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Sequor Law's Leyza B. Florin and Raul Torrao explain UNCITRAL's 2019 Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency and its implications for cross-border insolvency proceedings. Asset recovery column: The mechanics of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency Open Legal Insights Open December 4, 2019 8 minutes read Sequor Law Sequor Law shareholder Leyza B. Florin and attorney Raul Torrao in Miami discuss the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)’s newly approved Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency. Purpose The model law, approved in July 2019, is a new legal framework designed to address domestic and cross-border insolvency cases involving multiple debtors that are members of the same enterprise group. Though it provides innovative tools to address the specific needs of proceedings involving enterprise groups, its practical use will be revealed throughout the next years by its implementation and actual application by the courts of states that adopt the model law. UNCITRAL developed the Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency to fill a void left by the 1997 Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency, with respect to the administration of multiple insolvency proceedings affecting different members of an enterprise group located in multiple jurisdictions. Indeed, in today’s global economy, the operations of the members of some enterprise groups are so interconnected and span so many jurisdictions that the group can only be appropriately reorganized or liquidated if there is a plan that embraces the whole group – or at least the part of the group that is affected by the insolvency proceedings. Both model laws provide for the cooperation of courts presiding over cross-border insolvency cases, although each applies in a different context. The Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency focuses on single debtor insolvency proceedings, while the Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency is designed to address the specific needs of insolvency proceedings that involve multiple debtors that are members of the same enterprise group in different jurisdictions. Concepts To address such specific needs, the Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency provides directives on coordination and cooperation between courts and among insolvency representatives, development of a group insolvency solution for the whole enterprise group or part of it in a single planning proceeding, the appointment of a single representative to coordinate the development of a group insolvency solution and voluntary participation of enterprise group members in the planning proceeding regardless of whether they are affected by the insolvency of part of the enterprise group. It also includes directives on access by foreign courts and insolvency representatives to the planning proceeding, cross-border recognition of foreign planning proceedings, and measures to minimize the commencement of non-main and main proceedings through the equal treatment of claims in a foreign main proceeding in an adopting jurisdiction. The Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency uses some nomenclature and definitions from the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency, such as what is a main proceeding, a non-main proceeding, and the center of main interest (COMI) of a debtor. In addition, the Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency contains several articles similar to the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency, especially in the chapters regarding the cooperation and coordination between courts and among insolvency representatives and in the chapters that provide for the recognition of a foreign proceeding. Among the new concepts introduced by the Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency, the “group insolvency solution” is one of the most relevant ones. Article 2(f) of the model law broadly defines a group insolvency solution as “a proposal or set of proposals developed in a planning proceeding for the reorganization, sale or liquidation of some or all of the assets and operations of one or more enterprise group members, with the goal of protecting, preserving, realizing or enhancing the overall combined value of those enterprise group members.” The draft guide of enactment of the model law clarifies that the term is intended to be a flexible concept, that can be tailored to address the specific circumstances of the enterprise group, such as its structure, business model, degree and type of integration between enterprise group members and other factors. The group insolvency solution is developed in a “planning proceeding,” which is an insolvency proceeding commenced with respect to an enterprise group member that meets certain criteria. It must be a main proceeding taking place in the jurisdiction where an enterprise group member debtor has the COMI, in which the enterprise group member likely is a necessary and integral participant of the solution (although the concept is still undefined). It must include the voluntary participation of enterprise group members for the development of a group insolvency solution (although they may opt-out at any point), and include the appointment of a group representative, which may be the same person as the insolvency representative appointed in the main proceeding or a different person. Once a planning proceeding is established, the group representative may seek relief from the court that is either needed to preserve the possibility of developing or implementing a group insolvency solution, or to protect, preserve, realize, or enhance the value of assets of an enterprise group member subject to or participating in a planning proceeding or the interests of the creditors of such enterprise group member. Relief The model law provides for a non-exhaustive list of reliefs that are typically granted in insolvency proceedings. This includes empowering the group representative to seek recognition of the planning proceeding in other jurisdictions and seek any relief available to support the development and implementation of a group insolvency solution, as well as seek to participate in foreign proceedings relating to an enterprise group member regardless of whether the latter is participating in the planning proceeding. Despite the model law’s aim to centralize an enterprise group’s insolvency proceeding, nothing in the model law prevents more than one planning proceeding from being established. Obviously, the immoderate commencement of multiple planning proceedings would destroy the purpose of having a centralized proceeding where all parties can meet and develop a group insolvency solution. However, the special circumstances driven by the way enterprise groups are structured might justify the exceptional establishment of more than one planning proceeding to obtain the proper insolvency solution for the group. To aid its goal of centralizing and streamlining insolvency proceedings of members of an enterprise group, the model law also provides a mechanism to minimize the commencement of non-main proceedings in other jurisdictions. A creditor of any enterprise group member may choose to bring its claim directly in the main proceeding commenced in a jurisdiction that adopted the model law. The claim will be treated in the main proceeding in accordance with the treatment it would be accorded in its original jurisdiction; that is, the foreign claim will receive the same distribution and priority rights in the main proceeding as it would receive in its original jurisdiction. To accomplish such treatment of claims, the claim treatment must: be presented by the insolvency representative appointed in the main proceeding – or jointly by the insolvency representative and the group representative; meet any additional formal requirements established by the jurisdiction of the main proceeding; and be approved by the court of the main proceeding. Once the claim treatment is approved, it is enforceable and binding on the insolvency estate of the main proceeding, this way protecting the creditor of the foreign claim. In addition to the above-described mechanism, the model law allows the court of the foreign forum where the creditor could have brought the aforementioned foreign claim to approve the treatment accorded in the main proceeding and to stay any non-main proceedings already commenced or to decline the commencement of new non-main proceedings. The effect of this implementation is that creditors of similar foreign claims may only file such foreign claims before the court of the main proceeding. This measure is not mandatory and it is the option of the court of the original jurisdiction of the foreign claim to use such tool. The model law also provides for this undertaking on the treatment of foreign claims and the possibility of the court to stay or decline to commence a new insolvency proceeding also in relation to a main proceeding. In other words, creditors of a claim that may be brought in a main proceeding in one jurisdiction also have the option to file the claim in another main proceeding affecting one of the enterprise group members in another jurisdiction that adopted the model law, and courts of the first jurisdiction may approve the undertaking on the treatment of that claim and stay or decline to commence a main proceeding. This measure is counterintuitive and is inconsistent with the expectations of creditors, the enterprise group members, and third parties that expect that insolvency proceedings should be conducted in the jurisdiction where the COMI of the enterprise group is located. Thus, the draft guide to the enactment of the model law advises that such measure should only be taken in exceptional circumstances, specifically when the efficiency benefits largely outweigh the negative effects on the creditors’ expectations. The provisions that refer to minimizing the commencement of main proceedings are located in part B of the model law, and are available for adoption by jurisdictions that want to take this extra step on the centralization of cross-border insolvency proceedings. It is important to note that the Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency is not a workaround from the formalities of the insolvency laws of the adopting jurisdiction. The fact that a planning proceeding may address the reorganization or liquidation of a participating enterprise group member does not grant unrestrictive access by creditors to the assets of that enterprise group member. Under the model law, relief in the planning proceeding may not be granted with respect to the assets of participating enterprise group members if the entity is not subject to an insolvency proceeding under the forum’s applicable laws, unless the reason that such proceeding has not commenced was for the purpose of minimizing the commencement of insolvency proceedings in accordance with the Model Law. In addition, if the participating enterprise group member has its COMI in another jurisdiction, relief will only be granted in the jurisdiction that adopted the model law if it does not interfere with the administration of insolvency proceedings taking place in other jurisdictions. Impact The framework presented by the Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency not only creates new legal tools for specific insolvency cases, but also creates a new international cooperation system to enhance the insolvency proceedings of an enterprise group. Though issues regarding the jurisdiction and the power of courts may be minimized in a single-debtor cross-border insolvency case under the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency, such issues are more prevalent when members of an enterprise group are subject to insolvency proceedings in different jurisdictions. Indeed, in a multi-debtor cross-border insolvency case under the Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency, several issues regarding the jurisdictional power of the courts involved are likely to arise. This is because there are potentially multiple main proceedings, each located in a different jurisdiction, and only one – or a few – of them can be qualified as a planning proceeding for the development of a group solution, which will determinate the outcome of the insolvency proceedings. It is unclear if the Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency’s cooperation system will only be useful if all jurisdictions involved have adopted its text. With regard to the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency, generally only the jurisdiction of the court that is providing assistance to the foreign proceeding must have adopted it in order for that cooperation system to work. On the other hand, the cooperation between courts of different jurisdictions in a group insolvency case might not work if one of the involved jurisdictions has not adopted the Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency. It is possible that jurisdictions that do not adopt provisions relating to centralized planning proceedings will be reluctant to defer their jurisdiction over an insolvency proceeding involving an enterprise group member to another jurisdiction. Hopefully, jurisdictions will see the benefits of having a group insolvency solution for maintaining or adding value to the whole group, or even to the group members that are affected by the insolvency proceeding in that jurisdiction, and utilize the new tools provided by the new model law. To view the original article, click here. Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight Aug 17, 2026 3 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Carolina M. Rosso “Pour faire de grandes choses, il ne faut pas être un si grand génie... Firm News Jun 23, 2026 3 minutes Sequor Law Welcomes Attorney Carolina M. Rosso to Its Expanding International Litigation and Asset Recovery Team Sequor Law is pleased to announce that Carolina M. Rosso has joined the firm as an Attorney. Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more..

