Mr Iqbal Rajahbalee > BLC Robert & Associates > Ebene, Mauritius > Lawyer Profile

BLC Robert & Associates
2ND FLOOR, THE AXIS
26 BANK STREET, CYBERCITY
EBENE 72201, MAURITIUS
Mauritius

Work Department

Dispute Resolution / Financial Services / Compliance

Position

Co-Founding Partner & Senior Counsel

Career

Iqbal Rajahbalee is the Co-Founding Partner of BLC Robert & Associates and specialises in the practice areas of Financial Services, Compliance and Dispute Resolution. He is a Senior Counsel with over 30 years of practice at the Bar of Mauritius advising on a number of diverse cross-border finance transactions, including asset financing and investment funds both for the public and private sectors.

Iqbal is the founder of the offshore financial industry in Mauritius and served as the first Executive Director of the Mauritius Offshore Business Activities Authority. He was appointed as the first Chief Executive of the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius, the regulatory body of the non-banking finance industry. He has acted as Mauritian counsel in setting up a number of global investment funds and advised a number of multinationals. In addition, Iqbal served for more than 10 years at the Attorney General‘s Office, Ministry of Justice rising to the position of Assistant Solicitor General. He is often called upon by the Government to advise on financial law matters and has drafted numerous pieces of legislation in Mauritius including the Securities Act, the Financial Services Development Act and the Insurance Act.

Over the last 10 years, Iqbal’s practice at the Mauritian Bar has been essentially directed to commercial litigation and he has acted as counsel to a number of multinationals and local major companies before the Supreme Court in Mauritius and in both local and international arbitration. Iqbal has also been called as expert witness with regard to Mauritian corporate law before the High Court of England and Wales and before the High Court in the Republic of Singapore.

Iqbal has led several Government delegations on a wide range of issues from international territorial disputes to taxation and has sat on a number of government appointed committees. Iqbal completed both his bachelor and master of Laws at the London School of Economics.

Iqbal is rated as Leading Lawyer by Chambers Global, ILFR 100 and Legal 500. Chambers Global have stated that “he knows this business outstandingly well” and is a “sensible choice for large corporate transactions.” The guide states that “Observers credit his ‘tremendous track record’ as one of the reasons why he is held in such high esteem by clients.”

Languages

English and French

Memberships

  • Middle Temple Inn of Court, London
  • Honorary Member, Asian Offshore Association
  • Mauritius Bar Association

Education

  • LL.M – London School of Economics, England
  • LL.B – London School of Economics, England

Lawyer Rankings

Mauritius > Barristers: Commercial disputes

(Leading Silks)

Iqbal Rajahbalee SCBLC Robert & Associates

Demonstrable experience in sectors including banking and finance bolsters the reputation of BLC Robert & Associates, whose team is frequently retained in complex, high-value commercial disputes before all levels of the Mauritian court system. Evidence of a stellar track record at the appellate level includes the successful defence before both the Supreme Court and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of a challenge to an arbitral award arising out of a failure to pay tranches due under a shareholders agreement in VSoft Holdings LLC v Peepul Capital Fund II LLC. Iqbal Rajahbalee SC is engaged in resisting an injunction obtained by the Republic of India against Mauritian companies pursuing investment treaty arbitration in CC/Devas (Mauritius) Ltd v The Republic of India, and has defended a commercial bank in a high-profile wrongful termination claim in Beeharry v Maubank Ltd. Mushtaq Namdarkhan represented an investment fund in an application seeking to compel disclosures relating to an alleged fraud in Stanford Asset Holdings Limited and The Greenway PCC v AfrAsia Bank, and Ravi Bhookhun continues to build his portfolio, having previously appeared as junior counsel in an employment dispute before the Privy Council in Grewals (Mauritius) Ltd v Koo See Lin.

Mauritius > Leading firms

BLC Robert & Associates is notable in the finance space, acting for financial institutions, private equity funds, and multinational corporations. The firm’s full-service offering includes a dedicated dispute resolution team, led jointly by managing partner and complex corporate structuring and governance authority Iqbal Rajahbalee SC and offshore and trademark litigation expert André Robert SA, and bolstered by the competencies of Mushtaq Namdarkhan in shareholder, banking, and construction disputes. Co-founder Jason Harel is seasoned in corporate, M&A and non-contentious tax work, while banking and finance head Jean-Eric Sauzier covers real estate, hospitality, and IT, supported by fund and sustainability financing specialist Valerie Bisasur and investment funds and capital markets-focused Bhavna Ramsurun. Fayaz Hajee Abdoula excels in employment law.