, the group houses a robust team that includes structured finance lead Benjamin Woolf and head of banking and asset finance Caroline Barton, who specialises in aircraft and vessel financing. Simon Raftopoulos leads the local corporate practice and is a member of the corporate finance and private equity teams, and Jacob MacAdam has expertise in regulatory work. Senior associate Tamanna Keir has extensive experience on leveraged financing, securities lending transactions, and cross-border M&A, while Georgina Pullinger is also highly recommended for fund and corporate finance work.
Cayman Islands > Corporate and commercial
Spearheaded by corporate finance and PE specialist Simon Raftopoulos, Appleby‘s team routinely advises a deep roster of blue-chip underwriters, banks and other financial institutions on SPACs, CLOs, M&A, corporate finance mandates and restructurings. The team includes corporate finance and regulatory expert Jacob MacAdam, and group head of both the banking and asset finance, and transport and logistics teams Caroline Barton, who regularly advises on capital markets, corporate, aircraft and shipping matters. Global co-head of the SPACs group Dean Bennett and head of the structured finance practice Benjamin Woolf are also noted for their expertise.
Cayman Islands > Insurance/reinsurance
Appleby‘s insurance team is based in key offshore jurisdictions in the global (re)insurance market and is well equipped to provide comprehensive advice on a mix of corporate, financing and regulatory matters. The insurance team is jointly led by Simon Raftopoulos and Jacob MacAdam, whose practice encompasses advising on insurance transactions and regulatory matters particularly in the reinsurance, banking and fiduciary space. Menelik Miller is sought out by insurers, reinsurers, investment companies and fintech clients for her expertise in regulatory issues including license applications, registrations, authorisations, notifications and regulatory filings, areas in which Miriam Smyth is also notably active.
Cayman Islands > Regulatory and compliance
Appleby’s regulatory and compliance team is sought out by global financial institutions and technology companies for its data protection and cybersecurity expertise. The practice fields privacy and data protection specialist Peter Colegate, local corporate practice head Simon Raftopoulos, and Jacob MacAdam, who is noted for his regulatory expertise in the banking, insurance and fiduciary spaces. Practice head Menelik Miller and Miriam Smyth are regularly instructed by banks, insurers, investment companies, alternative lenders and fintech clients for advice on a wide range of regulatory issues.