Global Restructuring Review profiles Sequor Law as a GRR 100 firm, highlighting its roots as a rebrand of Astigarraga Davis’s cross-border insolvency and asset recovery team led by Edward H. Davis, Jr. and Gregory Grossman, and its work for the Chilean liquidator of Onix Capital. Global Restructuring Review Top 100 Law Firms Listing Open Awards & Recognition Open July 31, 2017 2 minutes read Sequor Law Miami’s newly rebranded Sequor Law is the Chilean liquidator of bankrupt investment vehicle Onix Capital Global head of restructuring and insolvency Gregory Grossman History of the practice Shareholders Edward Davis and Gregory Grossman launched boutique Sequor Law in April, in what was effectively a rebrand of Miami firm Astigarraga Davis’ cross-border insolvency, international asset recovery and financial fraud team. Davis and Grossman, two of the founders of Astigarraga Davis, decided to establish the new outfit when their former firm’s international arbitration practice left to join global law firm Reed Smith. All of the attorneys from Astigarraga Davis’ cross-border insolvency, international asset recovery, and financial fraud practice were retained by Sequor Law. Network Grossman heads up the firm’s international insolvency and financial litigation practice, which operates out of a solitary office in Miami. Who uses it? The team represents international banks, sovereign governments and government institutions, liquidators and receivers, lenders and multinational corporations, as well as individuals. Some notable clients include Big Four professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Historic track record The practice, under Astigarraga Davis and Sequor Law, has made over 20 Chapter 15 filings in the US to recognise insolvency proceedings in diverse jurisdictions including Antigua, Austria, Barbados, Brazil, the BVI, the Cayman Islands, Chile, Mexico, Romania and the UK. Indeed, Grossman says the firm has filed more Chapter 15s than any other law firm in the US. Notably, Davis and Grossman filed the first Chapter 15 bankruptcy petition in the state of Florida, on behalf of PricewaterhouseCoopers as the custodian of failed financial institution Bancafe International Barbados. Davis also served as lead civil counsel for the government of Antigua and Barbuda in relation to an alleged fraud in the payment of debt owed to a Japanese leader that sponsored the building of the Crabbs Desalination and Power Plant in northeast Antigua. Elsewhere, the team was instructed to represent the joint liquidators of Stanford International Bank in efforts to recover assets relating to a US $7 billion Ponzi scheme- the second largest Ponzi scheme in world history, which has seen filings in Antigua, the UK, the US and Canada. Recent events During our research period, Sequor Law was instructed as counsel to the court-appointed liquidator and foreign representative of bankrupt Chilean investment firm Onix Capital in Chapter 15 proceedings in Florida. The liquidator is seeking to recover assets in excess of $100 million* relating to an alleged Ponzi scheme operated by the group’s CEO, Chilean businessman Alberto Chang-Rajii. The Sequor team also continues to act as primary US counsel to the joint liquidators of Stanford International Bank. The complete GRR 100 guide will be accessible at Global Restructuring Review website * The GRR 100 incorrectly values the Onix case as a $7.4 million dollar Ponzi scheme. The correct value of the Ponzi scheme is in excess of $100 million. Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight Aug 17, 2026 3 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Carolina M. Rosso “Pour faire de grandes choses, il ne faut pas être un si grand génie... Firm News Jun 23, 2026 3 minutes Sequor Law Welcomes Attorney Carolina M. Rosso to Its Expanding International Litigation and Asset Recovery Team Sequor Law is pleased to announce that Carolina M. Rosso has joined the firm as an Attorney. Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more..

Sequor Law's Daniel Coyle explains the asymmetrical nature of discovery in Chapter 15 proceedings, where foreign representatives can obtain discovery while resisting demands from other parties. Just Say No: Discovery in Chapter 15 Bankruptcies is Asymmetrical Open Legal Insights Open April 21, 2021 1 minute read Sequor Law By: Dan Coyle Foreign Representatives in Chapter 15 petitions are specifically permitted to conduct discovery to locate the debtor’s assets within the United States to increase estate and creditor recoveries in the overseas proceedings and to probe the debtor’s affairs, rights, obligations or liabilities. In the U.S. ancillary proceeding, the Foreign Representative will encounter resistance and other entities may seek to propound subpoenas under Fed. R. Bankr. 2004. Sometimes, these entities are creditors who seek information relevant to their claim or assets available to pay the same. Other times, these entities are subpoena targets who seek to gain a peek into the Foreign Representative’s search, seek to distract and/or delay the Foreign Representative from the asset search, or who seek to “punish” the Foreign Representative. The Foreign Representative may be able to avoid responding to such requests by moving for protective order or to quash the subpoena based upon 11 U.S.C. 1521(a)(4) and/or Rule 2004(a). The arguments are based upon: 1) the language of 1521(a)(4) and two canons of statutory construction, or, alternatively; 2) interpretive case law under Rule 2004 as to the requirements to show a “pecuniary interest” in a case. Read the original article here . Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight Aug 17, 2026 3 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Carolina M. Rosso “Pour faire de grandes choses, il ne faut pas être un si grand génie... Firm News Jun 23, 2026 3 minutes Sequor Law Welcomes Attorney Carolina M. Rosso to Its Expanding International Litigation and Asset Recovery Team Sequor Law is pleased to announce that Carolina M. Rosso has joined the firm as an Attorney. Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more..

Sequor Law's Andrew B. Dawson, UM professor and Vice Dean, has been awarded the Judge A. Jay Cristol Endowed Chair in Bankruptcy at the University of Miami. Judge A. Jay Cristol Endowed Chair in Bankruptcy Open Awards & Recognition Open March 3, 2020 1 minute read Sequor Law Andrew (Drew) B. Dawson , Of counsel at Sequor Law , distinguished law professor, and Vice Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of Miami, has been awarded the Judge A. Jay Cristol Endowed Chair in Bankruptcy. Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight Aug 17, 2026 3 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Carolina M. Rosso “Pour faire de grandes choses, il ne faut pas être un si grand génie... Firm News Jun 23, 2026 3 minutes Sequor Law Welcomes Attorney Carolina M. Rosso to Its Expanding International Litigation and Asset Recovery Team Sequor Law is pleased to announce that Carolina M. Rosso has joined the firm as an Attorney. Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more..

