AS&H in co-operation with Clifford Chance strengthens its Banking and Finance practice with the secondment of two senior lawyers from Clifford Chance

AS&H in co-operation with Clifford Chance is delighted to announce the expansion of its banking and finance team with the arrival of Michael Quigley as Joint-Head of AS&H's Banking and Finance practice and Abdulkhaliq Elshayyal, Senior Associate. Both Michael and Abdulkhaliq have been seconded from Clifford Chance and will be based in Riyadh.

Michael has had an extensive career within the US, Bahrain, Paris and more recently, Saudi Arabia. He specialises in financing transactions where he has a wealth of experience advising both corporate and commercial entities on project and acquisition financing. Michael's project finance experience covers the power, oil and gas and pipeline sectors where he has acted on multiple acquisition financings including senior, second lien and mezzanine facilities throughout Africa, the Middle East and India. He has also advised on international investment law reform and various investment law disputes. Michael is a member of the New York Bar.

To further strengthen the team, he has been joined by Abdulkhaliq who specialises in banking, finance and regulatory matters. Abdulkhaliq spent the first six years of his career in London where he qualified and worked in both private practice and in-house roles. He moved to the Middle East in 2014 and has since been advising government entities, lenders and corporates in Saudi Arabia on a range of conventional and Islamic financing transactions. Abdulkhaliq is fluent in Arabic.

Michael will be working closely with Yasser Al-Hussain, Partner and Head of Banking and Finance at AS&H, to support a growing client demand in Saudi Arabia for specialist advice in relation to financing transactions. With an established finance practice in place, the addition of Michael and Abdulkhaliq will further position the team as the 'go-to' firm for all banking and financing related work in Saudi Arabia.

Announcing the arrival of Michael Quigley and Abdulkhaliq, Dr. Fahad Abuhimed, Managing Partner of AS&H commented: "I am delighted to have Michael and Abdulkhaliq on board. This move demonstrates the investment and ambition of both AS&H and Clifford Chance to ensure our firm’s leading position in the market and the unparalleled depth of ‘on the ground’ expertise."

Yasser Al-Hussain commented: "AS&H has the leading banking and finance practice in Saudi Arabia and having Michael and Abdulkhaliq join us will cement our position in the Saudi legal marketplace as the pre-eminent law firm in terms of expertise, service delivery and size, ultimately benefiting our clients."

Mohamed Hamra-Krouha, Banking & Finance Partner at Clifford Chance (seconded to AS&H) commented: "Having Michael and Abdulkhaliq on board with their combined experience is a real boost to the team and being seconded to AS&H and based in Riyadh allows them to work closely with AS&H colleagues to consolidate our position in the market place as one of the best banking and finance teams in the region."