Private Client Middle East Circle
1 May 2025
to 2 May 2025
Meliá Desert Palm, Dubai, UAE
The Private Client Middle East Circle will take place in Dubai as our inaugural Circle in the region. Curated by our esteemed Advisory Board, this exclusive event is tailored for the leading practitioners in private client across the Middle East to come together in a collaborative environment and discuss the latest opportunities and trends impacting their practice.
This Circle is expertly steered by Mustafa Hussain of Accuro, Dipali Maldonado of Al Tamimi & Co, Marianne Kafena of Mishcon de Reya, Rima Mrad of BSA Law, Benjamin Lister of Taylor Wessing, and Ahmad Sergieh of Hadef & Partners.
This exclusive invitation only event, involves facilitated discussions across 1 and a half days of content.
We have been working with a charing commitee the event to come up with the invite list and areas of discussion. Designed to be interactive and as inclusive as possible, there are no set-piece presentations or panel sessions with the focus being on open discussion.
The event will run in 2 broad formats: Horseshoe & Interactive roundtables, whereby we are expecting all attendees to be involved throughout. There will be assigned topic leaders for each session to get the conversation amongst all attendees started.
This Circle is kindly supported by:
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Delegates
Mustafa Hussain (Advisory Board)
Managing Director London and Chair of the Board (Group)
Accuro (UK)
Marianne Kafena (Advisory Board)
Partner
Mishcon de Reya (UK)
Benjamin Lister (Advisory Board)
Partner
Taylor Wessing (UK)
Dipali Maldonado (Advisory Board)
Partner
Al Tamimi & Co (UAE)
Rima Mrad (Advisory Board)
Partner
BSA Law (UAE)
Ahmad Sergieh (Advisory Board)
Partner
Hadef & Partners (UAE)
Leona Ahmed
Partner
Taylor Wessing (UK)
Shamma Al Falahi
Partner
BSA Law (UAE)
Dr. Békés Balázs
Attorney at Law, Tax Advisor
Bekes Partners (Hungary)
Katie Bonfrer
Group Managing Director of Collas Crill Trust and Corporate Services
Collas Crill (Jersey)
Steven Bostock
Partner
Mishcon de Reya (UK)
Angela Calnan
Partner
Collas Crill (Guernsey)
Diana Hamade
Founder
Diana Hamade Attorneys at Law (UAE)
Gavin Helms
Senior Director
Picard Angst (UAE)
Shiraz Khan
Partner
Al Tamimi & Co (UAE)
Fadi Kikano
Director
FFP (UAE)
William Langton
Director of Private Clients
Henley & Partners (UAE)
Amir Levy
Founding Partner
Galilei Investment Office (UK)
Alexander Minakov
Business Development Manager
BEYOND Residence & Citizenship (UK)
Dustyn Molver
Head of Middle East
Lancaster (UAE)
Jamie Monckton
Vice President
Highgate Advisory (UK, Australia)
Natacha Onawelho-Loren
Managing Director
Accuro (Switzerland)
Paul Perris
Chief Executive
Yasira (Bahrain)
Alex Porter
Wealth Planning, Director
Sequent (UK)
Suzanne Reisman
Principal
Law Offices of Suzanne M. Reisman (UK)
Ziva Robertson
Partner
Charles Russell Speechlys (UK)
Michel Sarfati
Head of Global Private Banks & Family Offices Sales
FAB (UAE)
Tim Searle
Founder
HNWTAX (UAE)
Radim Servit
Partner
Kaiser Partner (Liechtenstein)
Elena Taylor
Senior Counsel, Private Wealth
Charles Russell Speechlys (UAE)
Carine Tohme
Managing Partner
Tohme Law (Lebanon)
Hannah Wailoo
Partner
Withers (UK)
Hassan Zawawi
Partner
Alzawawi Law Firm (Saudi Arabia)
Agenda
09:30
10:00
Advisory Board Welcome
10:10
Trusts v Companies as Wealth Holding Structures for Regional Private Clients
- The advantages, disadvantages and differences between trusts and corporate entities within wealth holding structures for clients from the Middle East region;
- How legal issues such as limitation of liability, board appointments and shareholdings inform the client’s choices; and
- The role and emphasis on psychology, perception and group dynamics in selecting a trust vs a company for regional clients.
