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Press Releases
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UAE legal analysis, insights and news brought to you by Hadef & Partners.
May 2010, DUBAI
DISPUTE RESOLUTION | HADEF IN THE UAE COURTS
Monthly report based on practical experience of our team
of advocates in the courts of the UAE. This month, Tarik El-Bakri
reviews the Federal Court of Cassation judgment No. 682/2009 which
highlights the benefits of registering trade marks in the UAE.
CORPORATE | CORPORATE GOVERNANCE COMMITTEES MANDATORY
FOR UAE LISTED COMPANIES
A significant number of new requirements were placed on
companies listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange and Dubai Financial
Market when the SCA corporate governance guidelines became effective
on 30 April 2010. Tim Travers explores the concept of committees,
using best practice examples from Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.
INSURANCE | NEW RULES ON THE PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE AND
ETHICS OF INSURANCE COMPANIES ISSUED
Following the promulgation of Federal Law No.6, Establishing
the Insurance Authority and Regulations of Insurance Operations
in 2007, the regulation of the insurance sector became vested in
the Emirates Insurance Authority. Dina Mahdi explains the main changes
for the insurance sector.
BANKING & FINANCE | FUNDING UAE INFRASTRUCTURE THROUGH
ISLAMIC FINANCING
Tim Travers discusses five core Islamic finance instruments
to finance the UAE’s infrastructure projects, Dubai’s
potential bid for the 2020 Olympic Games and five Islamic funding
stories to watch in 2010.
CORPORATE | FIVE NEW INDUSTRY CLUSTERS IN DUBAI’S
TECOM AS IT REALIGNS 11 BUSINESS PARKS INTO FIVE
Setting up business in a UAE free zone carries many advantages
for overseas investors. Perhaps most importantly, it enables foreigners
100% ownership, zero corporate taxes and repatriation of profits. |
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REAL ESTATE LEGAL UPDATE
EXECUTIVE
COUNCIL'S DECREE NO.(6) OF 2010 PROVIDES MUCH NEEDED CLARITY FOR
THE REAL ESTATE MARKET
8 March 2010, DUBAI
Decree No. (6) of 2010 dealing with the Executive Regulations of Law
No. (13) of 2008 (Regulations) has now been signed and is awaiting formal
publication in the Official Gazette.
Hadef & Partners has reviewed
a copy of the Regulations and is pleased to bring you the following brief
update, with more analysis to follow once the Regulations are published
in the Official Gazette.
Click
here to go to hadef & partners website | Click
here to read the article as a PDF file |
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REAL ESTATE LEGAL UPDATE
BUYERS
BEWARE: DLD CHANGES POLICY TO REGISTER TITLE
2 March 2010, DUBAI
The Director General of the Dubai Land Department issued a
Directive effective 1 February 2010 instructing the Transactions
Department at the Dubai Land Department not to register titles
to freehold properties in the names of offshore companies.
The Dubai Law Concerning Land Registration in the Emirate of Dubai
states that foreign persons may, subject to the approval
of the Ruler, be granted the right to acquire absolute ownership
of land without restriction to time or the right to acquire or
lease land for a period not exceeding 99 years, in freehold areas.
This law however does not define or restrict the use of the term ‘foreign persons’ and
the term ‘foreign persons’ has been widely interpreted to
include foreign individuals as well as foreign corporates, until now.
On the basis of this Directive, as at 1 February 2010, the Dubai
Land Department will currently not register titles in the name
of foreign offshore companies such as companies registered in the
British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Republic of Seychelles,
etc. Local (UAE) offshore companies are permitted to register titles
to freehold properties subject to the shareholders being individuals
or onshore companies. The ambit of onshore companies is not entirely
clear and may, for instance, include some forms of GCC entities.
This Directive does not currently affect the ownership of properties
registered in the name of foreign offshore companies that
were registered prior to 1 February 2010. Moving forward,
we recommend investors of freehold properties in Dubai be
assiduous as to how they structure their investment vehicles for
freehold properties in Dubai. This structuring will largely depend
on the intention of the investor, whether for inheritance,
reduction of liability, corporate governance, etc. We recommend
investors seek professional advice prior to investment in freehold
properties in Dubai in order to understand the laws in Dubai and
the procedures and regulations of the Dubai Land Department in
order to ensure their investments are protected, their interests
are maintained and risk (if any) is managed.
