Offshore law firm Ogier has partnered with accounting company Keypoint in a JV designed to set up trust funds in Bahrain.

The joint venture company, called "Two Seas Trust," targets Bahrain's corporate elite to establish trust funds under the new Bahraini law.

A strong five-year relationship with Keypoint combined with strategic growth projections in the region prompted the move by the law firm, said Paul Perris (pictured), the managing director of the JV company and previously Ogier's associate director.

"Bahrain is widely recognised as one of the best-regulated financial centres in the Middle East, and its proximity to other Gulf states, in particular Saudi Arabia, makes an attractive proposition to establish a presence there," said Perris.

The firm responded to the country's recent efforts to step up to the bar of global financial markets, with its recent establishment of the Financial Trusts Law seen as a strong indication of the region's further advancement in financial sectors.

"Bahrain has experienced steady growth in recent times and ... clients and intermediaries have expressed interest in the trust concept, which is a relatively new phenomenon in the Middle East."