11:10
Refreshment Break
11:40
Global Mobility & Tax Choices and Challenges for clients, their families and their assets arriving to or leaving from the Middle East
- The tax issues, factors and challenges facing clients, their families and their assets in 2025;
- Global mobility trends for offshoring of assets and onshoring of talent from and to the Middle East; and
- Post Res Non Dom trends and developments in Regional policy and legislation, including family foundation exemptions
12:40
Lunch
Interactive Roundtables
Delegates to choose which two of the three roundtable topics they attend during the afternoon.
14:00
Roundtables - Round 1
Delegates can choose to attend one of the three sessions:
Roots & Returns: The Art of Structuring Family Businesses - Hosted by Collas Crill
This session will focus on offshore family business structures for Middle Eastern families
- what issues the structures are there to resolve (negating the impact of probate, keeping the family enterprise together, minimising the risk of litigation, appropriate levels of control etc.)
- how to tackle these issues in (i) the drafting; and (ii) the ongoing administration
- what does good look like – in our experience, what has and is working well
- we will walk through some live cases on an anonymous basis and invite delegates to share their experiences too (only if they wish)
- the intended output is to share best practice and also share some war stories of where issues have arisen, been tackled and been successfully resolved
Navigating Family Dynamics - Is It Time for Advisers to Get Personal? - Hosted by Accuro
Managing Private Wealth Disputes in the Middle East - Hosted by Ziva Robertson and Elena Taylor of Charles Russell Speechlys, and Rima Mrad of BSA Law (Advisory Board)
14:50
Refreshment Break
15:20
Roundtables - Round 2
Delegates can choose to attend one of the three sessions:
Roots & Returns: The Art of Structuring Family Businesses - Hosted by Collas Crill
This session will focus on offshore family business structures for Middle Eastern families
- what issues the structures are there to resolve (negating the impact of probate, keeping the family enterprise together, minimising the risk of litigation, appropriate levels of control etc.)
- how to tackle these issues in (i) the drafting; and (ii) the ongoing administration
- what does good look like – in our experience, what has and is working well
- we will walk through some live cases on an anonymous basis and invite delegates to share their experiences too (only if they wish)
- the intended output is to share best practice and also share some war stories of where issues have arisen, been tackled and been successfully resolved
Navigating Family Dynamics - Is It Time for Advisers to Get Personal? - Hosted by Accuro
Managing Private Wealth Disputes in the Middle East - Hosted by Ziva Robertson and Elena Taylor of Charles Russell Speechlys, and Rima Mrad of BSA Law (Advisory Board)
16:10
Close of Day One Circle
17:15
Meet in Hotel Reception
Cars will escort delegates down to the Green Veranda for the Drinks Reception and Dinner (1km away within the Meliá Desert Palm resort), and will return all delegates to the hotel reception upon conclusion of the dinner.
17:30
Drinks Reception
19:00
Dinner
9:30am
Morning Refreshments
10:00
The Role and Responsibilities of Philanthropy and Islamic Principles in GCC Private Client Planning
- Legal structures and solutions for giving onshore and offshore;
- The settlement of funds into philanthropic or charitable tax orientated structures and distribution of donations and regulatory challenges to the same; and
- Permitted uses, trends and future prospects for this sector in the Region.
11:00
Refreshment Break
11:30
AI and The Global Polycrisis: their impact and influence on and from the Middle East
- AI trends and potential in and from the Region in the context of the private wealth industry specifically;
- Geopolitics and its impact on wealth and asset protection in the Region. The role the Region plays in shaping global outcomes; and
- Trends, developments and future predictions of note to private clients and their advisors in local and international advisory practices
12:30
Lunch and Close of Circle
Essential Information
Venue
Meliá Desert Palm
Al Awir Road
Warsan 2
Dubai
United Arab Emirates, Dubai
Accommodation
Accommodation is included in the ticket price for Thursday 1 May only (for International guests).
Should you not require accommodation please let us know ASAP.
To extend your stay please contact us.
Dress Code
Business casual throughout
Location
Event Location
Contact
Attendance, Booking & General Queries
For general enquiries please contact
Maddi Briggs on +44 (0) 20 3398 8545
or email maddi@thoughtleaders4.com
Venue & Logistics
For venue & logistics enquiries please contact
Ewan Brown on +44 (0) 20 3433 2292
or email ewan@thoughtleaders4.com
Partnership
For partnership enquiries please contact
James Baldwin-Webb on +44 (0) 20 3398 8546
or email james@thoughtleaders4.com