IWIRC announces its 2018–2019 board of directors, with Sequor Law's Leyza B. Florin named Secretary of the Executive Board of this global women's insolvency and restructuring organization. IWIRC announces new board of directors Open In the News Open September 24, 2018 4 minutes read Sequor Law By Mohamed Dabo The International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) has announced its newly elected and appointed incoming board of directors for 2018 – 2019. The international networking and professional growth organization, aimed at women in the restructuring and insolvency industries, announced the names of its five-member executive board and its ten-member management committee on 17 September. IWIRC also published the names of its new regional directors, directors at large, as well as its standing committee and vice directors. Carrianne Basler , a managing director at AlixPartners in Chicago who was vice chair, succeeds outgoing chair Jennifer McLemore . Michelle Pickett , a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Toronto, Canada, becomes the new vice chair. McLemore will remain on the board as immediate past chair. The executive board also includes Leyza B. Florin of Sequor Law in Miami as secretary, Jennifer Kimble of New York restructuring firm Prime Clerk as treasurer, and Marjorie Kaufman of Getzler Henrich in Boston as Vice Finance Director. Appointees to the group’s management committee include Tinamarie Feil , president of the California-based BMC Group, who becomes the group’s UNCITRAL committee director. Alexandra Schnapp , a law clerk at the US Bankruptcy Court in Atlanta, is the communications director. Eloise Fardon , a senior associate at Stephenson Harwood in Hong Kong, is now the Asia regional director. Rita Gismondi , an associate at Gianni Origoni Grippo Cappelli & Partners in Rome, is the new Europe regional director. Kelly McDonald , of Shearman & Sterling in New York, is US regional director and Toronto-based Dentons counsel Sara-Ann Van Allen is Canada regional director. Outgoing chair McLemore says, “The composition of the Board speaks to the depth and expertise of our membership base and we look forward to working with these talented women.” In a phone interview, she told GRR the organisation’s focus right now is to bring the international experience to the local level—so that members who are unable to attend international conferences can still have access to those international resources. IWIRC’s newsletter is one resource the organisation is aiming to make more accessible; for example, by using social media to give it a stronger international presence on the internet. Founded in 1993, IWIRC is a not-for-profit organisation currently located in Asia, Europe, and North America and continues to grow. McLemore says IWIRC welcomes the development of new networks in these or new regions. Executive Board (terms ending October 2019) Carrianne Basler, AlixPartners, Chair Michelle Pickett, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Vice Chair Leyza B. Florin , Sequor Law, Secretary Jennifer Kimble, Prime Clerk, Treasurer Marjorie Kaufman, Getzler Henrich & Associates, Vice Finance Director Jennifer McLemore, Christian & Barton, Immediate Past Chair Management Committee (terms ending October 2019) Tinamarie Feil, BMC Group, UNCITRAL Committee Director* Karen Fellowes, DLA Piper, Newsletter Director Terri Freedman, Freedman Law, Program Committee Co-Director Melissa Hager, Morrison & Foerster, US Networks Director Evelyn Meltzer, Pepper Hamilton, Member Services Director Alexandra “CC” Schnapp, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Communications Director Helen Sevenoaks, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, Europe Networks Director Carren Shulman, NYU School of Law, UNCITRAL Committee Director* Pooja Sinha, Global Legal Solutions (GLS Law), Asia Networks Director Melaney Wagner, Goodmans, Canada Networks Director Regional Directors (terms ending October 2019) Eloise Fardon, Stephenson Harwood, Asia Regional Director Rita Gismondi, Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners, Europe Regional Director Kelly McDonald, Shearman & Sterling, U.S. Regional Director Sara-Ann Van Allen, Dentons, Canada Regional Director Directors at Large (terms ending October 2019) Jacqui Calderin, Agentis Kelly Beaudin Conlan, Connolly Gallagher Catherine D’Alton, Harney Westwood & Riegels Mary Grace Diehl, former judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Rebecca Hume, Kobre & Kim Ericka Johnson, Womble Bond Dickinson Nicole Stefanelli, Cullen and Dykman Blanche Zelmanovich, Ernst & Young Directors at Large (terms ending October 2020) Monica Blacker, BAX Advisors Kristen Siracusa Eustis, Miles & Stockbridge PC Elizabeth Gunn, Virginia Office of the Attorney General Rachel Lao, SSG Capital Management Kerri Mumford, Landis Rath & Cobb Leanne Williams, ThorntonGroutFinnigan Standing Committee Vice-Directors (terms ending October 2019) Valerie Banter-Peo, Buchalter Nemer, Vice Director of Regional Programming* Aisling Dwyer, Maples and Calder, Asia Regional Vice Director* Rosa Evergreen, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, Vice Director of Communications and Newsletter* Justine Lau, Mourant Ozannes, Asia Regional Vice Director* Tina Lucas, Banner Bank, Vice Director of Budget* Lauren McKelvey, Odin Feldman & Pittleman, Vice Director of Spring Programs* Tara Schellhorn, Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti, Vice Director of Fall Programs* Nellwyn Voorhies, Donlin Recano, Vice Director of Communications and Social Media* Blanche Zelmanovich, Ernst & Young, Vice Director of Member Services* Rita Gismondi, Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners, Europe Regional Director Kelly McDonald, Shearman & Sterling, U.S. Regional Director Sara-Ann Van Allen, Dentons, Canada Regional Director Directors at Large (terms ending October 2019) Jacqui Calderin, Agentis Kelly Beaudin Conlan, Connolly Gallagher Catherine D’Alton, Harney Westwood & Riegels Mary Grace Diehl, former judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Rebecca Hume, Kobre & Kim Ericka Johnson, Womble Bond Dickinson Nicole Stefanelli, Cullen and Dykman Blanche Zelmanovich, Ernst & Young Directors at Large (terms ending October 2020) Monica Blacker, BAX Advisors Kristen Siracusa Eustis, Miles & Stockbridge PC Elizabeth Gunn, Virginia Office of the Attorney General Rachel Lao, SSG Capital Management Kerri Mumford, Landis Rath & Cobb Leanne Williams, ThorntonGroutFinnigan Standing Committee Vice-Directors (terms ending October 2019) Valerie Banter-Peo, Buchalter Nemer, Vice Director of Regional Programming* Aisling Dwyer, Maples and Calder, Asia Regional Vice Director* Blanche Zelmanovich, Ernst & Young, Vice Director of Member Services* Rosa Evergreen, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, Vice Director of Communications and Newsletter* Justine Lau, Mourant Ozannes, Asia Regional Vice Director* Tina Lucas, Banner Bank, Vice Director of Budget* Lauren McKelvey, Odin Feldman & Pittleman, Vice Director of Spring Programs* Tara Schellhorn, Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti, Vice Director of Fall Programs* Nellwyn Voorhies, Donlin Recano, Vice Director of Communications and Social Media* Blanche Zelmanovich, Ernst & Young, Vice Director of Member Services* To view full article, click here. Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight Aug 17, 2026 3 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Carolina M. Rosso “Pour faire de grandes choses, il ne faut pas être un si grand génie... Firm News Jun 23, 2026 3 minutes Sequor Law Welcomes Attorney Carolina M. Rosso to Its Expanding International Litigation and Asset Recovery Team Sequor Law is pleased to announce that Carolina M. Rosso has joined the firm as an Attorney. Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more..

Attorney Spotlight: Sequor Law Shareholder Fernando J. Menendez Jr. shares insights on bankruptcy strategy, the impact of COVID-19 on businesses, and his approach to the legal industry. Attorney Spotlight: Fernando J. Menendez Jr. Open Attorney Spotlight Open October 7, 2021 3 minutes read Sequor Law On this month’s Attorney Spotlight, we interviewed Sequor Law Shareholder, Fernando J. Menendez Jr. , who provided his insights on the legal industry. What advice would you give to those firms facing bankruptcy due to the pandemic? However unpleasant the prospect of bankruptcy may be, it is important to get advice early. There are undoubtedly abrupt changes in circumstances that may make it necessary for an entity to seek bankruptcy relief with little or no time to prepare, but, to the extent there is even a small window of time to consider the options, make the most of it. In bankruptcy, as in most things, luck favors the prepared. The options in a potential restructuring can vary greatly depending on a variety of factors, including a firm’s capital structure; whether its secured debts have been properly perfected; the status of its executory contracts; its cash flow and pro forma; the nature and status of pending legal actions against it, to name just a few. To what extent has covid-19 affected your work and the nature of disputes you encounter? I would say that the most pronounced change hasn’t been in the nature of the disputes we’ve encountered, but—more practically—in the way we practice. In that regard, we all owe a great debt to our courts, which have responded to the tremendous challenge of this pandemic by making it possible to hold hearings on significant contested matters through Zoom and other video conferencing platforms and, thereby, kept our cases moving forward. Given your tenure as a leading bankruptcy attorney, what is the most important thing you have learned? In solving difficult problems, you have to be creative and keep going back to the drawing board until you’ve found the right answer. Edison said it best: “When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this — you haven’t.” What advice would you give to aspiring bankruptcy lawyers? In everything you do, ask yourself—how would I want someone to do this for me if I was in need of an attorney? How would I want it done for a parent or a sibling? Now, do that! How does Sequor Law distinguish itself from competitors in the market? If I had to use a single word, I would say it’s passion. A passion for what we do; for doing it right; for getting it right; for meeting our client’s objectives. What is specific to Sequor Law? The team at Sequor has a breadth of knowledge and experience that gives us unique advantages in assisting our clients. Specifically, because we routinely act as counsel in domestic and cross-border insolvency cases, and are frequently engaged in commercial litigation and international asset recovery matters, we are able to provide advice that is not only reactive, but proactive. Given our experience and day-to-day work, we have a good sense of where a case is likely to go after a judgment has been obtained, and begin working to anticipate those eventualities well before many others may have considered them. What should clients look for when selecting a bankruptcy attorney or firm? In this age of endless marketing, it’s easy to get distracted by keywords on a website. Obviously, a referral from someone who has worked with the attorney in the area is a good touchstone for assessing experience and expertise. Absent that, you want to focus on whether the attorney seems to truly understand your problem. Have they dealt with something like it before? Are they asking the right questions? Are they raising issues you had not considered? Are they challenging you or just agreeing with everything you say? This last one may take a bit longer to get to, but, in my experience, is quite possibly the best indication that you have the right lawyer. What do you enjoy most about working in bankruptcy? Without question, the fact that it moves fast—at least relative to most standard commercial litigation. Given the exigency of bankruptcy, and the surrounding statutory framework—which is geared towards getting parties to some form of resolution as quickly as possible—you don’t have to wait years before a client’s major issues/claims are resolved. For better or worse, you’ll have your answer (in an ideal world, the right one!) quickly. What is a book or article that you consider a must-read? Collier on Bankruptcy! For those in the mood for something a little more plot-driven, you can’t go wrong with All The Light We Cannot See and The Nickel Boys, both of which are heart-wrenching and amazing. Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight Aug 17, 2026 3 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Carolina M. Rosso “Pour faire de grandes choses, il ne faut pas être un si grand génie... Firm News Jun 23, 2026 3 minutes Sequor Law Welcomes Attorney Carolina M. Rosso to Its Expanding International Litigation and Asset Recovery Team Sequor Law is pleased to announce that Carolina M. Rosso has joined the firm as an Attorney. Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more..

