The ASJ Group Journal

Insights, guides & briefings.

Working papers from our directors on cross-border structuring, banking, licensing, mobility and tax. Long-form guides for the topics that repay careful reading; short briefings when the news moves.

RSS
Category
Sort

Latest

Newest first
BVI or Cayman in 2026: a practical comparison, not a brochure
GuideJurisdictions

BVI or Cayman in 2026: a practical comparison, not a brochure

Both are stable, English-law, zero-tax jurisdictions with strong professional infrastructure — and they are not interchangeable. This guide compares the BVI and the Cayman Islands on the criteria that actually decide the answer: use case, cost, banking, funds, substance and exit.

3 Aug 2026 10 min
Mid-year structuring report 2026: what is working, what has stopped working
ReportStructuring

Mid-year structuring report 2026: what is working, what has stopped working

Six months of filings, applications and restructurings, summarised. This report sets out which structures are still doing their job in 2026, which have quietly stopped, where the friction has moved, and what we would build differently today than we would have in 2023.

3 Aug 2026 10 min
EU payment rails in 2026: EMI, PI, CASP — and which one you actually need
GuideFintech

EU payment rails in 2026: EMI, PI, CASP — and which one you actually need

Founders routinely apply for the wrong European licence and lose eighteen months finding out. EMI, payment institution, CASP and the incoming PSD3 perimeter authorise different things, cost different amounts and open different banking doors. This guide maps activity to licence, and licence to rails.

3 Aug 2026 10 min
Corporate banking appetite, August 2026: who is saying yes this quarter
BriefingBanking

Corporate banking appetite, August 2026: who is saying yes this quarter

Account opening is not uniformly hard — it is hard in specific places, for specific profiles, for reasons that change quarter to quarter. This briefing sets out where corporate accounts are actually being approved in August 2026, which profiles are being declined on sight, and how to sequence an application so the first bank is the one that says yes.

3 Aug 2026 9 min
UAE free zones in 2026: which ones still make sense, and for what
BriefingJurisdictions

UAE free zones in 2026: which ones still make sense, and for what

There are more than forty free zones in the UAE and they are not comparable. This briefing sets out which zones work for which activity in 2026, how the qualifying free zone person rules constrain the 0% rate, and when mainland is simply the better answer.

2 Aug 2026 10 min
The 15% floor: who Pillar Two actually catches, and who thinks they are caught but is not
BriefingTax

The 15% floor: who Pillar Two actually catches, and who thinks they are caught but is not

The global minimum tax applies to groups above a €750m consolidated revenue threshold — yet it is reshaping decisions far below that line, often wrongly. This briefing separates who is genuinely in scope, what the top-up mechanics do, and how mid-sized groups should read it.

2 Aug 2026 9 min
iGaming in 2026: licensing, acquiring and the payments chain that decides your margin
GuideiGaming

iGaming in 2026: licensing, acquiring and the payments chain that decides your margin

An iGaming licence is the easy part. The hard part is card acquiring, payment service providers, chargeback ratios and the banking chain behind them. This guide sets out how licence choice constrains payments, and how to sequence a launch so the rails exist before the product does.

2 Aug 2026 10 min
Multi-bank redundancy: why one account is now a single point of failure
GuideBanking

Multi-bank redundancy: why one account is now a single point of failure

De-risking exits arrive by email with thirty days' notice and no appeal. A single banking relationship is now an operational risk in its own right. This guide sets out how to build a two- or three-bank architecture across different jurisdictions, regulators and correspondent networks — and what it costs to run.

2 Aug 2026 10 min
Pre-exit housekeeping: the eighteen months that decide what you keep
GuideFounders

Pre-exit housekeeping: the eighteen months that decide what you keep

Value is lost at exit in diligence, not in negotiation. This guide sets out what to fix eighteen months before a sale — cap table, IP ownership, intercompany agreements, residence and tax position — and which of those changes stop being available once a buyer is in the room.

1 Aug 2026 11 min
Launching a fund in H2 2026: vehicle, domicile and the cost curve
BriefingFunds

Launching a fund in H2 2026: vehicle, domicile and the cost curve

Sub-$50m first-time funds are being squeezed from both ends — investor due diligence has institutionalised while running costs have risen. This briefing sets out which vehicles still work at what size, how Cayman, Luxembourg and ADGM compare in practice, and when a fund is the wrong answer entirely.

1 Aug 2026 9 min
CARF: what crypto data starts moving, and when
BriefingCompliance

CARF: what crypto data starts moving, and when

The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework turns exchange balances and transactions into automatically exchanged tax information. Forty-six jurisdictions are committed to first exchanges by 2027, a further group by 2028. This briefing sets out who reports, what is reported, and what to fix in the window that remains.

1 Aug 2026 9 min
The currency problem nobody prices: matching assets to the life you actually live
ArticleWealth Management

The currency problem nobody prices: matching assets to the life you actually live

A portfolio measured in dollars while school fees, mortgages and retirement are denominated in three other currencies is carrying an unmanaged risk larger than most of its market exposure. This article sets out how we think about currency for internationally mobile families — and why hedging everything is the wrong answer.

31 Jul 2026 9 min
Browse by topic
Working with ASJ Group

Every insight starts as a real client file.

If a piece here maps to your situation, the fastest next step is a director call — written diagnosis in five business days, fixed-fee from the first line.