DLA Piper builds up Islamic finance practice

The lawyers, Abdulaziz Al Bosaily, Adil Hussain and Saqib Awan will work with Oliver Agha, who joined DLA Piper in February as Global Head of Islamic Finance. The new appointments reinforce DLA Piper's commitment to develop a leading Islamic finance practice.

Abdulaziz Al Bosaily is a Saudi-qualified lawyer, who previously worked for Al-Jadaan Law Firm, the Clifford Chance affiliate office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He has extensive experience advising multinational and Saudi corporations in relation to M&As, foreign direct investment, incorporations, privatisations, compliance and regulatory regimes, and has worked on some of the largest Islamic financing deals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Abdulaziz's experience includes advising on the US$8.5 billion petrochemical project at Rabigh, the largest project financing in Saudi Arabia to date, and the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation's (SABIC) project, the first-ever sukuk approved by the Capital Market in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for the aggregate issue of SR3 billion (US$800 million). Abdulaziz officially joined in March 2007 as a legal director.

Adil Hussain is a UK-qualified lawyer who formerly headed the Islamic finance group at Norton Rose in Bahrain before being recruited by DLA Piper. Adil is widely recognised as a rising star and has advised many of the leading banks in Bahrain including Calyon, Gulf International Bank BSC, Bahrain Islamic Bank BSC, Al Amin Bank BSC and Kuwait Finance House. Adil advises on a wide range of Shari'ah legal structures including murabaha, ijara mawsufah fi al-dhimmah (Islamic forward leasing), mudaraba, ijarah and syndicated musharaka muntanakisa financing. He recently advised a bank syndicate on the first-ever multi-million dollar cross-border syndicated musharaka muntanakisa securitisation facility, to enable a Saudi corporate to obtain off-balance-sheet Islamic financing to further expand its car-financing business. Adil will join DLA Piper in June 2007 as a senior legal consultant.

Saqib Awan, a Pakistan-qualified lawyer, will join the DLA Piper's Islamic Finance Group from the Alliance Law Firm in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saqib has advised on the implementation of a wide range of investment structures including Shari'ah compliant products for banks and corporations and multi-million dollar Islamic tranches. Saqib received a bachelor of law degree from the International Islamic University in Pakistan in Shari'ah and Common Law. He will officially join DLA Piper on 1 May 2007 as a legal consultant.

Commenting on the new appointments Oliver Agha, Global Head of Islamic Finance, said: 'I am very pleased that these well-known Islamic finance lawyers have chosen to join DLA Piper, it is an honour for them to be part of our growing team. The Islamic Finance Group at DLA Piper already has a number of lawyers that are working on Islamic finance matters and the new arrivals will significantly broaden our experience base in providing responsive and commercially viable advice to our clients.'

David Church, DLA Piper's Regional Managing Partner for the Middle East, said: 'Each of these individuals were highly sought after and I am delighted they turned down other opportunities and approached us in order to join Oliver's team. We are now attracting some of the best and brightest Islamic financiers on the market; lawyers that have worked on structures that are subject to stricter scrutiny from the Shari'ah Boards. Under Oliver's leadership we are building a global Islamic Finance Group which will be led from Dubai and supported by our offices in Europe, Asia and the US.'