Salman Ahmed

Salman brings an international perspective to his approach, having lived and worked in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. He is widely recognised and has been repeatedly cited as one of the leading finance lawyers in the GCC region by all major legal publications in the world for over a decade. Salman has played a formative role in the development of the Oman and Bahrain capital markets. He has advised clients on a significant number of transformational transactions across a wide range of sectors. He is a trusted adviser to a host of preeminent financial institutions (including several SIBs), large blue-chip corporates, government owned entities, sponsors, asset managers, regulators and industry organisations. He represents clients in connection with a broad range of financing and capital markets (including all types of Sukuk) transactions in several jurisdictions. He represents clients in all parts of the capital structure. He also has extensive experience advising clients on liability management and debt restructurings matters. In addition, he represents hedge providers and companies in negotiating derivatives and repurchase agreements (including on Shari's compliant complex structures), as well as other complex structured products. He has structured and executed numerous award-winning, landmark and market-first transactions as lead counsel, contributing to recognitions including IFN Banking & Finance Law Firm of the Year 2025, multiple IFN Deals of the Year Awards 2022, Tier 1 Legal 500 rankings for Banking & Finance (including Islamic Finance) in Bahrain, and ongoing recognition in IFLR1000 for Islamic finance, capital markets and restructuring capabilities across the GCC. His recent representative experience includes Energy Development Oman's OMR 1bn Sukuk Programme, which utilises a novel hybrid Sukuk structure; Bank Nizwa on the GCC's first mandatorily convertible AT1 Sukuk programme; Esterad Bank on a bespoke regulatory capital Sukuk programme with an embedded PIK structure; the lenders on a multi-security-backed cross-border margin financing; the lenders on Oman's first copper mining transaction; and the lenders and hedge providers on Oman's largest unsecured financing transaction to NAMA Holding and its subsidiaries. Salman advises on sanctions, financial regulation and financial crime, with particular expertise in UK, EU and OFAC sanctions compliance, cross-border transactions and matters involving Iran, Russia, Libya, Syria and Sudan. He is one of the very few lawyers to have a specialist primary capital market qualification from the International Capital Market Association (ICMA). Salman is a sought after and regular speaker at client, media and industry events and is a recognised expert on Islamic finance, finance regulation and financing trends. He has been an annual contributor (as co-author) to the Bahrain Chapter of Islamic Finance and Markets Law since 2017.