About

Nasser Al-Taweel’s rapid rise to his current position as chief legal officer and secretary to the board at the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority – preceded by a number of years as in-house counsel with oil supermajor Shell – is highly impressive in its own right; the fact that the QFC Authority is an organisation of such strategic significance to the Qatari government gives even greater prominence to this achievement. As one of the primary state entities working to diversify Qatar’s economy in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030, the QFC Authority manages and controls the affairs of the Qatar Financial Centre – an onshore platform for establishing a wide variety of businesses in the State of Qatar in both the regulated (banks, insurance companies etc.) and non-regulated sectors (consultancy services, legal services, audit services etc.). Al-Taweel describes how he was ‘one of the first Qatari lawyers to qualify as a Solicitor of the Courts of England and Wales’ and quickly put this expertise to work in his role within Shell, where he undertook assignments in Doha, London and The Hague. Having been brought into the executive ranks of the QFC Authority, Al-Taweel has wasted no time in making significant improvements to the internal workings of the legal function. ‘The whole department has been revamped’, he explains, ‘and we have implemented a working method based around being closer to the business and the industry, understanding their needs and focusing on the quality of work produced rather than quantity’. This approach has been very successful, leading to Al-Taweel’s team receiving an industry award as Qatar legal department of the year (small team) in 2016 and going on to win an award for the Middle East legal department of the year (government department, agency or public body) in 2017. In terms of new challenges facing the team, he emphasises that although the QFC is a fully-fledged on-shore business platform that operates within its own independent jurisdiction and under its own laws and regulations (that are primarily based on common law), the QFC Authority also works closely with other state regulators to ensure the operational effectiveness and harmony of the platform within Qatar’s regulatory and business infrastructure. He describes his strategy for this: ‘We position ourselves as partners with other state regulators and always aim to maintain close dialogue with other key stakeholders. We are always prepared to exchange ideas on legal matters in terms that are complimentary and workable. This is vital to getting things done; building trust and rapport is key’. Alongside this, Al-Taweel reinforces his ongoing desire to foster a positive and collaborative atmosphere within the QFC Authority’s legal team: ‘We have a very close working relationship underpinned by approachability, trust and camaraderie. There is mutual respect and understanding at all levels within the team and with senior management, and everyone understands their responsibilities and feels empowered to raise issues and propose solutions’.