Sequor Law's Leyza B. Florin represents the joint trustees of jailed Taiwanese-British businessman Ji-Chuen Jason Tsai in a Chapter 15 petition in Miami to track and recover US real estate assets. Miami Chapter 15 for jailed Taiwanese-British IT executive Open In the News Open November 14, 2019 4 minutes read Sequor Law The joint trustees of Ji-Chuen Jason Tsai, a “thoroughly dishonest” bankrupt Taiwanese-British businessman, have applied for Chapter 15 recognition to track his real estate assets in the US. On 11 November Tsai’s joint trustees, Begbies Traynor partners Nicholas Reed and Julie Palmer , filed two Chapter 15 petitions before the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida – one under his own name and another under the name of Changtel Solutions UK (Changtel), his former company. Leyza B. Florin , a shareholder at Sequor Law in Miami, is acting for the joint trustees. Fraud and freezing The UK’s tax authority, HMRC, sought Changtel’s winding-up in 2013 after challenging its VAT returns and alleging a shortfall of £15.5 million (US$20 million). It accused Changtel, a company which distributed computer hardware and software within the UK and ostensibly exported goods to the rest of the European Union, of carousel fraud over the shortfall. Although the English High Court initially rejected the winding-up petition, the Court of Appeal eventually found that Changtel had “misled” a tax tribunal and judge into thinking that it was solvent “when in fact it had been running down its business since mid-2013”. A tribunal later determined that a fabricated scheme for VAT evasion had been established within the company. The High Court then appointed Reed and Palmer as joint liquidators over Changtel in June 2015. Later, in May 2019, Reed was appointed as Changtel’s bank trustee along with fellow Begbies Traynor partner Joanne Wright . The liquidators’ investigations determined that Tsai committed fraud of an approximate value of £38 million (US$49 million). The English High Court found that Tsai had used “cheque fraud” to extract funds from Changtel – fabricating cheques made out to his sister from a fake Taiwanese supplier, and signed by Tsai himself, to the amount of £3.5 million (US$4.5 million). Tsai’s own bankruptcy came in 2018, after he was jailed for 18 months for contempt of court after breaching a freezing order , and failed to pay a consequential interim payment order. In a July 2017 ruling, Mrs. Justice Vivien Rose in the English High Court found Tsai guilty of 30 out of an alleged 52 breaches of the freezing order. The court found that, although Tsai’s UK passport had been confiscated under the freezing order, he kept hold of a Taiwanese passport which he used to travel to Taiwan. There he arranged for his wife to move £8.6 million (US$11 million) from a DBS bank account in Singapore to a Taipei Fubon bank account in Hong Kong. In delivering her verdict, Mrs Justice Rose described Tsai as a “thoroughly dishonest witness”, and issued with him with the interim payment order. He was adjudged bankrupt in May 2018 after failing to pay the order. Asset recovery In their Chapter 15 application the liquidators said they had discovered several real estate assets in the United States – including five in Las Vegas and one in Los Angeles – that might beneficially belong to either Tsai or Changtel through local companies. They also found evidence that funds had been misappropriated from Changtel and transferred to US bank accounts in the names of Tsai and other family members. They told the Miami court they are attempting to recover £9.95 million (US$ 12.2 million) in post-liquidation payments Changtel made to Entanet International, another Tsai company, to which all Changtel business was transferred prior to liquidation. The liquidators said Tsai’s international assets had been unearthed after a litany of contradictory disclosures of assets on his part. Although in his initial February 2017 disclosure Tsai claimed to have under £1 million (US$1.3 million) he admitted to further assets the further month after retaining counsel from London firm Brett Wilson. But in May that year, after terminating that firm in favor of Neil Davies & Partners, he retracted his previous disclosure, which he said he had admitted to on the basis of erroneous advice from Brett Wilson. “In doing so,” the liquidators said, “Tsai inadvertently waived privilege in his communications with Brett Wilson”, which showed his disclosures had not in fact been based on erroneous advice. As well as the Las Vegas and Los Angeles properties, the liquidators said the English court had found Tsai to hold misappropriated funds in Hong Kong and Singaporean accounts as well as owning three properties in the UK city of Birmingham and one in Telford, Shropshire under his sister’s name. In the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Miami In re Changtel Solutions UK Limited In re Ji-Chuen Jason Tsai [Case 19-25250] Foreign Representative Sequor Law Shareholder Leyza B. Florin in Miami In the High Court of Justice (Chancery Division) Mrs Justice Vivien Rose Joint liquidators of Changtel Begbies Traynor Regional managing partner Julie Palmer in Salisbury and Nicholas Reed in Leeds Counsel to the joint liquidators Stephen Robins of counsel, South Square Chambers Instructed by: Walker Morris Counsel to Ji-Chuen Jason Tsai Andrew Young of counsel Instructed by: Neil Davies & Partners To view the original article, click here. Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight Aug 17, 2026 3 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Carolina M. Rosso “Pour faire de grandes choses, il ne faut pas être un si grand génie... Firm News Jun 23, 2026 3 minutes Sequor Law Welcomes Attorney Carolina M. Rosso to Its Expanding International Litigation and Asset Recovery Team Sequor Law is pleased to announce that Carolina M. Rosso has joined the firm as an Attorney. Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more..

