About

Jacques Visser heads the legal affairs division of the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFC Authority), and holds the position of secretary to the DIFC higher board and the boards of the DIFC Authority and DIFC Investments. Additionally, Visser currently serves as DIFC’s security registrar and commissioner of data protection. With over 20 years’ experience as a financial services lawyer, his expertise lies in multi-jurisdictional investment structures, funds, asset management and regulatory matters in emerging markets, as well as investment strategies and related M&A transactions. During his expansive career, he has established a number of landmark funds and investment structures relevant to the MENA region. Prior to joining DIFC Authority, Visser was a national partner at Dechert in Dubai, and was listed by The Legal 500 as one of the top three most notable lawyers in the UAE investment funds industry. Before this, Visser ran his own consultancy firm, where he focused on advising a number of emerging and frontier market investment boutiques. He was also a founding partner and managing director of DIFC-based firm Algebra Capital, which was sold to Franklin Templeton Investments in 2011. Following the acquisition, he served as the executive managing director and supervised the merger of the two firms. Throughout his career, Visser has displayed his aptitude to coordinate his innate commercial instincts and immense business experience with outstanding technical legal skills to achieve consistently excellent results in demanding and high-profile roles.