Hadef & Partners
has met with various Dubai Land Department officials to seek
further clarifications on this Directive. The reason behind the
issuance of this Directive is not disclosed by the Director General
of the Dubai Land Department however can be presumed to be for
public benefit reasons. This may be to reduce scope for multiple
transfers of shares that avoid the need for registration
of the new owners’ details
at the Dubai Land Department and therefore avoid the necessary
fees. There may also be objectives related to prevention of money
laundering and promotion of transparency as well as ensuring the
Dubai Land Department is the repository of all information relating
to legal and beneficial interests in real property. |
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Defaults and the maturing
Sukuk market
DUBAI,
UAE (February , 2010)
Ayman Abdel Khaleq, partner, Vinson & Elkins
Todd Crosby,
associate, Vinson & Elkins
While the Sukuk market has come a long way since its humble
beginnings, there are always observers who will make the
case that it could have come on even further. Indeed this
is true and the Islamic debt capital market has undoubtedly
been held back by some problems that will need to be addressed
before the industry can make the top speed that it is capable
of. Some of these issues are legal and some are regulatory
and some come down to the basic question of how to market
Sukuk best.
Click
here to read the article as a PDF file |
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Vinson & Elkins
Adds Two Partners to Middle East Practice
DUBAI,
UAE (January 26, 2010)
The international law firm
Vinson & Elkins LLP is expanding its Middle East practice by
adding two new partners with extensive experience in mergers
and acquisitions, international energy transactions, project and
corporate finance, and securities.
The two new partners — Sami Al-Louzi and Ahmed T. el-Gaili — significantly
strengthen V&E’s capabilities to represent public and
private corporations and financial institutions throughout the Middle
East, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Firm Managing Partner, Joseph Dilg, noted that the addition of the
two partners “underscores V&E’s strong commitment
to the Middle East market and to remaining one of the premier international
law firms serving clients both located in and doing business in
the region.”
“Since opening a Dubai office in 2003, V&E has sought
talented lawyers who enable the firm to expand our expertise, experience
and reach in the MENA region. In Sami and Ahmed, we have landed
two of the best and brightest,” said Lewis Jones, Managing
Partner of V&E’s Abu Dhabi and Dubai offices. “Both
Sami and Ahmed have strong experience, as well as deep personal
and professional connections in the region, and share a significant
interest in Saudi Arabia, which is a key market where we intend
to grow our practice. We are also delighted that, with the addition
of these two talented lawyers, our group now uniquely includes four
native Arabic speaking partners with significant international experience.”
- Sami Al-Louzi joins Vinson & Elkins from White & Case
where he was a partner. Mr. Al-Louzi was resident in the
firm’s
Riyadh office for six years and in the UAE for the past
two years, prior to which he spent six years at one of
Jordan’s
leading law firms. Mr. Al-Louzi specializes in mergers
and acquisitions, capital markets, privatization and project finance.
He has represented clients in the banking, private equity, capital
markets, energy, and telecommunication sectors in Saudi
Arabia, the UAE, and elsewhere in the Middle East. Mr. Al-Louzi
received his law degree from Jordan University in 1993 and received
his LLM in International Business Law from King’s College
London in 1995.
- Ahmed el-Gaili joins Vinson & Elkins from Sullivan & Cromwell
where he was an attorney in the firm’s London office. He
has extensive experience in energy project development
and financing. Mr. el-Gaili has advised on a number of landmark
energy project financing transactions in the Middle East and Caspian
region, including the Dolphin gas project between Qatar and the
UAE, Yemen LNG in Yemen, and Tengizchevroil in Kazakhstan. He has
also advised on a number of M&A, private equity, and joint
venture transactions in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East.
His M&A experience
includes working at Morgan Stanley’s Global Energy Group
in New York, where he provided investment banking advice
on mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures for major
oil companies. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School,
Mr. el-Gaili is a native Arabic speaker and previously lived in
Saudi Arabia for more than 16 years.
Vinson & Elkins LLP is an international law firm with more
than 770 lawyers across 14 offices worldwide, including 19 lawyers
in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
For more information, please contact Jacqueline
Martin in Vinson & Elkins’ Dubai office at +971.4.403.6233
or via e-mail at jdmartin@velaw.com. |
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Fulbright
Briefing - Litigation and Middle East
DIFC Courts Acts to Clarify Jurisdictional
Issues by Agreeing Jurisdiction Protocol with Dubai Courts Pending
Amending Legislation
December 14 , 2009
By Philip Punwar from Fulbright's Litigation
Practice Group and Middle East Practice Group.
