Posted by: amj_admin on April 30, 2024 - 8:09 pm

AMJ was recently honoured to receive three prestigious awards at the Islamic Finance News (IFN) 2023 Awards including the “Best Merger & Acquisitions Law Firm of the Year”.

The other two awards were for the first Sharia compliant IPO deal ever undertaken in Oman. For this transaction, AMJ acted as the Issuer’s (OQGN) counsel and was awarded the “IFN Oman Deal of the Year 2023”, and “IFN Equity and IPO Deal of the Year 2023”.  

We extend our congratulations to all those involved in making these awards possible, for which we are grateful to our clients for their continued support and trust.

#bestlawfirm #Oman

Posted by: amj_admin on April 30, 2024 - 8:09 pm

AMJ is delighted to have advised Fajr Capital, as Omani law counsel, along with the international counsel Allen & Overy LLP, on the transaction involving the purchase of a majority stake in @Aster’s GCC’s (including Oman) business by a consortium led by Fajr Capital, a sovereign-owned private equity firm based in the UAE.

AMJ’s M&A team advising on the transaction on Omani law matters was led by senior partner Mansoor Jamal Malik assisted by partner Ardeshir Patel and senior associate Armughan Ashfaq.

https://lnkd.in/diDJJpcK

Posted by: amj_admin on March 16, 2024 - 9:50 am

AMJ is delighted to have advised United Solar on this OMR 520 million polysilicon factory project, the first of its kind in the Middle East, with an annual production capacity of 1000 tonnes.

Congratulations to United Solar on the signing of several project agreements with Oman Electricity Transmission Company, Nama Electricity Supply Company, and Sohar Port and Freezone regarding the groundbreaking polysilicon factory project in Al Batinah North Governate, Sultanate of Oman. Wishing it all the best towards the inauguration of this pioneering project in the first quarter of 2025.

This project aspires to contribute to Oman Vision 2040 and meet the growing demand for renewable energy projects in the Sultanate.

https://www.omanobserver.om/article/1150978/business/economy/oetc-signs-electricity-connection-pact-for-polysilicon-factory-in-sohar-free-zone

Posted by: amj_admin on February 17, 2024 - 8:22 pm

We are pleased to announce that AMJ has received Band 1 ranking from Chambers Global 2024. AMJ was top ranked for all 3 practice areas which includes Corporate & Finance, Projects & Energy and Dispute Resolution. 

In addition to the Firm’s ranking, Mansoor Jamal Malik is ranked as ‘Star Individual’ for his outstanding contribution and 4 lawyers namely Marcus Pery, Ardeshir Patel, Dr. Ayman Ali and Ravinder Singh have been ranked consistently in various fields.

Posted by: amj_admin on February 12, 2024 - 1:32 pm

We are delighted to announce that Al Busaidy, Mansoor Jamal & Co (AMJ), has been presented with the prestigious ‘Oman Law Firm of the Year’ award at the inaugural Legal 500 MENA Awards held in Dubai on February 8, 2024. We would like to thank Legal 500 for honoring us with this award in recognition of AMJ’s involvement in innovative and complex legal deals that have taken place in the Sultanate of Oman in 2023.

AMJ is a top-tier, globally-rated, independent, commercial law firm and the largest in Oman. For over 40 years, AMJ has been involved in most, ‘first of a kind’ deals and landmark projects that have taken place in Oman and the region. Its team of lawyers include many of Oman’s most senior and experienced practitioners, recognised as leaders in their fields. They are able to draw on expertise gained in multiple innovative deals over more than four decades to respond to changing market conditions and the evolving commercial and legal needs of business and government.

#Legal500 #AMJ #OmanLawFirmoftheYear

Posted by: amj_admin on February 8, 2024 - 12:53 pm

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Yousuf Nasim as a senior associate in AMJ’s Banking and Finance team. Yousuf has over fourteen years of experience handling matters in a wide variety of subject areas. Yousuf’s area of expertise include banking & finance, corporate and M&A, projects, and Tax. He has advised and represented Fortune 500 companies, multinational corporations, major industrial and financial conglomerates, several statutory and government-owned bodies, and high-net-worth individuals. He is a Legal 500 Asia Pacific Recommended Lawyer.

