Christian Hernandez

Partner

Meet Christian's team

Christian is acknowledged as one of the leading lawyers in Gibraltar in the fields of corporate and real estate and shipping finance, banking and financial services. He has been named as a leading lawyer in these fields by Chambers and Partners, the European Legal 500, IFLR 1000 and Global Counsel 3000 amongst others. He regularly acts for and advises Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar.

He has been the leading partner in a large number of substantial international transactions ranging from mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and management buyouts, corporate and structured finance, regulatory issues and enforcement of security and has acted in some of the highest value, most complex and sensitive transactions involving Gibraltar Companies. Among others he represents major European and American high street and investment banks, institutional asset managers, alternative lenders, property developers, insurance companies and PLCs.

Following 10 years as a director of the Gibraltar of Commerce, Christian was appointed President in May 2013 a post which he undertook until 2022.

Christian undertakes transactional work with a focus on complex high value finance transactions mainly on behalf of lenders and principally on the instructions of magic circle and silver circle firms. He is ranked as a “Highly Regarded” lawyer (the highest ranking and one of only 4 lawyers in Gibraltar) by IFLR 1000 – the guide to the world’s leading financial and corporate law firms and also ranked in Chambers and the Legal 500 for his banking and finance work.

Relevant recent experience:

  • Acting for Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar in a £75 Million financing with The Royal Bank of Scotland International.
  • Advising Natwest, Santander, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, JPM  and Lloyds Bank Plc in relation to the Gibraltar law aspects of  the financing of the US$10 billion global merger between The Stars Group with Flutter Entertainment creating the biggest online gaming group in the world.
  • Acted as lead Gibraltar counsel for Valaris PLC, the largest offshore drilling and well drilling company in the world, as part of a US$500 Million restructure with certain of its noteholders, to equitise existing financial debt, reorganise its financial structure and substantially reduce its debt load.
  • Advising Barclays bank plc in relation to the Gibraltar law aspects of a US $50,000,000 financing of the 888 group of companies. 888 plc which sits at the top of the group is a Gibraltar company.
  • Advising 3 leading retail banks in relation to the Gibraltar Business Loan Disruption Guarantee Scheme. The scheme was designed to provide finance to qualifying borrowers whose business had been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to his corporate practice, Christian is recognised internationally for his work in admiralty and shipping law and his portfolio of clients include the International Transport Workers Federation, P&I Clubs, banks and shipowners. In the last 5 years he has been involved in the majority of admiralty cases in Gibraltar.

In the period since January 2017, Christian has succeeded in obtaining in rem judgments on behalf of clients totalling over US$1 Billion. Christian has published numerous articles on ship arrests and is the author of the Gibraltar chapter of the book “Ship Arrests in Practice” which is a leading international publication on ship arrest.

He has spoken in international shipping conferences, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Spain and is a regular speaker at the Lloyd’s Ship Arrest Seminar which is organised by the Lloyd’s Maritime Academy as well as conferences organised by Shiparrested.com, the world’s largest network of ship arrest lawyers.

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Accreditations

  • ‘Clients highlight his financial knowledge and experience in M&A and regulation.’

    Chambers Global

  • ‘Undoubtedly one of the heavyweights in the sector.’

    THE LEGAL 500

  • ‘Christian Hernandez is highly recommended for real estate finance, banking, structured finance and financial services.’

    THE LEGAL 500

  • ‘Christian is user-friendly and gets the job done efficiently.’

    Chambers Global

  • ‘He knows his market extremely well; I like the way he works and I enjoy working with him.’

    IFLR 1000

Memberships & Background

Memberships

  • Honourable Society of the Middle Temple
  • The Gibraltar Law Council
  • The Association of Fellows and Legal Scholars of the Centre for International Legal Studies
  • President of the Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce (2013-2022)

Background

2017: Partner, ISOLAS LLP
2007: Partner, ISOLAS
2001: Partner, Isola & Isola
1995: Called to the Bar of England and Wales and the Gibraltar Bar

Christian Hernandez Get in touch

Christian's team: Shakira Marsh-Finch