About

Starting his legal career with Clifford Chance in London, where he specialised in corporate, M&A and private equity matters, Mark Hultum joined Deutsche Bank in Dubai in 2015, assuming his current role of head of legal Middle East and Africa in 2017. Now reporting directly to the general counsel Europe, Middle East and Africa and chief executive officer, Middle East and Africa, Hultum is responsible for providing legal advice to local and regional management teams across 20 legal entities and 13 offices located in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, South Africa, Pakistan, Bahrain, Egypt and Nigeria. Hultum has achieved a great deal of success since moving to the Middle East, and has difficulty picking particular highlights, saying instead that ‘an overriding highlight has simply been to successfully lead and manage a lean, complex regional legal function in what is universally regarded as one of the more difficult and diverse environments given geographic, legal, regulatory, cultural and institutional complexities’. He continues, ‘The role and its challenges demand a great deal of flexibility and adaptability, with the ability to respond to an incredible variety of matters critical to the position, particularly in the context of continuing regulatory and institutional change. The reward for this as a legal professional is the sheer breadth of experience, and the opportunity to develop and enhance forward looking advisory capabilities, as well as technical, analytical and commercial skills. It is incredibly satisfying to be perceived and valued as a leader and trusted advisor to the senior management team in the region on all matters pertaining to legal or regulatory affairs’. The Middle East and Africa legal department, as a regional component of the Bank’s global legal function, plays a vital role in executing a number of important elements of the Bank’s strategic priorities, and in particular, the delivery of the Bank’s cost and innovation targets. Accordingly, Hultum is constantly looking at how the Bank can best derive value from its outside counsel. This involves a combination of both an enhanced usage of the department’s innovative tendering, payment and matter management tool, and the implementation of a number of alternative cost saving initiatives.