Linklaters

A key strength of our Islamic finance practice is the ability to offer teams which combine technical expertise in conventional finance transactions with an in-depth understanding of the principles of Islamic finance.  

Leading Islamic finance practitioner, Neil D Miller, has recently joined Linklaters as our new Global Head of Islamic finance. Neil will work closely with Richard O’Callaghan, a leading finance lawyer ranked in the top tier for debt capital markets in the UAE and the Middle East by Chambers and Partners and who was previously leading the firm’s practice in this sector, and other members of our global Islamic finance team. In addition to our established presence in the UAE and Singapore, our Islamic finance network benefits from being able to draw on the broad experience of lawyers across our global network who have advised on a range of Islamic finance transactions in jurisdictions throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Over the course of acting on previous and current transactions, we have developed close relationships with the Sharia scholars most commonly advising on Islamic finance transactions. We also maintain close relationships with local law firms and with Islamic financial institutions around the world, which ensures that we are best placed to meet the varied needs of our clients for Islamic finance work. 

First-of-a-kind transactions

We work on the cutting edge of the Islamic finance field, and have worked on many award-winning and first-of-a-kind transactions. These have included advising on the first ever:

• pari passu ranking secured sukuk and bank facility
• Renminbi-denominated sukuk
• greenfield project sukuk
• restructuring/liability management of sukuk
• high yield sukuk
• lower tier two sukuk
• sukuk under DIFC law
• mandatory convertible sukuk
• exchangeable sukuk in Asia
• sale of the Islamic banking division of a Qatari bank
• tier 1 perpetual sukuk
• aviation fund
• pan European real estate fund
• Middle East Islamic PPP tranche