Mr. Mansoor Jamal Malik , Managing Partner said: “I am delighted to welcome Yousuf Nasim to our banking and finance team and wish him all the best for his new role in AMJ”

Posted by: amj_admin on February 8, 2024 - 6:33 am

The eagerly anticipated Executive Regulations to the Oman Data Protection Law Royal Decree 6/2022 (“PDPL”) were recently issued on 28 January 2024 through Ministerial Decision 34/2024 (“Executive Regulations”).

Some of the key provisions of the Executive Regulations are as follows:

1. Article 10 of the PDPL requires the express consent of data owners to be obtained before the processing of their personal data and stipulates that such data must be processed within a framework of transparency, honesty, and respect for human dignity, whereby “personal data” is defined as data that makes a natural person identifiable, or capable of being identified directly or indirectly, by reference to one or more identifiers, such as name, ID number, electronic identification data, location data, or by reference to one or more factors related to genetic, physical, mental, psychological, social, cultural, or economic identity.

   Article 4 of the Executive Regulations further sheds light on the requirements for the consent to be a valid consent, such requirements being, the consent (i) is issued by a person with full capacity; (ii) is given in a clear manner and without coercion and (iii) issued in writing, electronically, or by any other means specified by the data controller.

2. Article 5 of PDPL provides that the processing of sensitive personal data relating to genetic, biometric, heath data or data relating to ethnic origin, sexual life, political or religious opinions, beliefs, criminal convictions, or related security measures is prohibited unless a permit is obtained from the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (“MTCIT”).

   The Executive Regulations now provide guidelines regarding information that is required to be submitted by data processors applying for such permits, provided for under Article 5 of the PDPL and states that the MTCIT has 45 days to decide on the application. If the MTCIT fails to respond within this time limit, the application will be deemed to be automatically rejected. The applicant has the right to appeal such rejection within 60 days from the date of being notified of such rejection before the Minister of MTCIT (“Minister”), but if the Minister fails to respond within 30 days, the appeal will be deemed to be rejected.

3. Article 11 of the PDPL provides for data owners right to have their personal data erased, retrieved, or transferred to another entity by the data controller. The Executive Regulations provide that data controllers have a duty to respond to requests from data owner within 45 days. If the data controller fails to respond to the request or denies it, the data owner has the right to complain to the MTCIT, and if the MTCIT fails to respond within 60 days, the complaint will be deemed to be rejected.

   Article 17 of the Executive Regulations provides for two grounds based on which a data controller may refuse to fulfil a request of the above nature, these being i) if a request is unjustifiably repetitive, and (ii) if a request requires extraordinary effort to fulfil. This in our view, may be seen as unreasonable for data owners who have genuine reasons to request the data controller to erase or transfer their personal data.

4. Article 23 of the PDPL provides that personal data may be transferred outside Oman subject to the standards and procedures to be set out in the Executive Regulations. The Executive Regulations provide clarity on such international transfers of personal data. Article 37 of the Executive Regulations provide that the data owner’s consent is sufficient to transfer its personal data outside borders of Oman provided such transfer of data shall not prejudice national security or the higher interests of the country and there are no requirements to obtain the approval of the MTCIT before doing so. Further, Article 38 also provides that it is the responsibility of the data controller to ensure that the external processing entity i.e outside of Oman to whom such data has been transferred to, has adequate protection in place for such personal data, which may not be less than the level of protection prescribed in PDPL and Executive Regulations. Personal data may be transferred internationally without the consent of the data owner if (i) it is in implementation of an international obligation under an agreement to which the Sultanate of Oman is a party, or (ii) if the transfer was carried out in such a way as to conceal the identity of the data owner, not linking the data to him/her, and is not identifiable in any way whatsoever.
5. According to the PDPL, a number of obligations are imposed on data controllers and processors, which include the obligation to appoint a data protection officer, the selection controls and criteria for which were to be determined by the Executive Regulations. Whilst Article 35 of the Executive Regulations provide for a number of responsibilities which are required to be fulfilled by a data protection officer, it does not provide for the categories of data controllers who are required to appoint a data protection officer, which essentially means that any data controller who is holding personal data of any nature, is required to appoint a data protection officer.
6. Article 44 of the Executive Regulations provides for the imposition of penalties in case of non-compliance with the Executive Regulations. When considering the imposition of any of the penalties, the Minister may in the exercise of his discretion (i) issue an official warning; (ii) suspend the permit until the violation is remediated; (iii) impose a fine not exceeding 2,000 (two thousand) Omani Rials for each violation, and (iv) cancel the permit.