Sequor Law Expands International Litigation and Asset Recovery Tem with Attorney Carolina M. Rosso Sequor Law Welcomes Attorney Carolina M. Rosso to Its Expanding International Litigation and Asset Recovery Team Open Firm News Open June 23, 2026 3 minutes Sequor Law Miami – June 23, 2026 - Sequor Law is pleased to announce that Carolina M. Rosso has joined the firm as an Attorney, further strengthening the firm's internationally recognized asset recovery , insolvency, and cross-border litigation practice. Rosso focuses her practice on complex cross-border legal matters, including international litigation , asset recovery, insolvency, and arbitration. Prior to becoming an attorney, she served as a Law Clerk at Sequor Law, where she conducted extensive legal research and drafted analytical memoranda involving international asset recovery, cross-border insolvency , international litigation, and arbitration matters spanning multiple jurisdictions. During her time at the firm, Rosso assisted in the preparation of motions, briefs, and strategic submissions in federal, state, bankruptcy, and appellate proceedings. She analyzed complex legal issues involving turnover actions, guaranty enforcement, alter ego liability, civil conspiracy, arbitration, cross-border discovery, and Chapter 15 proceedings, among other matters. Prior to joining Sequor Law, Rosso also served as a Research Fellow to Professor Jorge L. Esquirol at FIU College of Law, where she conducted research in transnational commercial law and prepared comparative analyses of U.S. and French legal systems as a framework for examining how civil law, common law, mixed, religious, and customary legal traditions influence commercial institutions, legal reform, and opportunities for economic development across developing and emerging economies. "We are thrilled to welcome Carolina to our attorney team," said Edward H. Davis, Jr., Founding Shareholder of Sequor Law. "Having worked alongside Carolina during her time as a law clerk, we have witnessed firsthand her exceptional intellect, work ethic, and dedication to excellence. Her academic achievements, international perspective, and deep understanding of complex cross-border disputes make her a tremendous asset to our clients and our firm." Rosso graduated first in her class from Florida International University College of Law, earning her Juris Doctor, summa cum laude. While at FIU Law, she received multiple CALI Excellence for the Future Awards and served as a member of the FIU Law Review. She previously earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business, magna cum laude, from the Florida International University Honors College. Beyond her legal practice, Rosso is the founder and director of Unidad Para Bolivia, an international civic and humanitarian initiative through which she led pro-democracy advocacy efforts and coordinated large-scale humanitarian aid projects. Having lived and studied in Bolivia, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Rosso brings a uniquely global perspective to her practice. She is fluent in Spanish and French and conversational in Czech. "I am honored to join Sequor Law as an attorney," said Rosso. "I am excited to continue serving clients facing complex international disputes, asset recovery, and insolvency matters. Sequor's collaborative culture, global reach, and specialized cross-border expertise make it an exceptional place to build my practice." For more information, visit: www.sequorlaw.com *** Headquartered in Miami and with an office in Washington, D.C., Sequor Law is an international law firm focusing on representing victims of financial fraud, including sovereign governments and state-owned enterprises, public and non-public companies, insolvency practitioners, and all manner of clients in the areas of asset recovery, financial fraud, cross-border insolvency, and international litigation and arbitration. www.sequorlaw.com Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight Aug 17, 2026 3 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Carolina M. Rosso “Pour faire de grandes choses, il ne faut pas être un si grand génie... Firm News Jun 23, 2026 3 minutes Sequor Law Welcomes Attorney Carolina M. Rosso to Its Expanding International Litigation and Asset Recovery Team Sequor Law is pleased to announce that Carolina M. Rosso has joined the firm as an Attorney. Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more..

Cryptocurrency is becoming a new frontier for hiding assets in divorce cases. Sequor Law's Edward Davis warns that crypto-based financial infidelity will become increasingly common in coming years. How cryptocurrency assets are becoming a new battleground in divorce disputes Open In the News Open March 10, 2019 5 minutes read Sequor Law By Kelly Anne Smith Fighting over money is one thing; dealing with bitcoin and other types of cryptocurrency in a divorce is an entirely different story. As cryptocurrency has surged in popularity, it’s become much more common for investors to carry shares in the largely unregulated market. For married couples looking to part ways, this means dealing with cryptocurrency as an asset could make for a difficult and lengthy divorce process. Considering regulations and standards on digital currencies such as bitcoin are still being weighed by governments and financial regulators across the world, could the future of hiding assets during a nasty divorce be lying in its hands? The role cryptocurrency is beginning to play in divorces Cryptocurrency is virtual currency; it lives online and is traded on a blockchain, an encrypted ledger detailing transactions. Since each transaction is associated with a public and private key, it’s possible for each transaction to be traced back to a single individual. Cryptocurrency has been around for about a decade, but it became more mainstream around 2017 when bitcoin skyrocketed to a price of $20,000 per coin and caught the public eye, before giving back much of its value in the time since. In 2018, only 5 percent of the American population held cryptocurrency, according to a survey by the Global Blockchain Business Council. An additional 21 percent of respondents, however, said they were considering adding it to their portfolio. As cryptocurrency grows in popularity, lawyers all over the world are beginning to face divorce cases with high-value disputes over these digital assets. Jacqueline Newman, a New York-based matrimonial law attorney, represents all different types of clients, including those divorcing with cryptocurrency. She asks all of her clients to fill out a statement of net worth — a comprehensive document detailing income, assets and debt of each party. She says her forms now ask parties to include cryptocurrency, too. “It hasn’t gotten to the point where the court forms include it yet, but we have asked on ours and people list it under their general assets,” Newman says. Hiding assets: Is cryptocurrency a new way to do it? Since bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are largely unregulated and encrypted, some might think it’s a perfect place to anonymously stash away funds. But that’s not necessarily the case. Mark DiMichael, CPA, certified Financial Forensics accountant and fraud examiner, specializes in cryptocurrency. In one recent case, a husband didn’t report $100,000-plus in cryptocurrency assets on his statement of net worth. During the discovery process, DiMichael closely analyzed his bank statements and was able to trace the crypto transactions through a crypto-trading platform. DiMichael warns, however, that cases can get more complicated. The more knowledgeable someone is in crypto, the bigger the threat they pose to successfully hiding the assets. Although he hasn’t worked on a large number of cases involving cryptocurrency so far, DiMichael gives the example of a cybersecurity expert exchanging cash for bitcoin as payment. By conducting the transaction in person, there would be no “proof” of the transaction occurring — making the asset-hiding much more difficult to reveal to the court. “It’s really hard to trace if the individual knows what they’re doing,” DiMichael says. “An expert is going to know not to leave any evidence on their computer, and it can be much more difficult to subpoena.” The future of spouses hiding money in crypto should be seen as a threat Edward Davis , a Miami-based asset-recovery attorney and founding shareholder of Sequor Law, says cases of financial infidelity involving crypto are only going to become more frequent in the coming years. In 15 to 20 years, Davis expects people with large sums of money to turn toward cryptocurrency as a way to hide their assets. “It’s a real threat,” Davis says. “It’s not going to come up in the average divorce of Joe versus Mary where they both have regular jobs and are a middle class family. But the wealthy and uber-wealthy who have access to this are going to use it to hide their value.” Matrimonial attorneys interviewed for this story say there aren’t currently any specific laws regarding cryptocurrency protection during a divorce process. Davis says these laws to protect consumers from fraudulent crypto activity are likely coming, but they will be slow to implement. “The legal infrastructure and regulatory infrastructure for this stuff is way behind,” Davis says. “If you look at some of the people sitting in Congress — some of them are in their 70s and 80s — they have no idea what this is. They don’t even know what Snapchat is. You’re talking about a generational change [that] is going to [have to] happen before people are confronting this kind of issue.” Another issue for getting a hand on regulating crypto, Davis says, is that there’s a wide misunderstanding of how blockchain technology works. “Whenever something new comes along, everyone tends to minimize it,” Davis says. “Predicting technology is a very hard thing. People who are intimidated or scared or don’t understand technology tend to minimize it.” How the financial and divorce industries are adjusting to this rising trend As interest and commonality surrounding crypto continues to increase, experts in the legal field are having to quickly educate themselves on the asset to keep up. Some experts say there isn’t enough being done to inform and train legal counsel on the inner workings of the asset. Most of what DiMichael knows about crypto is self-taught. In 2018, DiMichael published “A Forensic Guide to Finding Cryptocurrency in Divorce Litigation.” He created the guide after his own research found there weren’t many resources available on the matter. “I’ve seen some courses for it, but I think there should be more training,” DiMichael says. “Uncovering crypto is fairly complicated, and that can be even harder for someone not trained in crypto.” Most accountants don’t understand cryptocurrency, DiMichael adds. More complicated divorce cases involving cryptocurrency can be a lengthy and complicated process — and for an accountant learning everything on the fly, this can mean longer hours and a higher bill for the client. DiMichael says that he currently charges $435 per hour. Davis hasn’t worked directly on a case recovering cryptocurrency assets yet, but he has noticed an upswing in industry-related conversations in the past two years. Lawyers, who he says aren’t technology-savvy by nature, should pay close attention to cryptocurrency and educate themselves on how to manage it in court cases. “The main concern about crypto is how little we understand it and how dangerous it is because it’s an unregulated, untethered currency,” Davis says. “This is a real threat and one we have to think about.” Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight Aug 17, 2026 3 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Carolina M. Rosso “Pour faire de grandes choses, il ne faut pas être un si grand génie... Firm News Jun 23, 2026 3 minutes Sequor Law Welcomes Attorney Carolina M. Rosso to Its Expanding International Litigation and Asset Recovery Team Sequor Law is pleased to announce that Carolina M. Rosso has joined the firm as an Attorney. Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more..

