GIBRALTAR Law and Practice Contributed by: Emma Lejeune, Stuart Dalmedo, Nicholas Isola, James Castle and Louise Anne Turnock, ISOLAS LLP
ence in every court, and barristers can be ”act - ing solicitors”. This results in practitioners with a diverse skill set who are all client-facing and able to conduct litigation or non-contentious work without restriction. The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) regulates the legal services industry in Gibraltar. The Law and Brexit EU law formerly applied in Gibraltar pursuant to Article 355 (3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, as it was considered a territory over whose relations a member state (ie, the UK, when it was a member state) was responsible. Following the end of the Brexit transition period, Gibraltar has retained certain EU legislation (subject to modifications where necessary) in a similar manner to the UK, by vir - tue of Gibraltar’s European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2019 (EUWA). The EUWA repeals Gibraltar’s European Communities Act 1972 and provides for the continuing validity of legislation passed or made for the purposes of complying with obliga - tions derived from EU law. By virtue of the UK opting out of the Schengen Agreement, Gibraltar is also not a part of this agreement, as is the case with the single curren - cy of the EU’s Economic and Monetary Union, resulting in the Gibraltar pound sterling (GIP) being the local currency; this is pegged to, and exchangeable with, the British pound sterling (GBP) at par value. Gibraltar is also exempted from the EU customs union, and the common agricultural policy. Although a Gibraltar Brexit deal was finalised on 31 December 2020, only hours before the UK was due to leave the EU, additional conditions are still being negotiated, at the time of writing. The government of Gibraltar has warned Gibral -
tar citizens to prepare for the possibility of a non- negotiated outcome in the event that it is not possible to conclude a treaty between the UK and the EU on the future relationship of Gibraltar. Such a possible “hard-Brexit” scenario would have a negative impact on a number of areas, including movement of goods and persons, cross-border healthcare, driving and telecom - munications, among others. In a best case and ”soft-Brexit” scenario, Gibraltar hopes to main - tain fluidity at its land border with Spain, and could be included under the terms of the Schen - gen Agreement, although it is not expected to be fully integrated within the Schengen information databases maintained by the European Com - mission. 2. Restrictions on Foreign Investments 2.1 Approval of Foreign Investments In Gibraltar, there is no distinction between for - eign and domestic investment. In general, there are no restrictions on foreign or domestic share - holders. However, certain financial services, gaming and telecommunications businesses do require pre-authorisation from a regulator regarding their shareholders to ensure that the shareholders are reputable persons and meet applicable fitness and proprietary requirements. 2.2 Procedure and Sanctions in the Event of Non-Compliance Generally, an application would have to be made to the relevant regulator (for example, the Gibral - tar Financial Services Commission in relation to a financial services business) as part of the wider application for the issuance of a licence in connection with the proposed activities. This sets out the details of the proposed shareholder, source of wealth, details regarding the fitness
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