Clyde and Co affiliates with Abdulaziz A. Al-Bosaily law office in Riyadh

Abdulaziz Al-Bosaily is an experienced Islamic finance specialist who has worked on some of the largest deals in Saudi Arabia. He was formerly General Counsel of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), before becoming a senior member of the Projects Team at Clifford Chance's affiliate Saudi Arabian law firm, and subsequently Co-Head of DLA Piper's Saudi Practice Group. In May 2008 he established an independent Saudi law office in Riyadh, prior to affiliating with Clyde & Co in early 2009.

Clyde & Co is one of the major international law firms in the GCC with over 160 specialist lawyers and paralegals operating as a single unit from offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, and Doha in Qatar.

Jonathan Silver, Head of Clyde & Co's Middle Eastern practice described the association as "an exceptional opportunity" and as marking "another phase of Clyde & Co's regional development".

Silver said:

"Abdulaziz and Clyde & Co have entered into this affiliation after extensive discussion. There is a very strong alignment of values, approach and agreement over development plans. We are already seeing the benefits of this relationship for our client-base."

Abdulaziz agreed, "Clyde & Co's long history and clearly demonstrated commitment to the region epitomises our strong strategic alignment and adds further impetus to our arrangement. There are a vast number of Saudi clients for whom this sort of background and commitment, and the expertise that goes with it, is very important."

The firm will be making several secondments to Riyadh over coming months, alongside other announcements.

Clyde & Co partner Peter Hodgins, who was part of the Islamic finance team that left DLA in a high-profile departure in 2008 and who subsequently joined Clyde & Co in Dubai, formerly worked with Abdulaziz and lauds him as "a fantastic addition to our offering in the region".

"I'm very excited about the prospects of this new relationship - with Clyde & Co's regional presence, market-position and breadth of resource, and Abdulaziz's stature in the market and expertise in Islamic finance, this represents a compelling complement to Clyde & Co's already strong Corporate and Financial Services practices, quite aside from the added benefits for the firm of associates 'on-the-ground' in Saudi Arabia," he added.

Abdulaziz advises on ground-breaking Islamic finance structures and major project finance deals with clients ranging from petrochemical companies to banks. In addition to advising on some of the largest Islamic financing deals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, he has extensive experience advising both multinational and Saudi corporations in relation to foreign direct investments, compliance and regulatory regimes.

Abdulaziz's experience includes serving as senior Saudi counsel to ECA's conventional and Islamic lenders in connection with a $8.5bn petrochemical project (which was recognised as 'Project Finance Deal of the Year' by IFLR), the $526m polypropylene Al Waha project (awarded Middle East Islamic Deal of the Year by Project Finance Magazine) and the first ever Sukuk approved by the Capital Market Authority in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (which was awarded 'Deal of the Year' by Islamic Finance News).