Mr Andri Árnason > Juris > Reykjavik, Iceland > Lawyer Profile

Banking and finance is a core practice at Juris, which exhibits a demonstrable track record across the full-suite of services in the space, spanning litigation, transactional work, regulatory issues and project financing matters. Large-scale project financing mandates remain a key strength of the practice group across a variety of sectors, including the shipping, fishing, energy, TMT and property development industries, among others. Three lawyers jointly lead the team: financial litigator Andri Árnason, tax specialist Halldór Jónsson and Sigurbjörn Magnússon. Ex-banker Simon Knight focuses on project finance, syndicated lending and financial regulatory matters.

Juris is home to a ‘solid team’ that operates across the full spectrum of commercial, corporate and M&A mandates, chiefly instructed on general corporate work, domestic mergers and cross-border sales and acquisitions. The practice has a deep bench of both Icelandic and English-qualified lawyers, which the team leverages to act on a litany of complex cross-border work, including international investments, project financing work and international contracts on behalf of a client roster that lists Oaktree Acquisition and Kvika banki, among others. ‘Outstanding attorney’ Halldór Jónsson jointly leads the team alongside Andri Árnason, and Simon Knight is another key name, noted for his work on cross-border corporate matters in the infrastructure and energy sectors.

Juris remains one of the most pre-eminent firms for dispute resolution in the domestic Icelandic market, fielding a strong bench of Supreme Court attorneys and dual-qualified lawyers who excel at handling both complex and high-value disputes, particularly in the banking and finance sector. Financial litigation and asset litigation are core disciplines for the team, and the group also specialises in cross-border mandates spanning multiple jurisdictions. Highly-experienced litigators Andri Árnason and Stefán A. Svensson jointly head up the practice group, with the latter being praised as ‘exceptionally smart and solution minded.’

Juris regularly undertakes competition work on behalf of its comprehensive roster of clients throughout the commercial and corporate sectors. The team handles a large number of cross-border transactions, which frequently involve associated EEA issues, particularly state aid, GDPR and compliance obligations. Andri Árnason and Stefán A. Svensson jointly lead the group, which also includes competition specialist and recently promoted partner Hólmfríður Björk Sigurðardóttir, who previously worked for the Competition Authority.

Juris has considerable experience in general restructuring and insolvency issues, particularly rescission issues, asset recovery work, financial restructurings and winding-up proceedings; the team also handles contentious matters. Commercial litigator Andri Árnason leads the practice group with Halldór Jónsson, whose expertise lies in restructuring matters and company liquidations. Stefán A. Svensson is a key port of call for complex financial litigation.

Juris acts on behalf of both large-scale established domestic clients and start-ups on a host of IP and TMT matters, with notable clients including Mila, RÚV and Kvika banki. Advice regarding GDPR compliance and implementation, and a burgeoning focus on the growing fintech sector, represent the bulk of the workload for the team. With over 20 years of experience in the sector, Andri Árnason jointly leads the department with litigator Stefán A. Svensson, who has experience representing the Icelandic state broadcaster.