Ahmed Barakat, Managing Partner at ASAR.

KUWAIT: Al-Ruwayeh and Partners (ASAR), Kuwait's leading and most prominent corporate law firm and one of the region's top tier firms, co-sponsored and participated at the yearly Euromoney conference that took place at Kuwait City on September 27. The platform included the participation of senior government officials, market experts and businessmen, discussing the challenges and opportunities facing the Kuwaiti economy in an era of global uncertainty.

The central theme of 'Meeting the Challenge of Financial Innovation and Reform', discussing Kuwait's fiscal, monetary and economic diversification strategy included topics such as Digitalization, Innovation and the future of Kuwaiti business, finance and governance. There was also a strong underlying theme in the program to explore the role of Kuwait in the international financial system. The event was a unique opportunity for Euromoney and the audience to interact with senior government officials in an informal setting.

From ASAR's part, Ahmed Barakat, Managing Partner at ASAR, addressed the conference on the recent legislative developments in Kuwait and how they are affecting businesses in the country.

Barakat said: "Recently in 2016, Kuwait has announced significant reforms, designed to balance the national economy and diversify the nation's sources of income. These reforms include plans to boost non-oil revenues and reduce public spending, as well as financial sector reforms, changes to the public sector's role in the economy, and incentives to empower citizens to launch their own businesses. For this reason, we at ASAR are tackling these issues through raising and addressing the necessary legal changes for implementing this reform plan."

Barakat also commented on the gradual implementation of the Basel III capital adequacy standard and the introduction of comprehensive Capital market Bylaws as part of the major developments in the banking and Capital market sectors, let alone the recent enhancement and beefing up of the legal frameworks dealing with private/public partnership projects and foreign direct investment in Kuwait.

In closing, Barakat added : "As experienced corporate lawyers, we applaud the government and parliament for taking proactive and positive measures to fill in the legislative gaps in such a challenging market like Kuwait."

With dedicated offices in Kuwait and Bahrain coupled with its associated offices and relationships, ASAR provides clients across an extensive range of industry sectors with comprehensive legal advice and support for their business activities in Kuwait, across the GCC and beyond.

The firm has been consistently rated as the leading corporate and commercial law firm in Kuwait by reputable legal guides such as the Chambers Global Guide, International Financial Law Review (IFLR) and the Legal 500. In 2015, ASAR was awarded with the IFLR National Law Firm of the Year Award; an award which ASAR has been delighted to receive for the 7th consecutive year. The firm also won the "Best Restructuring Deal in the Middle East" award by IFLR in 2014. Further, the firm won the prestigious "2014 Commercial Litigation Law Firm of the Year" and the "2014 Best Banking and Finance Legal Team -Kuwait" awards from Acquisition International Magazine in 2014. ASAR lawyers have also received multiple awards under different categories in the Fourth Edition of 'Best Lawyers' in Kuwait.