Collas Crill has opened the doors to its new Singapore office – making it the first Channel Islands-based law firm to do so.

Sean Cheong, formerly a partner in Collas Crill's Guernsey office, has relocated to Singapore to head up the new office. She has been joined by office manager Rachel Leong.

Cheong says: "We are delighted to have opened our doors in Singapore, Collas Crill's first new office outside the Channel Islands. The opening is a clear indication of our ability to respond to the demand from institutional and private clients in Asia for Channel Islands legal services, particularly in corporate, funds and trusts."

The firm will also offer Guernsey fiduciary services through Guernsey Trust Company, which is majority owned by the partners of Collas Crill.

With Singapore set to become the world's biggest wealth management jurisdiction by 2013* this is a strategic move by Collas Crill to take advantage of significant growth in the region and Singapore’s growing importance as a global financial centre.

Cheong adds: “Since the merger in April of Collas Day in Guernsey and Crill Canavan in Jersey we have made rapid progress across all our service areas, but opening our new office in Singapore is the most exciting. Clients in the Channel Islands and Europe have welcomed our move and the reaction from those based in Singapore has been extremely positive.

"We are the only firm licensed to provide Jersey and Guernsey law in Singapore and our jurisdictions are known to be very well regulated and responsive to business needs. With the Singapore office now open we are particularly pleased to be able to take advantage of being in two time zones and therefore being able to provide an overnight service to our Singaporean clients by doing their urgent work during a Channel Islands day.

“We are breaking the mould by choosing to open in Singapore with a Channel Islands offering rather than, say, Hong Kong or mainland China. Singapore provides an excellent hub from which to service the region and its established and emerging economies.“

Cheong says that since the firm announced its move into the region, clients have already seen value to them.

“Before we opened the office we had considerable interest from institutions keen to take advantage of our presence in Singapore," she says. "That, and the fact that so many other businesses are looking to establish a base in Singapore, confirmed that we made the right choice of jurisdiction."