Sequor Law Counsel Nyana Abreu Miller shares insights on being a trilingual woman in international law, her promotion, IWIRC leadership, and her commitment to empowering women in the legal profession. Attorney Spotlight: Nyana A. Miller Open Attorney Spotlight Open March 22, 2022 5 minutes read Sequor Law Nyana Abreu Miller , recently appointed Counsel at Sequor Law, shares insights on the benefits of being a trilingual woman in the international law industry and her efforts to empower women in law. In 2021, you were promoted to Counsel. How did the promotion change your role as an attorney? The promotion grew my responsibilities both within and outside of Sequor, changing the way I am perceived and providing me with new opportunities for professional growth, such as increased public speaking engagements. Within the firm, my position as Counsel entails significant managerial duties, such as supervising the Junior Associates. How has your role as New Network and Regional Development Co-Director of IWIRC benefitted you as a Sequor Law Counsel? The role provides a great opportunity to network and get to know other women in the insolvency space. Our committee works to launch International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) networks in places that do not have a professional development group for women in insolvency. This has provided a platform for me to learn about the insolvency industry in different countries and to bring something new to the table. Working together with other motivated professionals on a project that we are passionate about helps to grow deeper professional relationships. When business opportunities arise within those relationships, we are not mere acquaintances who met at a conference, we are colleagues who have been collaborating on a passion project for years. How does IWIRC help to empower women in law? For me, personally, it has been transformational to connect with other women who are succeeding and striving to grow in the same industry. At each IWIRC event, I am inspired by the many different role models that I encounter, and I find them to be very approachable and candid about what it has taken for them to succeed. These experiences have been essential in my ability to shape my own path. You’re regularly invited to speak on topics related to international asset recovery. How have the opportunities impacted your role as a trilingual attorney? I was born in Brazil and raised in the U.S., with English being my second language after Portuguese. I learned to speak Spanish in the U.S. as a third language. Since I work in Latin America a great deal, my language skills have opened many doors for me. Early in my career, I was invited to speak at events where there was no budget for translators or translations, so my multilingual capabilities gained me invaluable exposure. For example, I was a guest lecturer at the Federal Judicial College in Mexico City. It was an excellent opportunity to discuss the use of insolvency as an asset recovery tool with students of the Judicial College, and it would not have been possible to do in English. Of course, I also participate in larger conferences that do have simultaneous translation, such as the OffshoreAlert Conference, but where English is not the common language for all panelists and most of the audience, sometimes it is more convenient to conduct the panel in the local language. Given your tenure as an asset recovery attorney, what is the most important thing you have learned? The most important thing I learned is to follow my instincts and study the fact patterns as they relate to people in the cases. Our cases ultimately come down to people. It’s important to develop a sense of who the target is, their character, preferences and habits. An asset recovery case is only half legal strategy and the rest is about being able to anticipate and catch up to the target. Does speaking three languages facilitate your work on cases? Absolutely! For cases that are document-intensive, being able to read the primary document myself is a game-changer. Translation takes time, costs money and is imperfect. When an important document is discovered or a decision is entered by the foreign court, I can immediately review the document myself and engage in a meaningful discussion about it. I still lean on the local council to assist in interpreting legal documents in Portuguese and Spanish, but at least I can participate in the brainstorming that takes place as events develop and significant documents are discovered. What advice would you give to young female attorneys? I advise young women to look not only for a variety of mentors and role models but also for sponsors within their organization. A sponsor is someone who will help channel good work and opportunities to you, and it is a person who will support you even when you make a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes but it is how they are perceived by leadership that is critical. When people in management feel that the mistake is relatable or perhaps reminds them of something that happened to them, the employee who made the mistake will simply get another chance. And when you are a working mom or the only woman in an organization, you don’t want a simple mistake to be interpreted as a lack of commitment or some deeper problem. It’s important to have someone in the management room to vouch for you and help everyone else to put things into the proper perspective. How does Sequor Law distinguish itself from competitors in the market? Because of the size and strength of our team, we are very nimble. We are not a shop of generalists that tries to be all things to all people. Each of our professionals has deep knowledge of asset recovery and significant practical experience. We vigilantly monitor developments in our area of practice and we are able to draw on our depth of knowledge when we advise clients and help them craft the best recovery strategy for their case. The focus of an asset recovery case may change very quickly, and we need to be able to deploy investigative, analytical and legal resources wherever the target may pop up. We have capabilities in-house to be able to steer the ship. However, one very important aspect of our identity as a boutique firm is that we maintain a strong network of asset recovery professionals that we can rely on throughout the globe. So if the target buys an asset in a new offshore jurisdiction, we can phone a friend who will spring to action as part of our team. What inspired you to study law? As a child, I read all the Nancy Drew books. Although my heroine was a girl detective, when I actually got old enough to think about a career, I realized that I enjoyed the reading a bit more than I would enjoy driving around and chasing criminals. I realized that after a case was solved it had to be tried. My grandfather was a state court judge in Kansas, so he was a great role model and ambassador for the law. When I was in high school, he took me to the courthouse for a motion calendar and I decided that law was the path for me! Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight Aug 17, 2026 3 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Carolina M. Rosso “Pour faire de grandes choses, il ne faut pas être un si grand génie... Firm News Jun 23, 2026 3 minutes Sequor Law Welcomes Attorney Carolina M. Rosso to Its Expanding International Litigation and Asset Recovery Team Sequor Law is pleased to announce that Carolina M. Rosso has joined the firm as an Attorney. Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more..

An investigative report on how a US church, offshore shell companies, and rapper Flo Rida became entangled in a web of offshore banking schemes revealed in the #29Leaks investigation. A church, its shell companies and a plan to have rapper Flo Rida plug high-end bubbly Open In the News Open December 20, 2019 11 minutes read Sequor Law By Kevin G. Hall and Shirsho Dasgupta The middleman was ecstatic. An American archbishop was not only looking to move some money offshore, he was looking to move his finances abroad. “He says he feels he can swing his council or synod to establishing his whole banking empire as he envisions it and he wants to set up also an insurance company, various offshore companies,” wrote Michael O’Mara in a Sept. 8. 2015, email to a London-based offshore services provider. “I am trying also to sell him some of the recent companies you sent me with bank accounts to act as his holding companies.” It’s not every day that a church, enjoying tax-exempt status in the United States, is seen as a viable candidate to buy offshore shell companies with their own bank accounts, which can give the appearance of a longstanding business. The COO of one of those church-affiliated offshore businesses at one time had reached out to none other thanFlo Rida, the Miami-born rap artist, trying to swing a deal to have him invest in a brand of high-end champagne calledBillionaires Row. Flo Rida’s lawyer said no and the plan fizzled. But more on that in a bit. The emailabout the archbishop’s offshore shell companiesis part of a giant leak of more than a million documents from Formations House, a London-based financial services firm with clients across the globe, including some in the United States. Other leaked documents show that Archbishop Timothy Paul, the senior pastor of the Christian Cathedral in Springfield, Mass., purchased an official-looking insurance company, a Swedish investment trust and even a faux bank — one in name only — in Gambia. In interviews, he acknowledged spending tens of thousands ofchurch dollars on offshore companies — but says he never used the shell companies. Emails show O’Mara, who works out of an English seaside hotel room on behalf of Mediterranean Corporate Services, tried to sell the archbishop on religious-sounding names for his offshore entities — names like Alliance Parish Banking Ltd. or Alliance Congregational Bank & Trust Co. But the archbishop settled on Dominion Global Investment Capital Trust, serving as its president and taking the name, he said, from the book of Genesis. Dominion Global had a COO, William Benson, a brash New Yorker with a love of the limelight and a trail of unhappy business associates. They describe Benson as a frequent name-dropper, who boasted of his relationship with an archbishop, with Flo Rida and with the socialite Paris Hilton. Dominion Global wasn’t a bank of the conventional sort, with checking accounts, tellers and the like. Nor did it grant commercial loans to real-estate developers. When McClatchy and