Stephen Abletshauser MA(Oxon), Dip. (ITM), TEP, STEP PPgD (PWA) | Solicitor / Director (COLP/COFA)
Stephen is a corporate lawyer. He holds a Masters in German and Linguistics from the University of Oxford. He was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in October 2006, and in the BVI in June 2008. In 2018, Stephen was admitted as a solicitor in Ireland.
Stephen trained at Weil Gotshal and Manges in London gaining expertise in the firm’s corporate, real estate, insolvency, litigation and securitization departments. Later, as a corporate associate solicitor at Withers LLP, Stephen worked on a range of tax-driven corporate deals involving the use of offshore trusts, companies and limited partnerships such as for the purchase of a major British football club, the purchase and financing of super yachts, and work with AIM listed companies. Much of the time he worked with the head of department on tax-planning and cross-border structuring for a Russia and CIS-centric multi-national mobile phone producer which he had brought to the firm.
In late 2008 Stephen founded the Palladium Group which he sold in 2019 to an LSE listed investment fund. The Palladium Group grew significantly from starting in Stephen’s flat and upon its sale consisted of a law firm in London and trust and corporate service providers in New Zealand, the BVI, Singapore and the Seychelles. While at Palladium, Stephen presented several seminars in London on the nexus between the offshore and onshore world, including with Mazars, and he has had articles published in the STEP Journal.
The Palladium Group established and managed companies, funds, trusts, LPs, LLPs in over 25 countries for UHNWIs and their families as well as for international law firms, investment funds, international trust companies, accounting firms and financial advisers. Since leaving Palladium and setting up Bayern Legal, Stephen has also accepted the role of legal adviser with SME Financial Advisors (www.smefinancialadvisors.com) in London which helps innovative start-ups secure finance and investments.
Stephen is a qualified Trust and Estate Practitioner (‘TEP’) having also completed the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (‘STEP’) diploma in International Trust Management (with distinction and an 80% grade average in 2011) as well as STEP’s inaugural postgraduate diploma in Private Wealth Advising (2017). Stephen speaks what he calls business acceptable German, Portuguese, and Spanish and understands enough written French, Italian and Dutch to be useful, or dangerous!