Norton Rose announces three new partners to relocate to Middle East

Global Head of Islamic Finance, Neil D Miller will join the Dubai office and corporate finance partner, Alan Bainbridge and asset finance partner, Emma Giddings, will both move to the office in Abu Dhabi.

All three partners expect to be in their new locations with effect from the end of March 2009.

Peter Martyr, Chief Executive Officer, Norton Rose Group commented, "We have been active in the Middle East for over 30 years and these moves are evidence of our continued strong commitment to the region. I am certain they will add strength to our already strong practices in the region."

Campbell Steedman, Managing Partner, UAE at Norton Rose (Middle East) LLP, said, "Notwithstanding the downturn in the international markets, from which the Middle East has not been isolated, we continue to have a strong established business in the region, and look forward to the arrival of Alan, Emma and Neil - all of whom have strong existing practices in the region."

Neil D Miller

Having previously spent five years running the office in Bahrain, Neil D Miller specialises in Islamic products covering different asset types, investment classes and industry sectors. Neil helps clients to create Shariah-compliant instruments for banking and investment purposes, for asset and wealth management purposes and to provide hedging and risk mitigation solutions. He also advises on cross-border Shariah compliant transactions and regularly examines Shariah governance and regulatory issues and advises on the establishment of Shariah supervisory boards.

Neil has also advised on several Sukuk transactions and was appointed by HM Treasury in the UK to advise them on their recent examination of Sukuk for a T-bill issue and remains a member of the Islamic Finance Experts Group (advisers to the UK Government).

Neil's return to the Middle East follows the promotion of Davide Barzilai in May 2008 and the arrival of partner Farmida Bi from Denton Wilde Sapte. Farmida is a specialist in capital and equity capital markets transactions including Islamic finance and securitisations and Davide Barzilai has substantial expertise in Islamic and conventional asset finance, Islamic treasury management and Islamic project/property finance. Examples of recent high quality Islamic finance work that the Norton Rose Islamic Finance Group has advised on includes the Shariah compliant financing of Chelsea Barracks and the Shard of Glass at London Bridge.

Neil is the founder of Norton Rose Group's global Islamic finance practice, ranked tier 1 in both Chambers UK 2009 and Legal 500 UK 2008 legal directories, and recent winner of 'Best Law Firm in Islamic Finance' in the Islamic Finance News Awards poll 2008 and Best Law Firm 2008 in the Islamic Business and Finance Awards.

Alan Bainbridge

Alan Bainbridge is a corporate finance partner specialising in international mergers & acquisitions. Alan has been involved in a large number of projects across Europe and the Middle East as well as Asia, having previously spent a period in Norton Rose's Hong Kong office. The relocation to Abu Dhabi will move Alan closer to his existing client base in the Middle East and provide additional support for the ongoing growth of the regional corporate practice.

Emma Giddings

London-based asset finance partner Emma Giddings is set to move to Abu Dhabi. Her principal area of practice is asset finance and leasing, particularly of aircraft, ships and rolling stock. Emma acts for financial institutions, lessees and lessors on a wide range of transactions including operating, finance and tax leases, manufacturer purchase agreements, sale and leasebacks, secured lending, Islamic leases and export credit supported transactions. The relocation to Abu Dhabi will enable Emma to better serve her clients in the Middle East and India and to strengthen further Norton Rose's asset finance and leasing practice in the region.

The three relocations follow the August 2008 appointment of Andrew Lewis as corporate finance partner in the Dubai office. Norton Rose (Middle East) LLP will now have 14 partners based in the region.

Norton Rose Group has been active in the Middle East since 1979. We have offices in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai, and Riyadh (in association with The Abdulaziz Al-Assaf Law Firm). Norton Rose Group's client base comprises of regional and multinational corporations, financial institutions, government, quasi-government entities and sovereign funds.