ASAR, Kuwait’s leading and most prominent corporate law firm and one of the region’s top tier firms, recently participated at the yearly Euromoney conference that took place at the JW Marriott hotel in Kuwait. The platform included the participation of senior government officials, market experts and businessmen, discussing this year’s subject on new dynamics of Finance and Investment, with particular focus on the recent developments in the Kuwaiti financial sector.
Mr. Ahmed Barakat, Managing Partner at ASAR, addressed the conference on the significant impact of the legal regime that governs Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects and the recent changes in this area. The new amendments were commended as they brought together many improvements over the old BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) law No. 7 of 2008, in particular, the new provisions facilitating the financing of new and upcoming mega projects and allowing foreign investors to mortgage their assets and pledge and sell their shares to other investors during the new prolonged concession period of 50 years to recoup their initial investment.
Mr. Barakat also said: “As experienced corporate lawyers, we eagerly look forward to the issuance of the relevant implementing regulations to have the PPP Law put into effect in early 2015. We applaud the government and parliament for taking proactive and positive measures to fill in the legislative gaps and implement these rules in such a challenging market like Kuwait.”
Mr. Barakat also commented on the gradual implementation of the Basel III capital adequacy standards as part of the major developments in the banking and finance sector, where foreign banks are now allowed to open more branches creating a healthy competition versus the local banks.
With dedicated offices in Kuwait and Bahrain coupled with its associated offices and relationships, ASAR provides clients across an extensive range of industry sectors with comprehensive legal advice and support for their business activities in Kuwait, across the GCC and beyond.
The firm has been consistently rated as the leading corporate and commercial law firm in Kuwait by reputable legal guides such as the Chambers Global Guide, International Financial Law Review and the Legal 500. In 2013, ASAR was named as the “Best Law Firm in Kuwait 2013” by the International Financial Law Review (IFLR), the market-leading guide for financial law firms worldwide. The firm also won the “Best Restructuring Deal in the Middle East” award by IFLR during the same year followed by the Banking and Finance, as well the dispute Resolution, Legal teams of the Year awards by Acquisition International in 2014.
