The story begins in London, where Belluzzo International Partners has been operating since 2009 under the leadership of Alessandro Belluzzo, who, as a barrister, has shaped the international evolution of the firm founded in Italy by his father in 1982.
After Brexit, the City has become less European and increasingly oriented towards Asia and the Middle East. It is in this context that Belluzzo Lewis Smith was born, the result of a partnership launched in 2021 with the English law firm Phillips Lewis Smith. The evolution of the alliance—culminating in the rebranding of 2023—marks the transition from an accounting firm to a multidisciplinary law firm, capable of integrating taxation, law, and asset consulting under a single vision.
This model of integration has strengthened the firm’s ability to operate in multiple jurisdictions—in the United Kingdom, in both reserved and non-reserved areas—and is now extending to the Gulf with the same objective: to offer international legal and tax advice in a common language, that of English law.
Abu Dhabi as a natural stronghold, Dubai as a hub
In December 2024, Belluzzo International Partners will open its new office in Abu Dhabi, the financial capital of the United Arab Emirates and a hub for sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and major international operators.
The office, led by barrister Alessandro Belluzzo, will house a team specializing in wealth, tax, and finance with the aim of offering international legal and tax advice to families and businesses in the Emirates who invest abroad or plan their assets on a global scale.
A few months later, in September, the firm consolidated its presence in the country with a partnership with Has Law Firm, led by Managing Partner Hamdan AlShamsi.
The agreement strengthens cross-border collaboration between Europe and the Middle East, combining Belluzzo’s international expertise in tax and wealth management with HAS Law Firm’s in-depth knowledge of local law and regulations.
In this new structure, Abu Dhabi represents the hub for international consulting, while Dubai becomes the natural operational connection point. Both hubs — ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market) and DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre) — are based on an English common law legal system, with autonomous courts and their own regulators.
This environment offers international investors and family offices familiar ground: rules, contracts, and procedures aligned with the Anglo-Saxon model on which Belluzzo has built his professional identity.
“We did it in London, and we’re doing it again here.”
Behind this expansion lies a replicable method.
In the UK, the firm has combined its tax expertise with local qualifications and a UK legal team; in the Emirates, the model is repeated, integrating local professionals, applicable law, and continuity of service between the two sides.
It is not a question of “opening a flag,” but of transferring a standard: the same quality of advice that a client finds in London, made available in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with the necessary adjustments to local practice, legal language, and regulations.
What families and businesses are looking for in the Emirates (and how they are supported)
The flow is twofold.
On the one hand, individuals and entrepreneurial families who are considering relocation (permits, Golden Visas, housing solutions, compliance) and wealth planning (DIFC/ADGM foundations, holding companies, SPVs). On the other hand, companies that intend to incorporate in the Free Zones or on the mainland, open accounts, find offices, and integrate accounting, tax, and legal services from day one.
The structure operates through Belluzzo International Partners and Trust & Wealth, coordinating its work with its partner HAS Law Firm for matters relating to Emirati law.
The advantage for the client is continuity: a single scope of assistance from Europe and the United Kingdom to the Emirates, with professionals qualified in key jurisdictions.
Why the United Arab Emirates is the new hub for international wealth management
Today, the Emirates offer an ecosystem that speaks the language of international wealth: zero personal income tax, 9% corporate tax, no inheritance tax, and over 40 Free Zones that allow full foreign ownership.
But for Belluzzo International Partners, the point is not just fiscal: it is cultural and legal, since both financial hubs – Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) – are governed by English law, the same regulatory framework on which the experience gained in London is based.
For a firm that was born and raised in that context, continuity is natural. It means replicating a proven model in an environment that shares its rules, mindset, and international vision.
Alongside its daily consulting activities, the firm also pursues a broader mission of wealth and cultural education, which extends to the world of sports, with attorney Belluzzo heading the Sports & Wealth Department at the European School of Economics.
The goal is to export the sensitivity to family and wealth governance developed in Europe to new hubs, adapting it to the values and needs of Gulf families.
Ultimately, the course remains the same: only the center of gravity changes.
Belluzzo International Partners has built a method in London—based on common law, qualified professionals, and a global vision—which it is now reproducing in the Emirates, with Abu Dhabi as its headquarters and Dubai as its hub.
This presence translates into a simple and consistent promise: to be where wealth moves, with rules that clients already know.
