Head of Middle East, Norton Rose Fulbright (Middle East) LLP

Mohammed Paracha is a banking and finance lawyer based in Dubai. He is Head of Middle East, as well as head of our Islamic finance practice for the Middle East and Africa.

Mohammed has been active in the Middle East for nearly 20 years, having worked in our London and Bahrain offices before moving to Dubai in 2011. He became Head of our Middle East practice in January 2021.

His practice focuses on all types of Islamic Finance covering a wide range of asset types, investment classes and industrial sectors. With a background in asset and project finance, Mohammed advises on Sharia compliant asset finance, trade finance, real estate finance and project financings. He also advises on the structuring of Islamically acceptable investment funds and has advised on the establishment of new Islamic financial institutions in various countries. Mohammed has strong relationships with many of the internationally renowned Sharia scholars and is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars on Islamic finance topics.

Mohammed’s clients include multi-lateral development banks (Islamic Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and ICIEC), commercial banks (BNP Paribas, HSBC, SCB, Bank ABC and SMBC) and regional banks (Dubai Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD and Mashreqbank).

Mohammed is the project lead on the on-going Islamic Codification Project for Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC). A further highlight of Mohammed’s career includes being appointed to the Bank of England’s Committee on Islamic Finance which then paved the way for London to become a key global hub in the industry.

Mohammed is recommended as a leader in his field by Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, Acritas and IFLR.