Shagin PartnersInternational Legal Advisory
Boutique International Legal Advisory

Where law meets
global capital.

We advise founders, investors, and privately held businesses on the structural and fiscal decisions that define long-term outcomes — across Spain, UK, Cyprus, UAE, and the US.

15+
Years of practice
5
Jurisdictions
200+
Structures closed
3
Practice groups
Our Approach

Precision over volume

We operate as a boutique — accepting fewer mandates in order to deliver more considered, partner-led counsel. Our work sits at the intersection of corporate law, international tax, and personal financial strategy.

Every engagement begins with a question: what structure best serves your specific situation in five years, not just today? The answer shapes everything that follows.

We work with founders at formation stage and follow them through fundraising, international expansion, and exit. We advise family offices on holding architecture, succession, and jurisdiction selection. And we guide investors through the structural and fiscal implications of cross-border deployment.

Our clients are typically dealing with complexity that general practice firms are not designed for — multiple jurisdictions, mixed income profiles, layered ownership structures. That is precisely where we do our best work.

Practice

What we do

Our practice spans four interconnected disciplines. In practice, most mandates draw on more than one.

01
Corporate Structuring
Design and implementation of holding structures across Delaware C-Corp, UK Ltd, Cyprus HoldCo, and UAE Free Zones. We build architecture that satisfies investor due diligence and remains efficient as the business scales. SPV formation for co-investment, real estate, and venture structures.
02
International Tax Planning
Cross-border tax advisory for founders, UBOs, and family offices — treaty analysis, dividend routing, capital gains planning, and IP structuring. We design structures that are both efficient and defensible. Substance requirements, BEPS compliance, and beneficial ownership transparency are built in from the outset.
03
Venture & Capital Markets
VC round documentation, SAFE notes, convertible instruments, and cap table design from seed through Series B. Term sheet negotiation, anti-dilution mechanics, investor rights, and pre-money valuation structuring. SPVs for venture co-investment and secondary transactions.
04
International Mobility
Residency and tax residency planning for founders and UBOs relocating across jurisdictions. Spain — Beckham Law, Startup Visa, No Lucrativa, Cuenta Propia. Cyprus Non-Dom. UAE zero-tax residency. Hybrid dual-jurisdiction structures. We coordinate the legal and tax dimensions of relocation end to end.
Tax Planning

International tax strategy

Tax planning at the international level is not about aggressive schemes. It is about understanding how different jurisdictions interact — and designing a structure that uses that interaction deliberately, transparently, and sustainably.

The most effective tax structures are those that would survive scrutiny from both the client's accountant and the relevant tax authority. Defensibility is not a constraint on planning — it is the foundation of it.

Our work in this area covers three distinct but overlapping areas: corporate tax efficiency, personal tax residency, and the interface between the two — which is where most of the complexity, and most of the opportunity, lives.

The Corporate Layer

Holding structure design — the choice of jurisdiction determines dividend treatment, capital gains profile, and participation exemption availability.

Cyprus HoldCo
12.5% corp tax · full share disposal exemption · broad treaty network
UAE Free Zone
0% corp tax · IP holding · investment portfolios
UK Ltd (Holding)
Clean holding vehicle · investor-credible · efficient dividend routing from EU subsidiaries
Delaware C-Corp
VC-standard · institutional investor ready · SAFE-compatible
The Personal Layer

Personal tax residency is often the highest-leverage decision a founder can make — reducing effective rates on capital gains, dividends, and carried interest without changing the underlying business.

Spain — Beckham Law
Flat rate on Spanish-source income · foreign income largely exempt · up to 6 years
Cyprus — Non-Dom
0% on dividends & interest · up to 17 years · 60-day presence rule
UAE — Zero Tax
No personal income tax · 183-day rule · genuine substance required
Delaware LLC — Pass-Through
Fiscally transparent · income taxed at member level · no entity-level US federal tax for non-US members
Where they meet
The Interface

The most consequential planning happens at the intersection of corporate structure and personal residency. A Cyprus HoldCo owned by a Beckham Law resident creates one profile; the same structure owned by a UAE resident creates another.

We model the full chain — from operating company profit through to net cash in the founder's hands — under each jurisdictional scenario. This is the work that generalist advisers rarely undertake.

Substance first
Treaty-aware design
BEPS-compliant
Exit-modelled from day one
Coverage

Jurisdictions

SpainCorporate law, international tax, Beckham Law advisory, Startup Act visas, No Lucrativa, Digital Nomad Visa, Cuenta Propia
CyprusHoldCo formation, Non-Dom residency, IP Box regime, participation exemption, treaty planning
UAEFree Zone entity formation, zero-tax residency, family office structuring, IP holding, DIFC advisory
United KingdomUK Ltd for tax-transparent investment vehicles, holding structures, visa and immigration advisory
United StatesDelaware C-Corp formation and governance, VC-ready documentation, SAFE instruments, cap table structuring
People

The team

We are a small team by design. Every client works directly with a senior adviser. We do not delegate client relationships to junior staff.

Managing Partner
Ivan Shagin
15+ years advising founders, family offices, and institutional investors on cross-border corporate law, international tax, and capital structuring across EU, UAE, and US markets. Lead adviser on all corporate and tax mandates.
LinkedIn
Senior Associate — Mobility
Specialist in Spanish, Cypriot, and UAE residency programmes. Advises on Beckham Law eligibility, Non-Dom planning, and the tax implications of founder relocation across jurisdictions.
LinkedIn
Crypto & Web3 Associate
Advises on crypto asset structuring, token issuance frameworks, DAO legal wrappers, and Web3 entity design. Experience with DeFi treasury management, NFT IP structures, and cross-border crypto tax positioning.
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Contact

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