Agha & Shamsi was founded, as a Shariah compliant firm, to develop the cause of "genuine" Islamic finance. Being Shariah compliant, the Firm has a Shariah Board and provides its clients, as a one-stop shop, world-class level transactional counsel on modern complex transactions, whether in relation to large-scale projects, private equity, M&A or capital markets issues, seamlessly harmonized with and weaved into Shariah principles.

Agha & Shamsi's commitment is to provide sound Shariah law advice, in a clear and coherent form, responding to today's complex transactional challenges through the development of Shariah scholarship and transactional innovation. Our lawyers have an independent knowledge of fiqh and we are able to develop structures that are built on an authentic Islamic base.

The Islamic finance practice is led by Mr. Agha, a recognized leading Islamic finance authority; Mr. Agha is on two committees of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), the leading standard-setting body for the Islamic finance industry. Mr. Agha led the Islamic finance team that won a Sheikh Maktoum endorsed global recognition in Islamic finance award in 2008, and is recognized as a top Islamic finance lawyer by numerous publications including Legal 500, Chambers & Partners, Who's Who Legal (UAE Special Edition 2008), IFLR magazine (as one of the world's leading Islamic finance lawyers in the "Recommendation of their Peers" article), International Who's Who, Expert Guides: Best of the Best Islamic Finance Lawyers 2008, 2009 and as one of the top 20 lawyers that helped the Gulf's economic boom by the Brief Magazine in 2008. He is the author of published papers and articles and has given presentations regarding salient Islamic finance topics in the GCC, U.S., Europe and Asia and is a frequent expert commentator on television and radio.

Agha & Shamsi lawyers have experience on acting on the following representative and notable deals:

• Common Lenders' lead Saudi law counsel to, inter alia, JBIC, conventional and Islamic lenders for Petro-Rabigh, in connection with a US$8.5 billion refinery and petrochemical project at Rabigh including advice on structuring/devising novel Shariah compliant structures fitting within a larger conventional financing (awarded Project Finance Deal of the Year 2006 by Euromoney/IFLR).
• Counsel to the arranger in connection with advice on structuring the first ever sukuk for Saudi Basic Industries Corporation's (SABIC) approved by the Capital Market Authority in Saudi Arabia for an aggregate issue of SR3 billion (US$800 million, awarded 'Sukuk Deal of the Year' and 'Country Deal of the Year - Saudi Arabia 2006' by Islamic Finance News).
• Advising multilateral lenders in connection with structuring, documentation and negotiating the (US$5 billion) Yansab (SABIC) petrochemicals in Saudi Arabia (awarded Petrochemicals Deal of the Year 2006 by Euromoney Magazine Middle East) featuring the largest ever Islamic financing (US$847 million) in any multi-sourced project financing globally.
• Lead Saudi law counsel to the sponsors on the US$526 million polypropylene Al-Waha project in Saudi Arabia advising on structuring, negotiating and documenting the first Greenfield project to be wholly Shariah financed on a novel co-purchase arrangement structure and without any commercial bank debt (awarded Middle East Islamic Deal of the Year 2006 by the Project Finance Magazine and Project Finance of the Year by Islamic Finance News).
• Advising a major petrochemical sponsor in connection with the first ever refinancing of several conventional finance loans into Islamic ijara financing arrangements in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Advising lenders on the $1.5 billion reverse-murabaha (tawarruq) variant financing of an infrastructure project.
• Advising various international banks, e.g., DnB Nor (Norway) on Islamic financing arrangements and others on diminishing musharaka aviation financing structures.
• Lead Saudi law counsel to Saudi banks in advising on structuring, documenting and negotiating novel Islamic financing structures in Saudi Arabia, including sukuk-al-ijara and sukuk-al-mudaraba.
• Lead Saudi law counsel to a leading Islamic leasing company in Saudi Arabia in connection with structuring sukuk-al-ijara.
• Advising a major Saudi corporate in connection with a US$ 500 million sukuk-al-ijara financing of the construction of a shopping centre.
• Counsel to a major Saudi insurance company in relation to the issuance of SR 500 million sukuk-al-wakala for a project.
• Lead Saudi law counsel to multilaterals in connection with structuring, documenting and negotiating an integrated conventional and Islamic ijara financing of a petrochemicals complex.
• Lead Saudi law counsel to a large petrochemical sponsor, in connection with the refinancing of several conventional finance loans into an Islamic ijara financing arrangement.
• Advising a finance house on the Islamic ijara financing of equipment for a hospital.
• Advising the lenders on the SR 1.5 billion reverse-murabaha (tawarruq) of an infrastructure project.
• Counsel to a major Saudi corporation in relation to a murabaha facility to finance the construction of a hotel.
• Advising a lender on the Etisalat murabaha structure involving the pre-sale of mobile phone airtime.
• Working on a US$500 million limited recourse financing of a petrochemical plant in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia (financing involved application of commodity-backed murabaha financing techniques in the context of multicurrency loan comprising several different facilities).
• Representing a Saudi Arabian real estate developer in regards to development, construction, and operation of several new three-star and five-star hotels and an office block in Saudi Arabia, including private placement and finance under an Islamic structure.
• Representing a major Saudi Arabian bank in respect of two real estate development projects in Saudi Arabia financed under an Islamic structure.
• Lead Counsel to Noor Islamic Bank, arranger and Islamic lender, in a US$115 million Shariah compliant syndicated ijara facility including advice on the structuring, documentation and negotiation of the transaction documents.
• International Counsel to a multilateral lender in structuring, negotiating and documenting a novel unconsummated Islamic financing investment in a Pakistani information technology provider, compliant under Pakistani and attendant Shariah law precepts.
• Advising leading Islamic banks on structuring, documenting and negotiating novel Islamic financing structures including for sukuk al ijaras and sukuk al mudarabas.
• Advising, structuring and documenting the conversion of a US$1 billion real estate fund into a Shariah compliant fund.
• Advising a major insurer in developing, structuring and documenting novel Islamic insurance (takaful) structures for worldwide product application.
  For further information regarding any transactions that we have been involved in or for further information relating to our experience in Islamic Finance and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, please contact Agha & Shamsi's managing partner, Oliver Ali Agha.