Simmons & Simmons Middle East LLP advises across the full spectrum of financial services regulatory advice, with particular strength in conventional and Shari’ah-compliant fund formation (including Shari'ah-compliant funds), digital assets, financial crime, and regulatory investigations. The firm is also praised for being ‘engaged at the highest level with key governmental policy makers’ and as such is ’one of the key players involved with shaping the legal and regulatory space’. Muneer Khan leads the team and is well regarded for his work on asset management, fintech and digital asset matters. Adam Wolstenholme frequently works with a number of regulators and securities exchanges. Nina Fischer and Matthias Ng also come recommended.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Muneer Khan is one of the best lawyers out there. Confident, hugely experienced and knowledgeable and provides a sense of comfort which is unparalleled.’

  • ‘Great professionals. Very good knowledge of the region and the regulatory framework of all the region. Great reactivity on the day to day work.’

  • ‘Muneer Khan is highly knowledgeable and we were really impressed by his work.'

  • ‘Great and growing team, well connected in the region, including with all regulators.’

  • ‘Adam Wolstenholme - very ambitious, commercial and available. Matthias Ng - excellent subject matter expertise and fast delivery.’

  • ‘Simmons ticks all of the top law firm boxes. They have a good breadth of coverage, expertise and are able to resource queries sufficiently to turn around small queries and large projects alike. Whilst they employ some good technology tools and make available some platforms to clients, undoubtedly their people are their key attribute.’

  • ‘Special attention goes to Adam Wolstenholme - newly minted partner at the team who brings a raft of experience, pragmatism, responsiveness and personal touch to client interactions.’

  • ‘The firm provides access to a diverse range of advisory areas, and provide key capabilities across a number of disciplines. The service provided is very efficient and clearly they have great knowledge across the banking and finance sector. Given the firm's background in virtual assets, they have a strong understanding of fintech and regulatory implications. It is clear that they are engaged at the highest level with key governmental policy makers and I would argue that this is one of their key capabilities. As a result in some respects they are one of the key players involved with shaping the legal and regulatory space. This puts them in a unique position to advise clients ahead of time to ensure they are prepared well ahead in advance of legal and regulatory changes.'

Key clients

  • Millennium Capital
  • Brevan Howard
  • Caxton Associates
  • Asia Research & Capital Management Limited
  • Qube Research & Technology
  • Ardian
  • MFS International Ltd
  • Blantyre Capital Limited
  • Lighthouse Capital
  • Aditum Investment Management Limited
  • HSBC
  • PIMCO Europe Ltd
  • Point72 Middle East
  • M2 Limited

Work highlights

  • Assisted Aditum on the establishment of the first operational Fund Platform in the DIFC.

Lawyers

Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Muneer Khan

Other key lawyers

Adam Wolstenholme, Matthias Ng, Nina Fischer