Insights

Insolvency and recovery proceedings are never without meticulous financial investigations and asset searches to ensure the best outcomes for stakeholders. While the internet has revolutionised information accessibility, it is still not typically used to its full advantage and Google is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to financial investigations.

By Yaser Dajani

A combination of worthless guarantees, concealed assets and patchy legal enforcement have held back debt recovery in the Middle East. Now, this is all changing. From innovative cross-border legal strategies and remedies, to the use of forensic accounting to track down hidden assets, partnership between lawyers, investigators and third-party funders has taken the effectiveness of debt recovery to a new level. As a lender or investor, how can you capitalize on the non-performing loan (NPL) transformation?

In our latest article, Nigel Smith, Managing Director, Deal Advisory & Turnaround Services, discusses the role of the lender coordinating committee, the benefits of forming a committee and the potential limitations.

High levels of non-performing loans (NPLs) in many Middle East markets are acting as a deadweight on the region’s banks – tying up excess regulatory capital and denting credit ratings and returns. Why are NPLs levels in the region so high and why has the problem been so difficult to resolve?

In this latest insight, Nigel Smith, Managing Director, Deal Advisory & Turnaround Services, explains how swapping debt for equity could prevent an insolvency and help a distressed corporate achieve its growth potential.

By Yaser Dajani, Managing Director and Quantuma’s Middle East lead

Insolvency, bankruptcy and restructuring laws continue to evolve across the Middle East. But there are still questions over whether these reforms are meeting their key aims of improved creditor protection and the survival of viable businesses in what remains a complex, varied and often under-utilized set of legal frameworks.

Drawing on the discussions from a Quantuma-hosted roundtable for lawyers and insolvency practitioners in London, Yaser Dajani looks at the thinking behind these developments and how to unlock the potential.

Cross-border advisory firm Quantuma has strengthened its team in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) with the appointment of a senior restructuring specialist.

Merish Gujadhur joins Quantuma’s BVI office as an associate director from the Mauritius offices of a Big 4 firm where he spent almost a decade working as a senior member of their Business Recovery Services & Forensics team. Merish is a Chartered Accountant with a legal background. 

By Yaser Dajani, Managing Director and Quantuma’s Middle East lead

As we reported in an earlier article, new insolvency, bankruptcy and restructuring laws are opening up opportunities to rescue troubled businesses and boost asset recovery in the Middle East. But some cases have been more successful than others.

Drawing on the discussions from a Quantuma-hosted roundtable for lawyers and insolvency practitioners in London, Yaser Dajani assesses which recent cases have succeeded, which haven’t and what we can learn from the outcomes.

Cross-border border advisory firm Quantuma has appointed Ahmad Chit as managing director in its Middle East practice.

Cross-border border advisory firm Quantuma has appointed Ahmad Chit as managing director in its Middle East practice. Ahmad’s appointment adds further depth to the firm’s growing Investigations and Asset Recovery practice in the region. During the course of his career, Ahmad has led forensic accounting assignments across the MENA Region and held senior roles in the Middle East with major accounting and consulting firms.