About

A bilingual Egyptian qualified attorney with tertiary qualifications in law, with around 20 years of post-qualified legal experience in three Gulf jurisdictions and Egypt. Currently the general counsel and head of corporate compliance in Danone Middle East and North Africa. Previously, vice president in the United Arab Bank, acting general counsel of RAKIA, and more than 12 years in private practice (international law firms) with extensive experience in a broad spectrum of corporate and banking/finance work (local and cross border) that include capital markets, investment funds, listing and pre-listing exercises, corporate and debt restructuring schemes, takeovers, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence review, securitization, finance (conventional and Islamic), project finance, PPPs, power projects, establishment of companies and banks, corporate governance, commercial transactions and medical/pharmaceutical practice. Additionally, he has also undertaken the role of Head of Corporate Compliance, where he facilitates sustainable growth by ensuring adherence to the global Compliance Programme.

Islam’s greatest achievement at Danone was ensuring infants with certain diseases were properly fed by innovatively changing the legal structure of sets of transactions to the extent where competitors began following the same pattern. Not only did Islam assist Danone by becoming the most compliant regarding a highly regulated commodity, but he also radically changed the market practice in the Middle East and Africa with regards to the compliance of Infant Formula products

Islam was responsible for high profile transactions, which include, the first Jordanian Sukuk issue which was awarded the Sukuk Deal of the Year 2011 (Islamic Finance News), the first restructuring using Sukuk for First Investment Company, which was awarded Kuwait Deal of the Year 2011 (Islamic Finance News) and the restructuring of Global Investment House which was awarded the Best Restructuring Deal of the Year 2009 (The Banker Magazine). Islam has received and been nominated for several awards in the legal industry in the MENA region.