Alfahad & Partners (Consultants and Attorneys)

Managing Partner Dr. Faisal Alfahad discusses how Alfahad & Partners is leveraging deep regulatory expertise and a client-first approach to lead Kuwait’s most significant corporate and banking transactions.   What do you see as the main points that differentiate Alfahad & Partners (Consultants & Attorneys) from your competitors? What truly sets Alfahad & Partners apart is the depth of our institutional experience within Kuwait’s regulatory landscape. As a firm founded by a former Commissioner of the Capital Markets Authority, Legal Counsel to the Central Bank of Kuwait and former professor at Kuwait University, College of Law, we bring an insider’s understanding of how regulators think and operate. This allows us to structure transactions and advise clients with a level of precision that few competitors can match. Our team is bilingual and culturally agile, enabling us to serve as trusted local counsel to leading international firms. We also distinguish ourselves through our commitment to responsiveness and transparency. Our clients consistently highlight our prompt communication and clear, actionable advice. We are not a volume-driven practice but we are a high-end firm focused on quality, taking on complex, high-stakes matters where our regulatory depth and strategic counsel make a measurable difference.   Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? We see significant growth ahead in banking M&A, capital markets regulatory work, and fintech advisory. Kuwait’s banking sector is undergoing a period of strategic consolidation, we are currently advising on the potential merger of Warba Bank and Gulf Bank, which would create Kuwait’s third-largest financial institution with combined assets exceeding USD 42 billion. This trend of large-scale banking mergers and cross-shareholding transactions will continue to drive demand for sophisticated legal counsel. Capital markets compliance and regulatory defense work is also expanding rapidly, as the CMA intensifies its oversight of listed and licensed companies. We are already acting for several publicly listed and licensed entities before the CMA on inspection and disciplinary matters. Additionally, Kuwait’s evolving fintech landscape presents exciting opportunities. We recently advised Almowazi Capital while it obtained the first-ever crowdfunding license issued in Kuwait, setting a market precedent for alternative financing. As Kuwait’s regulatory framework matures to accommodate digital finance and new investment structures, our firm is well positioned to lead in this space.   What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients? The most impactful change has been a deliberate strengthening of our team across international advisory, litigation and CMA regulatory work. We have recruited experienced legal professionals with deep cross-border M&A, corporate governance and capital markets expertise to bolster our international division, enabling us to handle increasingly sophisticated multi-jurisdictional transactions for both local and foreign clients. On the litigation front, we have expanded our capacity to take on complex, high-value disputes before Kuwait’s courts at every level, from the Court of First Instance through to the Court of Cassation. Our CMA advisory team has also grown significantly, reflecting the rising demand from publicly listed and licensed companies for regulatory matters and compliance counsel as the Authority intensifies its oversight activities. Alongside these team investments, we have introduced a structured, milestone-based billing approach for complex engagements, giving clients greater cost certainty and demonstrating our confidence in delivering results at each stage. These changes reflect our commitment to being not just legal advisors, but genuine partners in our clients’ success.   Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Absolutely. Technology is reshaping how we deliver legal services, and we have embraced this transformation thoughtfully. We have invested in advanced legal research tools and workflow enhancements that allow our team to analyze complex regulatory frameworks and precedents with greater speed and accuracy, while always ensuring that every piece of advice is reviewed and refined by our experienced lawyers. These tools support our attorneys rather than replace their judgment. They help us identify relevant legal developments faster and ensure nothing is overlooked in large-scale, multi-faceted transactions. Video conferencing has become an integral part of how we engage with our international and regional clients. We have also leveraged banking online payment services to streamline billing and collections. Importantly, we view technology not as a replacement for personal service, but as a means to enhance it. Our clients, particularly those in banking and capital markets, expect speed and precision. By investing in technology, we ensure that our team spends its time on high-value strategic thinking rather than administrative tasks, ultimately delivering better outcomes at greater efficiency.   Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? A standout example is our representation of a leading regional bank with over USD 35 billion in assets. The bank came to us after losing two significant lawsuits at both the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal. In one case valued at USD 110 million, we were engaged at the appellate stage and successfully overturned the adverse judgment. In the second matter worth USD 30 million, we took over at the Court of Cassation after the client had lost at both lower courts, and secured a final judgment in their favour where the court rescinded the contract and ordered the return of property valued at over KWD 9 million. In another high-profile matter, we represented a prominent listed investment company in proceedings to revoke an auction sale of its assets that had been grossly undervalued, resulting in a potential loss of over KWD 77 million. Our team identified substantial procedural and substantive irregularities in the auction process and successfully challenged the sale before the authorities, securing relief for the client and setting an important precedent for the protection of shareholder value in enforcement circumstances. We also represented a diversified holding company in a USD 200 million protective settlement negotiation that safeguarded the company from bankruptcy. In each case, our strategic approach and deep understanding of Kuwaiti laws delivered tangible, business-critical value that went well beyond the courtroom.   Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time? Without question, stability and strategic vision are what clients value most in the current environment. Kuwait’s regulatory and commercial landscape is evolving rapidly, and clients need a law firm that can anticipate change, not merely react to it. Our firm’s deep roots in public sector legal institutions with Dr. Faisal’s background at the Central Bank of Kuwait, the Capital Markets Authority and at Kuwait Authority of Partnership Projects give us an unparalleled ability to read the direction of regulatory policy and advise clients accordingly. In three years, we see Alfahad & Partners firmly established as a Top Tier practice in Kuwait across corporate M&A, banking and finance, and capital markets. We plan to expand our international capabilities further, deepening our relationships with leading global firms and serving as the go-to local counsel for cross-border transactions into Kuwait. Our goal is to be the firm that the region’s most important financial institutions and investors turn to first and the trajectory of our current work shows we are well on that path.