Josianne Brimmer is a partner at Fenech & Fenech Advocates working principally within Financial Services Department, and the Project, Corporate and Asset Finance Department which she heads. Her practice areas include M&A and corporate and commercial law, as well as funds and investment services. She acted as in-house counsel with European hedge fund managers for several years and currently holds directorship and company secretarial roles within licensed funds and investment services firms.
Josianne graduated as a Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from the University of Malta in 2001 and was admitted to the Bar in Malta in January 2002. She completed her Masters Degree (M. Jur.) in European and Comparative Law from the University of Malta in 2002, and in 2005 completed her Masters Degree (MA) in Financial Services also from the University of Malta, graduating summa cum laude.
Josianne started her career with Fenech & Fenech Advocates in 2001, working principally in the Financial Services, Asset Finance and Corporate and M&A Departments of the Firm. In 2007 Josianne moved on to an in-house counsel role with an international hedge fund manager. She rejoined Fenech & Fenech Advocates as a Partner in 2014.
She is a member of the Institute of Financial Services Practitioners, the Camera degli Avvocati and the International Bar Association.
Established in 1891, Fenech & Fenech Advocates is the oldest law firm in Malta. As a full-service law firm, it is a recognised leader in maritime law and marine litigation, commercial law, corporate and commercial law, taxation, asset and corporate finance, ship finance, financial services, FinTech, aviation, intellectual property, employment, remote gaming and TMT law, with a notable litigation team having expert litigators in most areas of the law. The firm is associated with a group of licensed corporate services companies, the Fenlex Group (www.fenlex.com), and a ship registration service provider Fenech & Fenech Marine Services Ltd., and is therefore able to provide a comprehensive service to international and local clients alike.
All the firm’s lawyers are highly specialised in their fields, and a number of them are visiting lecturers within the faculty of laws at the University of Malta and contribute widely to international publications and reviews and to the development of local laws relative to their respective practice areas.
Main Areas of Practice:
- Corporate/Commercial Law
- M&A
- Marine Litigation and Admiralty
- Taxation
- Aviation
- Ship Registration and Ship Finance
- Project, Corporate and Asset Finance
- Financial Services
- Banking & Insurance
- Technology, Media and Telecoms
- Intellectual Property
- Immigration
- Real Estate & Conveyancing
- Construction & Infrastructure
- Litigation
- Employment
- Data Protection
- Competition
- Arbitration and ADR
- Trusts and Estate Planning
- Yachting
- Whistleblowing
Of these, the main practice areas within which Josianne Brimmer practices are set out below:
Financial Services
The firm’s Financial Services department is actively involved in assisting the whole spectrum of financial services operators, including banks, fund managers, investment service providers and insurance companies. The team also assists with the handling of licensing processes as well as advises regulated entities on an ongoing basis. Members of the team handle M&A transactions involving regulated entities, and assist operators with obtaining regulatory approvals for the acquisition of qualifying interests in regulated firms.
Project, Corporate and Asset Finance
The firm’s Finance department advises finance providers and borrowers on an ongoing basis in relation to Maltese law aspects of multinational finance transactions, typically where Maltese vehicles are required to provide security as part of the security pool provided by the borrower. It acts for lenders and borrowers alike and has experience and particular expertise in security regimes regulated by Maltese law as supplemented by European legislation, most particularly Directive 2002/47/EC on financial collateral arrangements.
Corporate and M&A
The firm is an active leader in this field, advising local and foreign organisations on numerous M&A transactions, including cross-border M&A transactions, on an ongoing basis over the years. It has been directly involved in most of the local privatisation projects, and other major acquisition projects on the local market, and has acted for government and private enterprise alike in numerous M&A transactions with capacity to handle the complete acquisition process from due diligence stage, through drafting and negotiation of acquisition, investment or merger documents.
