About

SEDCO Holding (Saudi Economic and Development Company) is a leader in Sharia-complaint investment management, with a broad portfolio including real estate, private equity and operating companies. SEDCO’s diverse holding sees it operate wholly- and part-owned companies in over 40 countries across the world. Supporting the holding company’s efforts across a diverse geographical and operational spectrum is Dr. Zaid Mahayni, the group chief legal officer (CLO). Having joined SEDCO in 2015 as vice president of legal affairs, Mahayni was quickly promoted to the CLO position after demonstrating his capabilities and dedication. In the space of two years, he has made a large number of changes to the workings of the legal department. These have included the introduction of project management tools, improved record keeping, created uniformity in work processes and increased the amount and types of training offered to the team. Indeed, training is something that Mahayni has been passionate about for most of his career, and under his guidance ‘SEDCO holds an internal training platform which offers certificates to participants’, he says. At SEDCO Mahayni believes that cross-disciplinary learning between departments and operated companies can be just as important as legal training. ‘SEDCO Holding is a conglomerate with investments in retail, automotive, hospitality, banking, food and beverages, real estate, educational, and health-care businesses. This implies that I am asked to interact daily with people with diverse specialisations, and this has helped me learn concepts from other fields. For instance, I have learned about accounting, risk management, supply-chain management, and other areas. Cross-disciplinary interactions forge more capable and seasoned professionals’, he says. As Saudi Arabia is making more changes to its legal and judicial systems, the role of in-house lawyers in the country, and the wider GCC, is becoming increasingly important. It takes dedication to monitor the number of alterations as well as a diligent in-house lawyer to ensure that the company complies fully and quickly. Mahayni believes that ‘the group CLO must be able to quickly study the impact of new [and/or] anticipated legislation and determine the adaptation measures that may be required. Adaptation measures may vary in particular instances and, hence, a cost-benefit analysis must be performed with the involvement of the company’s management’. Mahayni has excelled at this in the last two years, and his interaction with the rest of SEDCO’s c-suite has allowed the company to react quickly and effectively even during a time of economic downturn and market challenge. It is fair to say that the support of the legal team, and the expert management of Mahayni, have both been crucial as the company has developed into a well-governed and world-class international investment holding group. Mahayni holds a Bachelor of Law (from the Université de Montréal), a Masters of Law (from the University of Dundee), and a PhD (from the University of Leicester). He also has numerous post-graduate diplomas (for example, a Diploma in Downstream Petroleum Economics and a Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration) and certificates (for example, the Harvard Law School program of negotiation). Mahayni is also registered with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Justice as an arbitrator, as well as being a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Before joining SEDCO, Mahayni spent a decade working as an attorney at the Law Firm of Hassan Mahassni, which is based out of Jeddah and is associated with international law firm Dechert.