the Miami Herald called to check its operational hours, the call was put through to a man with a thick New York accent who said it wasn’t “that kind of bank.” Anyways, he said, the bank itself is in London. When a reporter visited the bank’s listed address in lower Manhattan, in a swank high-rise glass tower at 17 State Street, Suite 4000, on the Hudson River, that suite wasn’t an actual bank either. The guard there pulled out clipped-together paperwork listing hundreds of companies that together share the suite’s office space under a flat monthly fee. Two young women answer the phones, the guard offered, but there isn’t anyone else there. It was a virtual office, a fancy address that gives the aura of a real brick-and-mortar company. PIERCING THE VEIL The archbishop’s offshore business was among the intriguing narratives found in 10 years worth of Formations House records obtained by the anti-secrecy group Distributed Denial of Secrets and shared with investigative journalists, including those at McClatchy and the Miami Herald. Journalists collaborated for months and on Dec. 4 began publishing under the #29Leaks hashtag, a reference to Formation House’s tony address at 29 Harley Street in London. Reporters found Iranian oil companies dodging sanctions, a Miami resident busted in a DEA sting and a plan for industrial-scale cannabis farming in Cameroon. Formations House chief Charlotte Pawar said in emailed responses to questions that the leaked records were stolen and that she was subjected to extortion but did not provide evidence of that. The leak, combined with the recent Panama Papers and Paradise Papers leaks, gives added momentum to legislation now in the U.S. Senate that would end anonymity by requiring greater disclosure of the true ownership of shell companies in the United States. “99.99 percent of Americans don’t own offshore companies but the few that do try to tell you how legitimate it is,” said Edward H. Davis Jr ., an asset-recovery lawyer with Sequor Law in Miami. “The reality is the entire offshore system is designed to avoid detection of the existence and movement of wealth.” The Formations House leak adds a new wrinkle to the global debate, in part because it was based in London, not Panama or the faraway Seychelles, another haven for companies seeking tax avoidance. And it went beyond offering shell companies, but also faux banks that mimicked financial institutions butweren’t regulated or required to have a minimum amount of cash on hand. These bank-named shells can issue loans, mortgages to their members and even credit cards as if they were a normal bank, according to promotional materials. The Formations House documents provide insight into how these financial instruments are used. One email referenced a giant global gemstone wholesaler “sitting on a huge pile”, who sought three “banks” for internal operations, insisting on the humorous names Tightwad International Bank Ltd., Tightwad Bank International Co. Ltd. and Tightwad Global Bank Ltd. SHELL COMPANIES FOR GOD Archbishop Paul is not an archbishop in the Roman Catholic Church or the Anglican Church, the common associations with that rank of clergy. Paul said that 20 years ago he adopted the name of St. Paul when he was consecrated as an archbishop. He leads a freestanding Christian denomination that voted him archbishop and patriarch of the International Holy Communion of Churches , which he said involves roughly 700 churches that together count 4.6 million followers. Like the Russian or Greek orthodox churches, he said, the denomination follows the original interpretations of the early apostles. “We brought orthodoxy to African Americans,” he explained. Until recently, Paul was also president of Epiphany Development Corp., which converted a historic Springfield building into a Holiday Inn Express. Paul, 53, insisted there was nothing untoward about his church having offshore companies. “We wanted to fund missions and do things,” he said, noting he hoped to expand the reach of his church. “They sell offshore banks, so we thought this was a legitimate means to have an offshore bank for our ministries that we were going to be project-funding for.” The interest in going offshore began with an email solicitation, he said, and eventually the representative from Mediterranean Corporate Services came across the Atlantic to see him. Paul said he has foreign outreach in Gambia, India, Kenya and Zambia. His church website makes no mention of this. Asked about specific projects, he offered that the Swedish investment trust was established for that purpose but has yet to invest in projects. “That would be for the real-estate projects we’re going to do,” he said, suggesting they were raising capital to build a foreign supermarket. “It’s almost like a real-estate trust.” The Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, a #29Leaks partner, reported that Russian middlemen and Swedish offshore services providers had discovered and exploited a loophole in Sweden’s banking laws that gave the appearance that bank-named trusts were regulated when in fact those belonging to non-Swedes are not. Swedish documents shared with McClatchy and the Miami Herald show Paul signing the trust registration on Feb. 20, 2017. He said he used another consultant called Global Money Consultants to create that company. Paul also purchased a “bank” in Gambia, the smallest country on the African mainland but one with a large corruption problem, for years run by dictator Yahya Jammeh. Formations House chief Charlotte Pawar’s late father, Nadeem Khan, had convinced Jammeh to create an enterprise zone, which allowed the London firm to fashion a line of business registering offshore companies there. In an email to #29Leaks partners, O’Mara said he’d created more than 150 such banks in the Gambian offshore zone since 2013 for “wealthy families who want to handle their own finances.” The church doesn’t fit that description but O’Mara declined to discuss Paul’s offshore entities. Even though the Gambian enterprise zone was never fully authorized by the legislature there, banks sold for about $33,000 apiece today’s exchange rates, a price Paul didn’t dispute. Archbishop Paul created Global Dominion, but insisted the related “bank,” Dominion Bank & Trust Company Ltd., was never used. “We haven’t even operated from the Mediterranean Gambian license,” he said. “We paid a lot of money for it, but it was not something we used.” He later established Dominion Bank and Trust Company in the tax haven of the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean between Mozambique and Madagascar. It too hasn’t been used, he said . Paul purchased from Formations House a pre-existing shell company called Global Mortgages Ltd. British corporate registration documents show Paul as the main shareholder in 2017 but in 2018 and 2019 the company was threatened with dissolution. Global Mortgages Ltd. was going to be used as a vehicle to purchase real estate in Africa, he said, but the shell company was abandoned. “It was an idea that was kicked around” but never got off the ground, Paul said. Also registered under Paul’s name in Gambia was Dominion International Insurance Company. The idea, he said, was to create a captive insurer ⁠— an insurance company controlled by the insured. For larger companies, these are used to reduce costs by self-insuring a project while enjoying some tax breaks. But the IRS last year warned taxpayers about so-called micro-captive structures, popular with wealth planners and offshore services providers that “lack many of the attributes of genuine insurance.” Paul said his insurance company, referenced in the Swedish trust documents that he signed, was also never put into function. “Since we didn’t use the bank, we didn’t need that,” he said. BOLD CLAIMS Paul’s public profile isn’t — or wasn’t — completely accurate. In a LinkedIn page, he claims to have a Ph.D in education from American University. The school has no record of that. “My Ph.D is in street-ology,” he quipped when asked about the degree. Why was it on his LinkedIn profile? Someone else did the page for him, he said, “when you become the patriarch, things like that happen.” The LinkedIn references to a Ph.D in education and American University were subsequently removed. On his relationship with William Benson, Paul said he tapped Benson for his expertise and insight, well after the efforts had begun to expand church operations abroad. They were introduced through a friend working on a project involving Liberia, he said. Benson, 34, runs Billionaires Row, a champagne company that touts the high life. A seemingly strange bedfellow for an archbishop, Benson marketed a playboy image, boasted of his friendship with Hilton and associates say he claimed to have worked for Goldman Sachs. The investment bank hasno record of Benson having worked there. “We don’t have any involvement. I want to make that very clear. We don’t engage in any of those secular or non-humanitarian projects,” Paul said during a first interview together with Benson. Speaking of Benson, Paul added, “His primary role with the trust was to offer his expertise and help us obtain the necessary funding.” Funding that apparently did not happen, for use in offshore vehicles that were never actually used. In a subsequent interview without Benson, Paul acknowledged that he was aware of complaints against Benson. “We found that he didn’t work for Goldman Sachs. We found [that] he did not have the knowledge that he professed,” Paul said, adding that “we were the cleanest vehicle for him to attach himself.” ENTER FLO RIDA Flo Rida attorney Reginald Mathis confirmed that in November 2014 Benson and his Billionaires Row offered a deal. An ex-business associate familiar with the deal said it involved Flo Rida mentioning the imported champagne in a song and doing a promotional tour. “Things just never seemed to check out,” said Mathis, adding that, “he tried to put something together in 2015 with the Super Bowl, which never materialized. Flo advised that he was given product at some point, but he hasn’t had contact with Benson in years.” In an interview, Benson denied ever having extended a contract offer to Flo Rida or any other celebrity. “We don’t need any artist to do a song. We have many celebrities that promote the brand for free,” he said, adding that no celebrity “has invested a dime in the company.” The archbishop said he’d never heard of Flo Rida, whose real name is Tramar Lacel Dillard. The pitch to Flo Rida came before Benson got involved with Dominion. Paul said that he was unaware