Middle East - United Arab Emirates
Dentons
Dentons' team advises issuers, arrangers and underwriters on substantial transactions. The firm is noted for its ESG work, advising on the first corporate green issuance in the Middle East as well the largest ESG sukuk in the world. Team head Alex Roussos has led on high-profile deals for a mix of leading industry players that include regional and international banks. Senior associate James Osun-Sanmi has provided support on a number of key practice mandates, and has experience working with both governments and general corporate clients.
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Key clients
- Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB)
- Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB)
- Barclays Bank
- Citigroup
- Standard Chartered Bank (SCB)
- Emirates NBD
- First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)
- HSBC
- JP Morgan
- Kuwait Finance House (KFH)
- Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD)
- Islamic Development Bank (IDB)
- Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB)
- Bank of Sharjah
- Burgan Bank KPSC
- National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah (RAKBANK)
- National Bank of Oman
- Oman Electricity Transmission Company
- Oman Arab Bank SAOC
- Mashreq Bank
- Sharjah Islamic Bank
- Emirates REIT
- UBS Investment Bank
- Morgan Stanley
- Gulf International Bank
- BNP Paribas
- Credit Suisse
- Credit Agricole
- Societe Generale
- United Arab Bank
Work highlights
- Advising on IsDB's sukuk issuance of US$1.7 billion, issued under IsDB's US$25 billion Trust Certificate Issuance Programme.
- Advising Arada Developments LLC (Arada) on its successful tap issuance of US$100 million sukuk (to be consolidated and form a single series with the existing US$350 million sukuk due 2027 issued by Arada Sukuk Limited on 8 June 2022).
- Advising the managers on the successful issuance of US$500 million Trust Certificates by MAF Sukuk Ltd.
Lawyers
Rising stars
Leading individuals
Alex Roussos is the managing partner of Dentons' Dubai office, and co-head of the Middle East banking and finance practice. He has eighteen years' experience advising on debt, hybrid and equity-linked capital markets transactions. Alex's broad experience has seen him advising governments and government-related entities, all major investment banking clients and large corporate entities across the Middle East on matters including Medium Term Note, convertible bond, hybrid capital and Sukuk issuances, ESG issuances, consent solicitations and structured finance deals, as well as listings on local and international stock exchanges. Alex is also a leading practitioner in the field of regulatory capital and has acted on some of the most high profile deals in this space in the GCC. Alex is ranked Band 1 by Chambers Global 2022 for Capital Markets: Debt – United Arab Emirates, and "Highly Regarded" by IFLR1000 2022 for Capital Markets: Debt.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Alex Roussos