Charles Russell expands

Wesam Al Shafei has joined the Charles Russell's Bahrain Office as a legal consultant and specialises in Banking and Islamic Finance. Her principal areas of experience include banking, mergers and acquisitions, project finance, regulatory compliance and commercial & employment related matters.

Al Shafei has significant experience in acting for financial institutions in transactions involving financing and refinancing/restructuring of multi-million dollar deals, regulatory compliance work, advising on corporate governance and drafting of both conventional and Islamic financing agreements. She has also been involved in project financing matters and has acted as counsel for both lenders and borrowers in projects relating to power, energy and water.

At the same time, Charles Russell has also hired Ashley Freeman from the Central Bank of Bahrain to head up the Islamic Finance practice in the firms Financial Services team. Freeman has extensive global banking and financial services experience, encompassing strategic, transactional and regulatory matters in both Islamic and conventional industries and bondsukkuk issuances.