About

Aysha Abdulmalek’s role as general counsel for Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the Kingdom of Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, gives her a unique opportunity to directly take part in supporting the fund’s investment strategy – undoubtedly an extremely prestigious in-house legal position in the Middle East. In her current role, prior to which she was with Mumtalakat’s real-estate arm, Edamah, Abdulmalek clearly relishes her role. ‘As the sovereign wealth fund with over 60 local and international companies across 12 sectors and total consolidated assets valued over US$16bn’, she explains, ‘Mumtalakat plays an important role in the national economy through its strategic assets and its efforts in seeking commercially viable investment opportunities in growth sectors domestically and internationally. This makes my role particularly rewarding as the outcome of our decisions and our success extends to and benefits my country both at a social and economic level’. Abdulmalek has been a key personality in the completion of a number of major company projects, including the successful closing in February 2019 of a US$600m sukuk issuance. Her expert marshalling of the Mumtalakat legal team has been central to its success on this and other company projects of late. ‘My main goal as general counsel is focused on ensuring that the legal team is motivated, challenged and always appreciated’, she says. ‘This approach as well as the agreed KPI’s positively impacted the department’s performance which was noticeable to other departments’.