Mr Mohd Sofiyuddin Ahmad Tabrani > Zaid Ibrahim & Co (in association with KPMG Law) > Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia > Lawyer Profile

Mr Mohd Sofiyuddin Ahmad Tabrani

+603 2087 9999 mohd.sofiyuddin@zicolaw.com View profile

Work Department

Mohd Sofiyuddin advises the Government and clients on policy, strategy, regulatory, law reform, good regulatory practices (GRP), privatisation, and corporatisation matters as well as business advisory, corporate advisory, mergers and acquisitions, compliance, legal audit, governance, financial services including Islamic, Islamic finance and company secretarial matters. He also advises on regulatory framework and mapping, and drafting of primary and subsidiary legislations.

Mohd Sofiyuddin has been engaged for various governmental, corporate, and financial advisory services, which include advising government ministries, regulators, authorities, agencies, statutory bodies, and other government entities, government linked companies and foreign and local financial services groups, multinational companies, and conglomerates.

Mohd Sofiyuddin was a member of the working committee of the Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM) which standardised the interbank and corporate Master Wakalah and Murabahah Agreements for Islamic banks in Malaysia. He also authored “A Guide to the FSA & IFSA 2013” on the Financial Services Act 2013 and Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 which was well received among others by financial institutions, non-banking financial institutions, and development financial institutions, and he also conducts compliance, legal audit and awareness programmes including high level briefings to board of directors and senior management of leading foreign and local financial groups, multinational companies and conglomerates. He also contributes to various articles and books.

He was appointed as an Advisor in January 2015 to a Malaysian statutory body, the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) in relation to “Good Regulatory Practice” (GRP) as propounded by the Government of Malaysia in 2013. Through a Ministerial appointment by the Minister of International Trade and Industry, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) in January 2019. He also contributed to drafting and reviewing of the New Policy on Good Regulatory Practice (NPGRP) issued in 2020 and the formation of the Malaysian Good Regulatory Practice (GRP) Governing Council. In June 2020, through another Ministerial appointment by the Minister of International Trade and Industry, he left MPC and took up the appointment to the Board of Directors of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA). Incorporated as a statutory body under the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA) Act, the establishment of MIDA in 1967 was hailed by the World Bank as “the necessary impetus for purposeful, positive and coordinated promotional action” for Malaysia’s industrial development. Today, MIDA is Malaysia’s cutting-edge, dynamic and pioneering force in opening pathways to new frontiers around the globe. While he was posted in Bangkok, Thailand for a few years, he also served on the Board of Directors of the Malaysia-Thai Chamber of Commerce (MTCC). He is also a Director of ZICO Law Thailand (a subsidiary of ZICO Holdings Inc.), ZICO Trust Limited (Labuan) (a subsidiary of ZICO Holdings Inc.), and ZICO AA Sdn. Bhd. (a subsidiary and management consultancy arm of ZICO Holdings Inc.), and an Advisor to ASEAN Advisory Pte. Ltd. (a subsidiary and management consultancy arm of ZICO Holdings Inc.).

Position

Partner

Career

Mohd Sofiyuddin was called to the Malaysian Bar in 2002 and commenced his legal career as a litigation lawyer in the firm of Messrs. Amir Yussof & Zol. He subsequently left private practice to pursue a career as the Legal Officer and Company Secretary of Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad (a credit rating agency). Later, he returned to private practice with Messrs. Albar & Partners, during which he was also the company secretary of the Perdana Leadership Foundation, a premier foundation under the guidance of its honorary president, YABhg. Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

In 2009, he assumed the position of Head of Legal and Alternate Company Secretary of Asian Finance Bank Berhad (a foreign Islamic bank and part of the Qatar Islamic Bank group).

In January 2011, he continued his career in legal practice and joined the Islamic Financial Services Practice of Messrs. Zaid Ibrahim & Co., where in January 2013, he was made a Partner and Head of the Compliance & Governance Practice.

He served as an Executive Partner of ZICO Law Thailand, and as a Director of ZICO Law Myanmar from 2017-2018 where he was based full time in Bangkok, Thailand. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Malaysia-Thai Chamber of Commerce (MTCC).

He was also an Advisor and a Director of a Malaysian statutory body, the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC). MPC was formerly known as the National Productivity Corporation was established in 1962 as a joint project between the United Nations Special Fund and the Malaysian Federal Government, with the International Labour Organisation acting as its executing agency.

He is currently a Partner with the Chairman’s Office at Zaid Ibrahim & Co. (a member of ZICO Law), a Director of ZICO Law Thailand (a subsidiary of ZICO Holdings Inc.), ZICO Trust Limited (Labuan) (a subsidiary of ZICO Holdings Inc.), and ZICO AA Sdn. Bhd. (a subsidiary and management consultancy arm of ZICO Holdings Inc.), and an Advisor to ASEAN Advisory Pte. Ltd. (a subsidiary and management consultancy arm of ZICO Holdings Inc.). He is also a Director of a Malaysian statutory body, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).

Languages

• English
• Malay
• Thai

Education

• Certified Trainer for Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) (2018)
• Advocate and Solicitor, High Court of Malaya (2002)
• Bachelor of Law (LL.B) (Honours), MARA University of Technology, Malaysia (2001)
• Bachelor of Law (LL.B) (Honours), University of Wales, Cardiff, United Kingdom (1999)