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International Edition

Simmons appoints Middle East finance chief as former head returns to London

Simmons & Simmons has appointed a new Middle East finance head as City partner Philip Abbott returns to London after his secondment to the region. The Middle East financial markets group will now be overseen by Qatar partner Samer Eido, who has been at Simmons since 2005 and is based in the Doha office. Eido's practice is focused on general banking law, corporate lending, trade finance, real estate finance, debt restructuring and refinancing with a focus on conventional and Islamic structured finance. He also advises on capital markets.
2 minute read

International Edition

From Paris to Africa

Crushed frogs. That's what a witch doctor in Zaire slathered on Jean-Claude Petilon's legs a few hours before he played his first game with a local basketball team. "The frog lotion would make us jump higher," Petilon recalls. Today, a photograph of the team hangs on the wall of Petilon's Paris office, which is off a courtyard near the Opera Garnier. Petilon, a French national, is the only white man in the picture. When it was taken in 1974, he was a young lawyer who had been dispatched to Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire - now the Democratic Republic of Congo - to open an office for what was then Duncan Allen & Mitchell.
12 minute read

International Edition

Linklaters and A&O win roles on $14bn Saudi oil financing deal

Linklaters and Allen & Overy (A&O) have taken lead roles on the $14bn (£9.3bn) financing of Saudi Aramco Total Refinery and Petrochemical Company's (SATORP) Jubail refinery in Saudi Arabia. A&O advised SATORP - which is 62.5% owned by Saudi Aramco and 37.5% owned by French oil giant Total - fielding a team led by finance partner Bimal Desai alongside construction partner Nigel Pritchard, while Zeyad Khoshaim of Saudi association firm Abdul Aziz Al Gassim provided advice on Saudi law.
2 minute read

International Edition

RBS names Dentons partner as Middle East and Africa head of legal

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has appointed its first Middle East and Africa head of legal with the hire of Denton Wilde Sapte banking partner Sarah Byrch. Byrch, who was based in Dentons' Oman office, took on the position permanently at the end of last month after having been seconded to RBS in Dubai since February 2009 as head of legal for the Middle East.
2 minute read

International Edition

CC's Wellings set for Dubai move in Middle East corporate push

Clifford Chance (CC) City partner Nigel Wellings is set to relocate to Dubai next week (30 June) as the magic circle firm moves to boost its corporate offering in the region. Wellings has spent his entire legal career with CC, having joined as a trainee in 1995, qualified as a solicitor in 1997 and joined the partner rank in 2006.
2 minute read

International Edition

Freshfields and Linklaters take lead roles on RBS's sale of UAE assets

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) on its acquisition of the Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) retailing business in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), marking the first purchase of its kind by a UAE bank. The deal, which is valued at around $100m (£67.5m), is subject to UAE Central Bank approval.
2 minute read

International Edition

CC hands litigation partner Lovett second term as Middle East chief

Clifford Chance (CC) has reelected its Gulf managing partner with litigator Graham Lovett set to serve another term as the leader of the magic circle firm's Middle East practice. The appointment came after CC partners in the region voted in favour of handing Lovett a second term. He was first voted into the role in 2005, and his new term will last for four years from 1 July.
2 minute read

International Edition

Commentary: After the downfall, chastened Dubai adjusts to the times

Dubai, the gaudiest of financial centres, has lived its short existence in the glare of public life. As such, it was inevitable that the default of Dubai World would not only teach the emirate a chastening lesson but provide a singularly public restructuring. However, as Dubai World's workout looks to be reaching some sort of conclusion with the announcement last month that the state-owned conglomerate has reached a deal to restructure £16bn worth of debt, thoughts must now turn to how much damage has been sustained to its reputation and its chances of restoring former glories. In many ways, the news could have been worse. There is still plenty going for Dubai and the emirate remains the place from which many law firms are choosing to target the rest of the region. It is true that recent years have seen a greater flow of investment from law firms into other markets, but Dubai has a major head start on rival markets and is by far the largest international centre for professional services in the region.
3 minute read

International Edition

Gaining authority - Corporate Counsel Forum Middle East

On the face of it, the Dubai Financial Services Authority's (DFSA's) investigation into the misuse of assets belonging to the jeweller Damas makes very grim reading for anyone championing corporate governance in the Gulf. The three brothers who controlled the listed business were ordered to repay DH365m (£69m) and nearly two tonnes of gold they had taken from the company for personal use. Among the sanctions imposed by the DFSA - its toughest to date - was the removal of the company's entire board of non-executive directors.
5 minute read

International Edition

Bird & Bird Middle East debut gets approval from partnership

Bird & Bird is set to launch its first Middle East office after partners approved plans for a base in Abu Dhabi last week. The expansive City firm filed an application to practise in Abu Dhabi earlier this week following a firmwide vote, which closed last Friday (21 May) with a vast majority of partners backing the plans.
2 minute read

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