Paradigm Governance bolsters team with senior independent director

Paradigm Governance Partners, a governance and financial services firm with a presence in the Cayman Islands and the US, has bolstered its expanding team by announcing the appointment of a new, very senior and experienced independent director.

William Woods joins Paradigm as a professional independent director with a strong legal background. Over the past 20 years, he has served on the boards of hedge funds, fund of funds, and general partners of various investment structures. Woods brings a wealth of international securities market experience and specific corporate governance expertise and, in addition to his independent directorships, he has served as an Independent Review Committee (IRC) member for many Canadian investment funds. He currently serves on several IRCs and is the chair of two IRCs.

Woods has an in-depth knowledge of the Offshore world, in general, and the Cayman Islands’ legal, regulatory and governance regime, in particular. He has lived and worked in the UK, Hong Kong, Bermuda, and Canada and has been registered as a Professional Director by CIMA in the Cayman Islands since 2014. 

Before becoming a governance expert, Woods practiced securities law in Hong Kong with the global law firm, Linklaters, and (through a secondment) became the acting in-house counsel for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. He then co-founded The International Securities Consultancy in HK. In 1995, He moved to Bermuda to take up a position as CEO of the Bermuda Stock Exchange. Woods has also advised many other stock exchanges and has advised Governments and Supra-National Aid agencies on the development of securities laws and financial services in several countries.

In 2004, Woods co-founded Independent Review, which provides specialist fund governance services to public investment funds and private hedge funds in Canada. He sold the business in 2019.

Woods was educated in the UK and obtained an LLB from the University of Manchester, UK. He trained as a solicitor (admitted in England, Wales and Hong Kong) and has been admitted as a Barrister and Attorney in Bermuda.  He obtained the ICD.D from the Institute of Corporate Directors in June 2017.

Geoff Ruddick, Partner, Paradigm Governance Partners, said:

“We are delighted to welcome William into the Paradigm team. We believe his seniority and broad legal/governance expertise will further round out the existing skillsets and experience we have here at Paradigm. Our unique offering, based on a collaborative approach and quality client service, continues to set the standard in the offshore industry, generating further growth for the firm and the need to continue to recruit and attract professional independent directors of this calibre.”