A week after breaking into the Australian market, Allen & Overy has opened an office in the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) after receiving a licence to practice international and QFC law on 9 February.
London-based real estate partner Robert Porter has been appointed to head the office and will be accompanied by corporate partner Chris Thornes and a team of associates. The office will target high-end corporate and finance work along the lines of its current Gulf offices – in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh – which largely represent financial institutions on corporate and project financing transactions.
The office adds another key energy & resources jurisdiction to the firm’s global strategy, following the Perth office launch last week. Qatar is one of the success stories among the GCC nations, with an allocated US$140bn investments program backed by its energy revenues. This is expected to create opportunities for banking services, especially in project finance and Islamic banking – two of the firm’s main practice areas.
Managing partner Wim Dejohnge said: “The pace of growth in Qatar over recent years has been impressive, fuelled by its status as the world''s largest natural gas exporter,” he said. “It has emerged from the global downturn relatively unscathed and is poised to take advantage of the broad, strategic interest it is attracting from investors around the world.”
Allen & Overy will now join and compete with 17 other law firms (see list below) based in the QFC – one of which is White & Case, which is currently trying to recoup its losses in the region following the departure of its final Gulf partner, Doha-based Andrew Macklin, to Latham & Watkins in early February.
Law firms in the Qatar Financial Centre
Al Tamimi & Company
Arab Law Bureau
Badri and Salim El Meouchi
Clyde & Co
Denton Wilde Sapte
Dewey & LeBoeuf
DLA Piper
Eversheds
HFI Middle East
International Legal Consultants
Lalive in Qatar
Latham & Watkins
McNair Chambers
Salans
Sayel M. Daher Law Offices
White & Case
WongPartnership
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