The Dubai International Financial Centre (“DIFC”) Courts and
the Dubai Courts have concluded a Protocol on Jurisdiction. The Protocol, which
was published on 9 December 2009, is intended to resolve uncertainties as to
the categories of cases over which the DIFC Courts, as opposed to the Dubai
Courts, shall have exclusive jurisdiction. It also sets out agreed procedures
for the transfer of cases between the two courts. In particular, the Protocol
appears to be intended to clarify whether parties entering into a contract
that has no connection to the DIFC, can bring their contract within the DIFC
Courts’ jurisdiction merely by " signing it over a cup of coffee
in the DIFC . " The “coffee shop” debate has been around ever
since The Judicial Authority Law (Dubai Law No. 12 of 2004) established the “Judicial
Authority at the DIFC” and at Article 5 (A)(1)(b) stated (according to
the DIFC’s translation) that the Court of First Instance shall have
exclusive jurisdiction over:
. . . civil or commercial cases and disputes arising from or related to
a contract that has been executed or a transaction that has been concluded,
in whole or part, in the Dubai International Financial Centre (”the
Centre”) or an incident that has occurred in the Centre.
Supporters of the Coffee Shop theory have taken the view that even if the
term “executed” is interpreted to mean “performed” (the
civil law approach) rather than “signed” (the common law approach)
, the phrase “a transaction that has been concluded, in whole or part,
in the Dubai International Financial Centre” is argaubly wide enough
to cover a contract signed but not to be performed in the DIFC.
The uncertainty that has surrounded the proper interpretation of the terms “executed” and “transaction” is
in part due to the vagaries of legal translation. In a recent judgment (CFI
11/2009), Justice Hwang observed that where issues of jurisdiction arose under
the English language, (DIFC Law No. 10 of 2004) care had to be taken to trace
the relevant provisions back to their original Arabic language source in Dubai
Law No. 12 of 2004. In their Protocol, the two courts agree that the DIFC
Courts have exclusive jurisdiction over (i) civil or commercial disputes involving
DIFC Centre Bodies and Establishments; (ii) civil or commercial disputes arising
from or related to an incident (tort) that has occurred in the DIFC; (iii)
civil or commercial disputes involving contracts that have or are to be performed
in whole or part in the DIFC; and (iv) disputes about civil remedies flowing
from any criminal offence that has occurred in the DIFC.
Of particular relevance to the Coffee Shop debate is the agreement at paragraph
3.3 of the Protocol that the DIFC Courts will also have exclusive jurisdiction “in
civil or commercial cases and disputes arising from or related to a
transaction that has taken place, in whole or part, in the Centre and
which is related to Financial Activities, Ancillary Activities or any
Activities licensed to be performed within the DIFC.” [Emphasis added]
As an apparent corollary to the above, paragraph 4 of the Protocol
identifies the Dubai Court’s
jurisdiction in the following terms, “Dubai Courts have general jurisdiction
except for the mentioned areas in sub paragraph 3 of this protocol.”
t will be interesting to see what, if any, significance is subsequently
attached to the substitution at paragraph 3.3 of the Protocol of the phrase “a
transaction that has taken place . . . in” for “a transaction
that has been concluded . . . in.” If the Coffee Shop contract can survive
this apparent insight into the DIFC Courts’ collective thinking on jurisdiction,
it may do so only where the contract at issue is related to the DIFC’s
core business of Banking and Finance or an approved activity ancillary thereto
or an activity otherwise licensed to be performed in the DIFC.
Importantly,
the Protocol between the two courts does not change the law and thus
the DIFC Courts and Dubai Courts will still need to decide issues of jurisdiction
on a case-by-case basis until such time as new legislation from the Dubai
Government clarifies matters conclusively. Whilst clarificatory legislation
from Dubai ostensibly would bind both courts, a decision of the DIFC Courts
would not be binding on the Dubai Courts. As the DIFC Court of Appeal has
yet to consider original jurisdiction in any way, it is interesting to speculate
as to whether it could now be persuaded to reach a decision on the interpretation
of the Judicial Authority Law that was inconsistent with the Protocol.
