About

In place at Arab Bank for Investment & Foreign Trade (Al Masraf) since 2008, Razi Heyasat brings unparalleled experience of the company’s operations to his role as head of the legal department and board secretary. He outlines the main facets of his expansive role to be ‘handling all matters related to the board of directors, offering strong legal advice to management, offering a robust contribution to the bank’s strategic vision and contributing to UAE Banks Federation legal committees by reviewing new legislation’. This extremely diverse set of responsibilities highlights Heyasat’s varied skillset as well as the respect in which his abilities are viewed by contemporaries. He regards his most important work on behalf of the bank recently to have occurred in developing the legal department’s overall strategy for ensuring that the Bank is fully protected. ‘The legal department’s role is a precautionary one which starts with the initiation of any transaction in contrary to having a dispute’, Heyasat says.