General counsel and board secretary | Arab Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade
Razi Heyasat
General counsel and board secretary | Arab Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade
Team size: Eight
Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most?
Today, technology covers all areas. However, we notice that there is a doctor application, and we believe that a similar approach can be applicable for the legal sector for straightforward legal opinions. This will reduce the staff within the legal team. Yet, there is a complicated situation where the legal input is always required for the protection and success of a company, so I believe that despite the growing impact of technology, there will always be a necessity for a legal team to be present and essential with a company.
What is a cause, business related or otherwise, that you care about, and why?
Due to the increase of digital presence within the banking industry, fraud schemes will be a challenge for the legal team. Going through the details and finding a solution for that will be very challenging, as such legal teams should always be aware of and provided with the latest technology to protect the business and the company’s interests.
What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry?
Organizing the legal work is the most important quality and therefore in the five years back, we adopted a system to organize our legal work for advisory and litigations. Also, we have classified our work under different categories, which gives us the ability to track and record all legal matters assigned to the legal department.
What can law firms do to improve their service to the legal department?
Legal firms should always conduct seminars to highlight new laws related to the banking industry and to improve litigation updates. It is better to have an application to find out all the developments related to litigation matters, for easy reference to the legal department.
General counsel and board secretary | Arab Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade (Al Masraf)
Head of legal department and board secretary | Arab Bank for Investment & Foreign Trade (Al Masraf)
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...
Head of legal department and board secretary | Arab Bank for Investment & Foreign Trade (Al Masraf)
Arab Bank for Investment & Foreign Trade (Al Masraf) traces its history back to 1975, when it was formed with the goal of promoting cooperation in financial matters between Arab...