Six leading bond market lawyers in the region are: Craiq Stoehr, Richard O’Callaghan, Anzal Mohammed, Debashis Dey, Rahail Ali and Harnek Shoker
Craiq Stoehr
Position: Partner, Latham & Watkins
Biography: Craiq Stoehr led the opening of Latham & Watkins office in Doha, Qatar in 2008. Within 12 months he had worked on probably more bond deals by value than anyone else in the market, completing the state of Qatar’s $7bn bond issue in November 2009, and its earlier $3bn deal. Stoehr also worked on a $2.3bn bond for Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company in 2009. His other clients include sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority, and state-owned Qatar Petroleum and Qatar Electricity & Water Company. Private sector clients include QInvest, Qatar Islamic Bank, and Commercial Bank of Qatar. He was also an adviser on the recent merger of Qatar Shipping and Qatar Navigation. In 2009, he worked on the deal with NYSE Euronext to create the Qatar Exchange. Prior to his Doha experience, Stoehr worked in the Dubai, Istanbul, New York, London, Paris and Milan offices of Latham & Watkins.
Contact Tel: (+974) 406 7731
Richard O’Callaghan
Position: Partner, Linklaters
Biography: Richard O’Callaghn joined Linklaters in Dubai in 2008, and worked on high-profile transactions in the region, including Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development & Investment Company’s $1bn sukuk issue in 2009, and its $1bn bond deal in the same year. He recently acted for the lead arrangers on Saudi real estate firm Dar al-Arkan’s $450m sukuk issue and is currently representing the lead arrangers on Bahrain’s sovereign bond. O’Callaghan has experience of working on hybrid instruments and convertible bonds, and helping firms to run liability management exercises, where they look to alter the terms of capital markets liabilities. He is also currently working on a deal to launch the first Islamic projects bond and a rights issue by a Gulf-based corporate. O’Callaghan has been with Linklaters since 1996 and has worked at its London and Hong Kong offices. He has a degree in jurisprudence from Oxford University.
Contact Tel: (+971) 4369 5841
Anzal Mohammed
Position: Partner, Allen & Overy
Biography: In 2009, Anzal Mohammed advised on the world’s largest sovereign sukuk, the Dubai government’s $2bn issue. He has a strong track-record of working on bond and sukuk deals with the Abu Dhabi and Ras al-Khaimah governments, and state-backed corporates such as Mubadala Development Company, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority, and the Dubai International Financial Centre. Mohammed has worked on issues for lenders in the region, including Dubai Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Emirates Islamic Bank (part of Emirates NBD), Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Commercial Bank of Qatar. A large part of Mohammed’s work is in the Islamic finance area. Most recently, he worked on the $450m Dar al-Arkan sukuk and the $500m GE Capital sukuk, the first international Islamic bond to be listed on Nasdaq Dubai.
Contact Tel: (+971) 4426 7115
Debashis Dey
Position: Partner and head of debt capital markets, Clifford Chance
Biography: As head of debt capital markets since 2006, Debashis Dey has been involved in many of the region’s largest and most innovative bond and sukuk deals. Dey was involved in state-owned Dubai Electricity & Water Authority’s raising of more than $1bn in 2007, one of the first deals that saw a company sell off income from receivables through a securitisation deal. Dey has also worked on the $3.5bn sukuk to finance state-backed DP World’s acquisition of ports operator P&O; a $3.5bn Nakheel sukuk; the establishment of a bond programme by Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Development Bank; and a $800m sukuk issue by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation. Dey’s other clients include Saudi Electricity Company, Emirates Bank, Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority, and Kuwait’s United Real Estate Company. Previously, Dey was based in the London office of Clifford Chance.
Contact Tel: (+971) 4362 0624
Rahail Ali
Position: Partner and global head of Islamic finance, Lovells
Biography: Rahail Ali is the joint local managing partner of Lovells’ Dubai office and he is a specialist in Islamic finance deals. Ali was involved in the $750m sukuk issued by the Bahrain government in 2009, a $1bn sukuk issued by Dubai government, a $2.04bn sukuk issued by state-owned Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority, and a $1bn sukuk for the UAE’s Dana Gas. More recently, Ali advised the International Finance Cooperation, part of the Washingon-headquartered World Bank, on the issue of a $100m sukuk that was listed on the Nasdaq Dubai. He has also been involved in some innovative deals, including the first ever sukuk buy-back by Dubai Islamic Bank in May 2009. His key clients include the UK’s HSBC and Standard Chartered. Ali also sits on the British government’s panel of Islamic finance experts.
Contact Tel: (+971) 4304 5517
Harnek Shoker
Position: Head of the Bahrain office of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Biography: Although a project finance lawyer, Harnek Shoker has acted as legal adviser on the most recent bond issue to come out of the region – Bahrain’s $1bn-plus sovereign bond. The deal is expected to play a major role in opening up the debt markets to future issuance for other regional corporates after several issues struggled to get investor interest earlier in the year. It should also pave the way for more Bahraini firms to start issuing bonds. Shoker has been in the Middle East since 2005, and is currently working with the Bahrain government on several projects. In 2009, he completed the legal work for the government on the Aldur independent water and power project. Previously, he has been based in the firm’s London and Singapore offices. Shoker also has extensive experience as financial adviser on major infrastructure and energy projects.
Contact Tel: (+973) 1713 4334
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