Everyone wants to be a millionaire and, it would seem at City law firms, everyone wants to be in Islamic finance. But do the two necessarily go hand-in-hand?
Well, not a day goes by without one firm or another crowing about the latest ‘first’ to hit the rapidly-evolving sector, or some prominent new Islamic finance recruit. Among key recent deals, Clifford Chance this year advised Aldar Properties on the $2.5bn (£1.3bn) first Islamic convertible bond with Denton Wilde Sapte as underwriter counsel. In March, Allen & Overy advised the underwriters on a $750m (£379m) Islamic bond opposite Dentons client Dubai Islamic Bank, the first sukuk to be listed in Dubai and London.
