Structuring Your Holdings – Legal, Financial and Practical Considerations for Family Businesses

Faizal is a UK qualified lawyer and for many years has worked and advised, and is a trusted advisor to institutions, corporates and families across the Middle East, Africa and India. Faizal specialises in banking and finance and has advised corporates, family offices and families including on their international investment and holding structures.

Abdulhafeez is a Partner at CMS Kenya | Daly Inamdar Advocates. He is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a Certified Professional Mediator. He has over fifteen years’ experience advising clients in Corporate and Commercial transactions and Dispute Resolution. He is well respected by clients for his practical and concise approach to the giving of legal advice. His main practice areas are property acquisition and development, mergers and acquisitions, banking securities and finance, employment matters and general commercial transactions. He also handles civil litigation and arbitration in land, employment, marine cargo and P&I claims.
Abdulhafeez trained with Kaplan & Stratton, Advocates, Nairobi and then joined Inamdar & Inamdar, Advocates in Mombasa in 2006 where he become a Partner in 2009. Since the merger with Daly & Figgis Advocates in 2016, he has been the Managing Partner of the Firm’s Mombasa Office.

Nishit is a Partner at CMS Kenya | Daly Inamdar Advocates and an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya with over 22 years of experience.
Nishit advises his clients in complex Banking & Finance transactions, Corporate Restructuring, Real Estate transactions, Private Client Services, Criminal Litigation, Admiralty claims and Shipping disputes.
After serving in the Ministry of Defence, Kenya Navy, as legal counsel for several years, Nishit joined the Firm in 2012. He regularly lectures on International Law of the Sea and Shipping Law at the University of Nairobi (Mombasa Law Campus).

Frank is the EY Parthenon and Eastern Africa Markets Leader responsible for leading the firm’s strategic growth in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia in line with EY’s significant investment plan and growth ambitions. Frank has 20+ years of experience advising Investors, Shareholders, Boards, CEOs and Government Executives across Africa, UK, US, Europe and Russia on Strategy, M&A, Governance and Transformation.
Prior to joining EY, he was CEO for an M&A and Advisory firm in London and has previously held Executive roles at Deutsche Bank, UBS Investment Bank and other top global firms in UK and Africa. Frank holds Executive Management qualifications on Strategy from MIT, is a CPA and holds a Bachelor of Law degree.

Nihla Mazrui is a Partner at RSM Eastern Africa and the Regional Head of Audit. Nihla has over 16 years of experience in audit and assurance services having handled clients in various sectors including banking & insurance, manufacturing, agriculture, tourism and hospitality, telecommunication, real estate, and trading. In addition, Nihla has also handled various risk advisory engagements, financial and tax due diligence, and assisting clients with payroll and accounting outsourcing services.
She is a member of ACCA, ICPAK, NBAA, and is on the ACCA Global Forum for Corporate Reporting. She also holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the International Islamic University, Malaysia.
Before joining RSM, she worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Kenya and Tanzania rising from an audit associate to a manager.

Sevyn, an English Solicitor and Jersey Advocate, is Partner in Bedell Cristin's International Private Client team, based in Jersey.
He is a private wealth specialist experienced in advising on private wealth, corporate, investment and philanthropic structures (via trusts, foundations, private trust companies and family offices). He has considerable expertise in advising on complex cross-jurisdictional trust and corporate restructuring matters, and is regularly instructed by individuals and their family offices to coordinate their offshore interests.
Sevyn has significant experience in family governance matters, succession planning in the context of family businesses and the structuring and establishment of both single and multi-family offices. He is also one of the leading experts on the use of Jersey foundations and the establishment of charitable and philanthropic structures in Jersey.

Alex is a Partner in the Corporate & Commercial Department and heads the Company Secretarial & Immigration Departments. He is qualified as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and is a practicing Certified Secretary. Alex is a member of the Law Society of Kenya, a founder member of the Companies Registry Liaison Committee, and a member of the Institute of Directors, Kenya.
Alex’s experience spans over 10 years with substantial experience in corporate and commercial law, foreign direct investments, corporate governance, company secretarial, regulatory & compliance, immigration law, foundations, and family trusts.
Alex has been involved in various local and international transactions in information communications & technology, energy, insurance, consumer products, development funds, microfinance sectors, and charitable organisations. He also represents the secretarial division as a Certified Public Secretary for various prominent national and multinational companies.

Robert has over 10 years' experience in tax advisory and consulting. He holds Bachelor of Economics from the University of Nairobi. He is a Certified Public Accountant of Kenya (ICPAK member). He is currently pursuing Postgraduate Diploma in Tax Administration.
He is majorly focused on advising investors during M&A’s, tax structuring and advising investors, family businesses and high net worth individuals.
He is regular contributor of thought leadership on general, economic and tax policy issues in both print and broadcast media. He has written an article on the following topics which are related to wealth and succession planning: a) Is setting up family office viable choice for the wealthy? - Business Daily on 28th March 2022 b) Planning your estate critical in family business – Daily Nation on 7th October 2021.
He is involved in tax policy discussions with the various stakeholders including ICPAK, KRA, the National Treasury and BMO’s.

Claire started out in the trust and corporate services industry nearly 30 years ago prior to joining Suntera as a Manager in 2010. Claire is an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators and was appointed to the board of Suntera Jersey in 2017. In 2019, Claire was appointed as a Group Director of Suntera Global and is the Head of Trusts and Private Wealth for our Jersey office. Claire has been instrumental in managing multi-jurisdictional trust and corporate structuring for the business. She has been involved in business development with a key focus on Africa having travelled to the region for 20 years, in particular East and West Africa. In her role as Head of Private Wealth, Claire manages a large team of staff who support the establishment and ongoing management of structures for private, corporate and institutional clients worldwide. Claire has a strong focus on developing client and intermediary relationships and ensuring service excellence.

Having started his career at Robert Flemings in equity research, John has over 25 years' industry experience.
During this time he had a long career in portfolio management at London and Capital Asset Management focussing on clients from the African continent.
With a keen interest on the entrepreneurial side of his clients' activities, John decided to explore combining personal wealth management with strategic business growth, focussing on the integration of advisory, corporate and business services.
John set up the UK operation of ABAX in 2015 and following the acquisition by Ocorian in 2018 continues to focus on building the bridge for those seeking knowledge, understanding and investment opportunities available across Africa, whilst maximising enterprise and shareholder value.

CMS Kenya | Daly Inamdar Advocates (CMS Kenya) is the oldest law firm in Kenya tracing its origins to 1899 with offices in Nairobi and Mombasa, and is part of CMS, a future-facing international firm with more than 5,000 lawyers across more than 80 offices in 40 countries worldwide.

As one of the most reputable full-service civil law practices, CMS Kenya engages in all aspects of corporate, commercial, real estate, and dispute resolution services, and is recognised by international legal directories, including Chambers & Partners, Legal 500 and IFLR1000.

With over 40 experienced lawyers, a number who are dual qualified (England and New York), handling significant, ground-breaking, and noteworthy commercial transactions, CMS Kenya’s clients include Kenyan-owned companies, multinational corporations, development institutions, foundations, and private clients conducting business across Africa.