About

SEDCO Holding (Saudi Economic and Development Company) is one of the country’s largest conglomerates specialising in Sharia-complaint private wealth management for operating companies, real estate, private and public equity. The legal department consists of 16 employees, populated with a high number of bilingual lawyers with both regional and international expertise. Together they deliver a multiplicity of work for SEDCO, including a role in setting strategies, internal policies, negotiations and court representation. In order to keep up with SEDCO’s diverse portfolio of investments the team launched an internal database allowing lawyers to follow each other’s work while guiding and learning from others’ experience. The legal division is constantly innovating internally to mitigate costs while incorporating changes to their remit such as the recent creation of the role of compliance officer. Both legal department leaders Nicholas Polley and Zaid Mahayni are part of SEDCO’s executive team, further demonstrating the legal and commercial overlap in SEDCO’s daily function. Says Polley: ‘We are hand-in-hand with the business units which helps us foresee the group’s legal needs and helps business units in the early steering of the company away from legal risk exposures’.