Dr. Kamal Hossain & Associates > Dhaka, Bangladesh > Firm Profile

Dr. Kamal Hossain & Associates > Firm Profile

The firm: Dr. Kamal Hossain & Associates, established in 1980, is one of the largest law firms in Bangladesh. It provides a comprehensive range of legal services for both national and international clients. Members of the firm work as a close-knit team and actively collaborate on advice and cases as the need arises.

The firm’s strength lies not only in the breadth of individual expertise available, but also in more than 30 years of institutional experience of advice and litigation in key practice areas. The firm actively encourages and supports its members in providing pro-bono advice and representation in public interest and human rights cases.

Areas of practice: The firm’s main practice areas include admiralty and shipping, arbitration, aviation, banking and financial regulation, commercial and corporate law, constitutional and administrative law, employment law, energy, human rights law, intellectual property, revenue law, taxation and telecommunications. It has special expertise in constitutional and administrative law, infrastructure, oil, gas and power sector projects and telecommunications.

Admiralty: shipping is a core area of practice for the firm both in the field of ‘dry’ shipping work and ‘wet’ shipping work. ‘Dry’ shipping work includes advising and acting as advocates in relation to disputes concerning contracts of affreightment, cargo claims, claims under marine insurance policies, arrest of ships and judicial sales. The firm also has considerable experience in ‘wet’ shipping work, in particular salvage and collision actions. The firm represented the P&I insurers of a vessel which was involved in the largest marine collision in Bangladesh involving 20 ships.

Corporate and commercial: within a diverse commercial practice, the firm focuses on admiralty and shipping, aviation, banking, commercial litigation, employment, energy, infrastructure projects such as telecommunications, port development, road construction, export processing zones, intellectual property, large and medium scale project finance and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. It has expertise in all areas of company law, including directors’ duties, shareholders’ disputes, takeovers, mergers and acquisitions, corporate reconstructions and schemes of arrangement. It has substantial experience in corporate acquisitions, and has been involved in large-scale recent corporate acquisitions in the banking, energy and telecommunications sectors. The firm has represented national and international clients on IP matters, including a range of multinational companies.

Banking: the firm has expertise in banking law and allied matters. Its services include assisting local and multinational banks and international financial institutions with loan documentation and syndicated loans as well as providing general advice on banking law and financial services.

Arbitration: the firm has been involved in domestic and international arbitration, including international commercial arbitration. Dr Kamal Hossain has extensive experience in international arbitration, both as counsel and arbitrator. He has served as chairman and member of international arbitral tribunals formed under the ICC, ICSID, LCIA and UNCITRAL Rules and under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and as a member and panel-chairman of the United Nations Compensation Commission. Other members of the firm also have expertise in commercial arbitration and have acted as counsel in ICC, ICSID and UNCITRAL arbitrations.

Aviation: the firm advises and drafts documents on a wide range of aviation matters, including protecting, perfecting and enforcing ownership or security interests in aircrafts, cross border aircraft purchase, mortgage of aircrafts and aircraft parts, wet and dry leasing of aircrafts, as well as financing in the full range of aircraft-related transactions. It advises on national regulatory requirements for aircraft purchase, lease, mortgage, licensing, slot allocation, etc. It has experience in carriers’ liability resulting from casualties under both Bangladesh law and international conventions.

Employment: the firm provides a full range of professional legal services, including advisory work, drafting and litigation. It has advised foreign companies intending to establish a presence in Bangladesh on employment issues and has also drafted a diverse range of agreements and other legal documents to represent employment relationships, including contracts of service, consultancy agreements and agreements for hiring independent contractors.

Constitutional & Administrative:  Constitutional and administrative law and the enforcement of fundamental rights occupy a central position in the collective expertise offered by the firm. Dr. Kamal Hossain, who chaired the Constitution Drafting Committee established by the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh, is considered to be the country’s leading expert on constitutional matters, and has appeared as counsel or been appointed by the Supreme Court as amicus curiae in many landmark cases. The firm has a successful track record in challenging the actions of administrative and regulatory authorities and enforcement of government contracts in constitutional petitions. It also has extensive experience in judicial review of administrative decisions concerning assessment and payment of tax, customs duty and VAT. It has been involved in many proceedings for the enforcement of fundamental rights, including the rights to life and liberty, equality and equal protection of the law, safeguards on arrest, fair trial, freedom of expression, association, movement and religion and the right to property. The firm is well known for its pro bono work in the areas of human rights, environmental law and protection of heritage building sites and monuments.

