About

Formerly group general counsel of Ideal Standard International in Brussels, Neeta Thakur joined EFG Hermes in Dubai in 2015, leading legal operations for the company in the US, the UK, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Nigeria, Qatar, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan and Pakistan in the process. She is highly respected by her colleagues for the positive impact she has had on the company’s legal department since taking over. ‘I am often told that my biggest contribution to the firm has been streamlining the function of the legal department, attaining budget efficiency resulting in significant cost-savings, effective utilisation of in-house team and external counsel, and most importantly delivery of top-quality work product and advice by the legal department’, Thakur says. She also goes into some of the projects that she has achieved success on in recent months. ‘The last three years for EFG have been fuelled by significant growth’, she says, ‘and therefore have been quite challenging for the legal department. EFG Hermes expanded its footprint from 6 countries in 2016 to 12 countries in 2019, which has been done in various ways. Some of the markets, such as the US and the UK, we entered solo and set up operations greenfield, while others we entered by way of acquisitions, joint ventures or partnerships, such as Pakistan and Vietnam’. Supporting the company’s objectives in expanding both geographically and also in its product offerings displays the high level of expertise that Thakur and her team have attained.