About

With a broad international remit, investment holdings group M1 operates across an exceptional spread of sectors. Upon her arrival, one of Khalife’s biggest challenges was bringing legal into line with the business’s complex needs. Heading a small team with limited resources, Khalife has raised the function’s profile considerably, bringing it further into the decision-making process and taking a considerable amount of work in-house. ‘Working with M1 Group has been challenging and interesting’, May Khalife says. ‘When I started, the structure of the legal department was not consistent to the development of the Group. I had to develop the department but at the same time provide legal support, according to international standards, to sophisticated and well-developed business units. This required very hard work and really long hours’. As well as recruiting and instigating wide-scale training and devising a compliance framework, the key, Khalife feels, has been inspiring confidence from the business. Sources also highlight Khalife’s role in complex strategic deals.