Former Harney Westwood & Riegels lawyer Ray Wearmouth has re-joined his old firm Ogier and will be based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) office.

After serving seven years as an equity partner at Harneys and later establishing its Hong Kong office, Wearmouth returned to Ogier's corporate, commercial and banking practice. Wearmouth said he was motivated to move back to Ogier because of the BVI office's growth. "Having a strong Hong Kong office was also vital given my connections with Hong Kong. I'm very much looking forward to ...grow our Asian practice through our Hong Kong and Tokyo offices."  

The firm launched its Tokyo office last October, manned by Skip Hashimoto.
 
Wearmouth also said that business models in offshore firms helped to shield them somewhat from the downturn. "The larger offshore firms have diversified well over the last four or five years, both in terms of geographic spread and jurisdictional offerings," he said. "Those firms that also have leading fiduciary services have a more robust business model because of that, and it may also be because they've equipped and positioned themselves well over the last several years through international co-operation and good regulation."