Competition: Since the enactment of the Competition Act in 2012, competition law is increasingly becoming an important area where clients are seeking the firm’s advice. The firm has already advised a number of multinationals on competition law issues, including in relation to a large global merger involving two Bangladesh entities, which are also to merge pursuant to the global deal. We also advised clients on exclusivity, geographical delimitation of distributorship, pricing arrangement, currency conversion, etc.

Energy:  The firm advises on both up-stream and down-stream aspects of the energy sector, and has worked on transmission and distribution projects, including corporatization of local distribution and exploration companies and their regulation. The firm advises both foreign and local companies considering entry into the Bangladesh energy market. It has experience in mergers and acquisitions, project management and establishment and licensing of companies to develop projects. It offers commercial and regulatory advice, negotiate and draft power and gas purchase and sale contracts, independent power generation project implementation agreements, gas/fuel supply agreements for independent power producing (‘IPP’) companies and other energy related agreements. The firm has  expertise in developing tax strategies for gas exploration and power generation companies and assisting clients in the energy industry in raising finance from foreign capital markets. It has advised on compliance issues, exemption applications, regulatory approvals and drafting of safety codes. Representative transactions/projects in which the firm has been  involved include acting as legal advisers to the public sector oil, gas and mineral corporation on various matters, such as overseeing the natural gas investment market in Bangladesh and advising generators, marketers, distributors and transmitters of electricity and IPPs in Bangladesh on the electricity market rules, market entry process and on the structure and functioning of the electricity industry in Bangladesh. The firm has advised on various contractual and regulatory issues, restructuring electricity sales contracts, gas supply contracts, refinancing, compliance issues and transmission rate negotiations.The firm’s clients include those who finance and develop renewable energy projects, undertake gas storage and pipeline projects and expansions or provide gas utilities, as well as end-users. It has been involved in the drafting of the Gas Act, 2000, the first piece of legislation which provides for regulating the energy market through an independent Commission. It has assisted entities in both electricity and natural gas sectors with import and export licence applications. The firm has negotiated and drafted a diverse range of agreements regarding power generation, including power purchase and gas supply agreements on behalf of project owners and managers, government agencies, banks, large industrial and other wholesale and retail consumers of energy.

Intellectual Property: The firm regularly advises and acts on behalf of local and foreign clients in connection with a wide range of intellectual property services, including but not limited to: registration, infringement, licensing and litigation in relation to trademarks, patents, copyrights and domains. It has experience in conducting litigation arising out of and/or in connection with trademarks, patents and copyright disputes both in the Supreme Court as well as before trial courts and concerned authorities. It recently won a major case on passing off. The firm also has experience in preparing and drafting agreements to secure intellectual property rights.

Securities: The firm advises both local and foreign clients on the full range of securities law issues, including initial public offer (IPO), listing regulations, bonds, derivatives, substantial share holding, disclosure requirements, de-listing, merger and acquisition involving listed companies, regulatory compliance of listed and unlisted companies, etc. It also represents clients in litigation concerning securities laws.

Taxation:  The firm has a diverse tax practice that includes advising on income tax, VAT and customs related issues arising from the domestic and international trade, compliance requirements for individuals and domestic and international entities carrying on business in Bangladesh, including in the not for profit sector, corporate re-organisation and other related corporate work. It has extensive experience in judicial review of administrative decisions concerning, inter alia, assessment and payment of customs duty, VAT and income tax. The firm’s services include challenging administrative decisions of the tax regulatory authorities arising from assessment of customs duty, VAT and income tax, the imposition of fines, seizure and confiscation of goods, classification of H.S. Code of the imported goods, cancellation of rebate, bond licence, etc. before statutory tribunals and the superior courts.

Telecommunications:  Telecommunication, including voice and data services, is a core area of practice of the firm. It provides regulatory advice on telecom, IT, e-commerce and media. It has advised telecom operators on licensing and regulatory issues, including licensing guidelines and auction process, interconnection agreements, frequency allocations, equipment leasing and infrastructure sharing agreements. The firm has advised the largest operator in Bangladesh in respect of its bid for 3G auctions. The firm was involved in a number of recent major acquisitions by foreign investors of stakes in Bangladeshi telecom companies. The firm has also been involved in restructuring the passive telecom infrastructure as a separate business portfolio. The firm advised telecom companies or lenders in a number of financing transactions in the sector and also advised in relation to issuance of securities and raising funds from the capital market. The firm has advised telecom operators in relation to internal management issues,such as, roaming services, billing, introduction of new technologies and platforms, human resource management, etc. It also acted in disputes between shareholders of telecom companies and advised and acted in litigation on behalf of a number of telecom operators in various types of disputes with the regulator. The firm also provides all types of assistance to telecom companies in relation to customs duty, VAT and income tax.