of Benson’s actions or his alleged outside sales pitches on behalf of Dominion to would-be investors. But on July 17, the website www.bankdominion.com issued a warning that Benson had no authority to “represent or bind” Dominion Bank and Trust, Ltd. “William Benson does not have authority to enter into contracts that bind the Dominion Bank and Trust, Ltd or create obligations on the part of the Dominion Bank and Trust, Ltd. without final approval of our compliance department,” read a notice on the home page. That page today is password protected. Benson said in the interview that it was he who ended ties with Paul after first getting offered the job of CEO of Dominion Bank. “I saw things that I didn’t want to be part of, so I stepped back,” he said, noting he broke with the archbishop last April or May. He declined to discuss what he saw that was worrisome and added he worked with Paul just for eight months and after the offshore entities were created. He also denied saying he worked at Goldman Sachs, noting he had worked at a division that was purchased by the giant bank. Several people claim Benson ripped them off. “He took $15,000 from me promising he could provide a lot of funding,” said Joseph Clarke, a real-estate investor and entrepreneur in Louisville, Kentucky, who hoped to develop a beachfront project in Honduras and mostly got a website and press release out of the effort. That money, which he said disappeared in 2014, was part of a wrongful death settlement after the death of his son, Clarke said. “It really left a bad taste in my mouth,” he said, adding, “I really wanted to see him fry.” Benson denied anything improper, saying that “I sent him an invoice and he paid it. I don’t work for free.” Jeremiah Patterson was stationed at Patrick Air Force Base near Cocoa Beach, Florida, when he was approached by Benson in 2013, who offered to invest in his prototype touch-screen technology. “He made it sound like he was a big tycoon,” said Patterson, noting that “he did mention offshore accounting and how he was looking to be part of an international banking corporation.” Patterson gave him a stake in the company, Taptl , in exchange for marketing and fundraising, and gave him a corporate American Express card. Soon afterward, Benson ran up the bills, he said, failing to even pay the card’s initiation fee. “I didn’t end up losing as much money as some other folks but it did set my business back by a year and a half,” said Patterson, now stationed in Georgia. “Keep in mind, I am a psychological specialist for the Air Force. I put him through the ringers and he had me convinced. That’s not an easy thing to do.” Benson denied running up credit card bills and provided an October 2014 Ohio court injunction against Patterson that prevented further disparagement. Patterson said his start-up couldn’t afford to appeal. A South Florida man who fell out with Benson shared a 15-page application for a corporate account with Bank Dominion and an unsigned letter of credit from Dominion Global, with its London address, promising $1.5 million with a lending rate of 4 percent . The man recalled briefly being introduced by phone to the archbishop in the middle of 2018, something Paul steadfastly denied. “He hopped on one call, said ‘hi’ for a moment,’ he said. “When they said archbishop, I assumed they meant the Catholic Church.” Emails viewed by McClatchy and the Herald show a New York FBI agent was made aware last summer of several complaints about Benson. An FBI spokesman in New York City declined to comment. Told about that, Benson provided what he said was a video of a recently videotaped conversation with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley at the United Nations, and said it showed he was not under a legal cloud. To view the original article, click here. Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight Aug 17, 2026 3 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Carolina M. Rosso “Pour faire de grandes choses, il ne faut pas être un si grand génie... Firm News Jun 23, 2026 3 minutes Sequor Law Welcomes Attorney Carolina M. Rosso to Its Expanding International Litigation and Asset Recovery Team Sequor Law is pleased to announce that Carolina M. Rosso has joined the firm as an Attorney. Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more..

Edward H. Davis Jr. and Nyana Miller describe wealth managers hiding marital assets offshore and how asset recovery lawyers pierce trusts and companies in divorce. Marital Asset Recovery: ‘Wealth Managers’ Assist Unscrupulous Men in Defrauding Their Wives Open Legal Insights Open January 23, 2018 4 minutes read Sequor Law Wealthy men are cheating on their wives—with their accountants and lawyers. They carry on these affairs in exotic locales known for banking secrecy and regulations that make it possible to hide billions of dollars in marital assets. By Edward H. Davis Jr. and Nyana Miller Wealthy men are cheating on their wives—with their accountants and lawyers. They carry on these affairs in exotic locales known for banking secrecy and regulations that make it possible to hide billions of dollars in marital assets. Even the most financially sophisticated wives and their divorce lawyers are often unable to keep up with the growing asset protection industry and the ruthless men to whom they cater. Combating this trend, divorce lawyers and defrauded ex-wives have turned to lawyers who specialize in piercing the opaque world of offshore companies and trusts to recover assets from high net worth individuals and those who assist them. The release of the “Panama Papers” and “Paradise Papers” exposed much of the “wealth management” industry and its clientele as co-conspirators in a high-stakes shell game to conceal trillions of dollars of assets from taxing authorities, corrupted government regimes, creditors and, increasingly, the clients’ own spouses. In “Capital Without Borders: Wealth Managers and the One Percent,” Brooke Harrington notes that “through wealth managers’ skillful use of tools such as trusts, foundations and corporations, the game of ‘now you see it, now you don’t’ can go on almost indefinitely …” Many firms now advertise “pre-divorce planning” services designed to transfer assets out of a spouse’s reach. These schemes may place marital assets into offshore companies and trusts in which the divorcing wife receives a one-half ownership interest, but no right to distributions. Then, while the ex-husband is drawing “consulting fees,” his ex-wife is handed a large year-end tax liability with no ability to pay it. The scheme concludes when the ex-husband disingenuously offers to buy the company interest back and pay the taxes—all at a fraction of what his ex-wife was entitled to receive. In these divorce cases, trusts, companies and other entities maintained by the husband to hold assets should be primary subjects of inquiry. Legitimate estate and tax planning does exist and most practitioners in the field are honest brokers of a vital service. However, for the unscrupulous, “estate planning” is but a euphemism to describe asset concealment to defraud unsuspecting wives and others. Once the seeds of marital discord have been sown, if the wife has not been involved in these transactions or communications, it is more than likely that the husband enlists the wealth management professionals to divest his wife from marital property. Divorce counsel should therefore explore the husband’s accounting and legal engagements, however brief or seemingly minor. Individuals Enlisted in the Schemes Are Often Key to Successful Settlements Men who engage in these schemes often fit a standard profile—narcissistic, with an inflated sense of self-importance and a complete lack of empathy. They are often highly intelligent and believe passionately that they are doing nothing wrong. They do not fight over money, for there is more than enough marital wealth for everyone to live comfortably. They engage in protracted litigation to exercise power over and to punish their ex-wives, to exert control over their children and to secure loyalty from their family members. However, because their schemes require trusted individuals to act as nominees for entities or accounts, these men often enlist friends and family members to carry out their asset concealment activities. One such husband pursued refused to pay child support and to satisfy a judgment for property division for millions of dollars. He was pursued through two jurisdictions before he settled abroad where his conduct was essentially legally condoned. He showered his children with lavish gifts, and insisted that they come to visit him before he would pay for educational expenses and even regular dental cleanings. He threatened to miss college graduations and other milestones in his children’s lives before he would pay his ex-wife as ordered by the court. He was confident that he and his family had squirreled away the marital wealth in an impenetrable offshore structure. However, by bringing claims against those that facilitated the scheme, which brought these seemingly more rational actors to the bargaining table, a significant global settlement was obtained. The bottom line is that the world does not end at a country’s borders. There are methods of pursuing offshore assets that are focused on flipping the leverage of the seemingly impenetrable offshore structure and forcing participants in the scheme to essentially “buy the judgment.” Divorce lawyers should reach out to networks of specialized asset recovery lawyers for assistance in navigating the underworld of global asset protection schemes. Edward H. Davis Jr. is a founding shareholder at Sequor Law who focuses his practice on the representation of individual, corporate and institutional victims of fraud throughout the world and executive director of ICC FraudNet. He may be reached at edavis@sequorlaw.com Nyana Miller is an attorney at Sequor Law who focuses her practice on international asset recovery and financial fraud. She may be reached at nmiller@sequorlaw.com Click to view full article. Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight Aug 17, 2026 3 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Carolina M. Rosso “Pour faire de grandes choses, il ne faut pas être un si grand génie... Firm News Jun 23, 2026 3 minutes Sequor Law Welcomes Attorney Carolina M. Rosso to Its Expanding International Litigation and Asset Recovery Team Sequor Law is pleased to announce that Carolina M. Rosso has joined the firm as an Attorney. Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more..