Paragraph 7 of the Protocol emphasises that it is a “stop gap” measure,
providing as it does that it will apply only “until a legislative amendment
further defines the Jurisdiction between the two Courts.”
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WINS INTERNATIONAL
FINANCIAL LAW REVIEW “DEAL OF THE YEAR”
FOR WORK ON PARIS-SORBONNE PPP
15 NOVEMBER 2009, DUBAI
Hadef & Partners has been awarded
the Middle East Project Finance “Deal of the Year Award” by the International
Financial Law Review for its work on UAE aspects of the Paris-Sorbonne PPP earlier
this year. The IFLR Middle East Awards are based solely on legal innovation and
are presented in recognition of work that breaks new legal ground and sets market
precedents. The Paris-Sorbonne University PPP in Abu Dhabi was one of the first
public-private partnerships for an educational facility in the UAE.
The team was led by Alan
Rodgers with assistance from Tarik
El Bakri, Valeriya
Lysenko, James
Farn, Lori-Ann
Campbell and Shereen
Okkeh.
Alan Rodgers, Partner and Head of the firm’s Banking & Finance practice
in Dubai, said:
“Over the past 20 years the firm has been involved in many of the major
project financings in the UAE. We are very pleased to have received this award in
recognition of our strong reputation in this area. It serves to highlight the quality
of the team and the hard work and effort put in to enable us to be recognised as
a prominent UAE law firm”.
The firm continues to win work in this area based on the strength of the banking
and finance teams in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. |
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Dubai Summit on Anti-Corruption Enforcement & Compliance
October 13 & 14, 2009 - Grand Millennium, Dubai, UAE
Answering the call to combat worldwide corruption, ACI is pleased to announce its inaugural:
Dubai Summit on Anti-Corruption Enforcement and Compliance
 For over 20 years, ACI and its sister company C5 group have brought Anti-Corruption and FCPA compliance information and training to thousands in Europe, North America and Asia. Now we bring our expertise, along with a distinguished international faculty to Dubai’s Hotel Grand Millennium. This unique event, tailored to the Gulf region, will provide cutting-edge intelligence on the anti-bribery landscape in the GCC countries, the application and reach of the FCPA and how to develop and monitor robust anti-corruption training and compliance programs.
Take proactive steps to defend against increased scrutiny worldwide. You can’t afford to miss this critical two-day event designed for both U.S. and non-U.S. companies doing business or investing in the GCC countries. No other conference in the industry is better at providing you with the practical strategies you need to defend your company against FCPA/anti-corruption violations.
Register now by calling 1-888-224-2480 in the US or +44 20 7878 6888 if calling outside the US; or registering online at www.AmericanConference.com/anticorruptiondubai. |
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Hadef & Partners wins International Legal Alliance UAE Best
Law Firm for 2009
PARIS18 JUNE 2009Hadef &
Partners has been awarded the ILA Gold Award for UAE best
law firm 2009. The firm was singled out by a jury panel of
more than 100 senior legal executives across all major
industry sectors. The award is presented to independent law
firms for excellence in their jurisdiction, and is based on
experience and market knowledge.
The award comes only months after Hadef & Partners launched
its rejuvenated brand in April this year and marks a great
achievement for the firm. Dr Faraj Ahnish, Managing Partner
of the firm’s Abu Dhabi office commented “We are pleased to
have been awarded UAE firm of the Year at the ILA Awards.
This achievement marks a milestone in the firm’s continued
growth and is a testament to our clients and personnel.”
The Awards ceremony was attended by over 200 independent
law firms from around the world.
Hadef & Partners was also recently shortlisted for The
Lawyer Awards Middle East team of the year.
For further information on Hadef & Partners visit:
http://www.hadefpartners.com
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Hadef & Partners – Rejuvenating the brand
Dubai and Abu Dhabi – 12 April 2009: Hadef & Partners, formerly Hadef Al Dhahiri & Associates, has today launched a revitalised new brand. This extensive project, which has taken 12 months from inception to completion, marks the start of the new year and a new beginning for the leading UAE law firm.
Click here for the full press release as PDF. |
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In-House Salary Survey - UAE, 2008 , by Tessera Executive
Search in collaboration with the Dubai Corporate Counsel
Group
Click here to read it.
Read it as PDF
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Lawyers Salaries Climb 
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