HFW has launched an office in Monaco with the hire of a new team, led by partners Ian Cranston, Andrew Charlier and Marco Crusafio.

Ince team

The team, which also includes legal directors Ian Fisher and Ruth Monahan, associate George Kaye and trainee legal executive Laura Pike, specialise in shipping, yachts, business aviation, international trade, commodities, energy and insurance. They join HFW from Ince, where Mr Cranston was Monaco office head and Mr Charlier was global head of Yachts. HFW has added eight shipping partners and a senior consultant in the past four months, following a record internal promotions round and two recent hires in Singapore: former shipbroker Chris Jones and dry shipping expert Christopher Metcalf. Paul Dean, head of shipping at HFW, said “We've been interested in the Monaco market for quite some time.” Discussing the new team, Mr Dean explained “we were only ever going to make a move if we could bring them on board - they're the clear market leaders and we wouldn't settle for anything less. These hires further enhance our ability to provide first-class advice to shipping, maritime and yachting clients in key markets around the world, and illustrates our deep and longstanding commitment to the sector.”

Yacht practice

Jay Tooker, partner at HFW, said “This is a major development for our global yacht practice. It isn't every day that you get an opportunity to bring in the number one yacht team in Monaco, the centre of yachting in Europe. Andrew has vast experience and expertise, and rightly enjoys an outstanding reputation with clients across the industry.” Mr Cranston said, “We've always been impressed with HFW whenever we've worked together on matters, and look forward to helping the firm strengthen its position as the go-to advisor for the industry.” Richard Crump, global senior partner at HFW, said “Monaco has always had a strategic interest for us because of its strong trading, shipping and yachts business, which are core parts of our practice globally. The arrival of this excellent team will continue the significant international development of HFW.”