As these Executive Regulations have only recently been issued, much will depend upon their interpretation and application by the MTCIT with reference to the PDPL.

Author details

Anjali Kotak

Associate 

Commercial and Capital Markets 

Al Busaidy, Mansoor Jamal & Co

Tel: +968 24829200

Email: anjali.kotak@amjoman.com

Posted by: amj_admin on February 8, 2024 - 5:18 am

Leading Omani law firm, Al Busaidy, Mansoor Jamal & Co (“AMJ”), has appointed Al Sayyid Ahmed Said Hilal Al Busaid as a new partner in its Corporate, Commercial and Regulatory Department.

Al Sayyid Ahmed has a broad range of experience in corporate commercial, regulatory advisory, Capital Market and Mergers & Acquisitions and advises his clients across a wide-ranging spectrum of sectors. 

“We are delighted to welcome Al Sayyid Ahmed into our partnership,” said Mansoor Jamal Malik, managing partner. “His appointment to the partnership is a testament to the success we have had in advisory work on all regulatory matters relating to Banking and Finance, M&A and IPO transactions. This demonstrates our commitment to support fast-paced economic growth and development in Oman. It boosts our capability to respond to the business community’s need for quality legal services at a time of increasing complexity and sophistication of transactions, products and the developing regulatory framework.” AMJ, established in Oman in the 1970s, is the largest law firm in Oman with 9 partners and 7 teams of lawyers delivering high-quality legal advice across a broad spectrum of company/commercial/projects/banking and litigation/arbitration matters.

Posted by: amj_admin on February 8, 2024 - 5:00 am

We are delighted to announce the promotion of Zarrar Mir to the position of Senior Associate at AMJ. Zarrar has been a valuable asset to our team, showcasing a diverse skill set and extensive experience in banking, Islamic finance, projects, corporate, commercial and mergers & acquisitions.

Throughout his tenure with us, Zarrar has played a pivotal role in numerous high-profile and complex project development, project finance, M&A and Islamic finance deals. His performance has not gone unnoticed, earning him recognition as a ‘Rising Star’ in Banking and Finance Oman by IFLR 1000 (2023/2024) and Legal 500 (2023).

This promotion is a testament to his hard work and significant contributions to our team. We are confident that Zarrar will continue to excel in his new role, and we look forward to witnessing his continued success.

We are proud to have him as a Senior Associate at AMJ and look forward to achieving new milestones together.

Posted by: amj_admin on January 31, 2024 - 4:28 am

We take immense pride in announcing that AMJ has received three prestigious awards across different categories from the Islamic Finance News (IFN) for our innovative corporate and M&A transactions in 2023. These accolades include “IFN Mergers & Acquisitions Law Firm of The Year 2023” for outstanding M&A transactions, IFN Oman Deal of the Year 2023”, and “IFN Equity and IPO Deal of the Year 2023” for our role as the issuer (OQGN)’s sole Omani counsel in OQ Gas Networks SAOG’s IPO, one of the largest IPOs in Oman till date. We thank our clients for their continuous support.