Pinsent Masons has strengthened its banking & finance offering in the Gulf with the appointment of Islamic finance senior lawyer Amir Ahmad.

Ahmad joined Pinsent Masons from DLA Piper Dubai, where he was previously part of Al-Harith Sinclair’s team at DLA. Sinclair, previously the head of DLA Piper’s Islamic finance practice in Dubai, defected to Pinsents on 1 May 2010 to develop opportunities in Dubai and the wider Gulf and EMEA region for the firm’s Islamic project finance practice. Sinclair, who now heads the firm’s new Islamic finance practice, currently services Pinsents’ Islamic financial services Gulf-based clients and Islamic banks now established in London, and also includes general UK and Gulf financial regulatory work in his practice.

Ahmad, who will be based in Pinsent Mason’s Dubai office, will report to Sinclair in his new role at Pinsents. Together they will work on three key areas: growing the firm’s project finance practice in London and the Gulf; Gulf financial regulatory matters; and Gulf project finance and other finance matters.

Ahmad has 10 years of finance-based experience across the Netherlands, Bahrain and Dubai.ALB

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