Jersey Finance has made two appointments to the team in its Dubai office – Mihaela Cornelia Moldoveanu (pictured) as Business Development Director, Gulf Markets, and Faizal Bhana, Business Development Director, Middle East and Africa.
Fluent in six European languages, Mihaela (known as Ella) has been based in Dubai for five years and in Kabul for the previous four.
She was appointed in 2014 at the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) Courts in Dubai to oversee the design and launch of the DIFC Wills and Probate Registry, including drafting its legal basis.
After managing the registry for a year, Ella took over the role of Associate Director at the DIFC Dispute Resolution Authority (DRA) – the umbrella body overseeing the DIFC Courts, Academy of Law, the Wills Registry and the Arbitration Institute. She was in charge of the DRA advisory, leading the effort to set up a common-law English-language commercial court and an arbitration centre in the Astana International Financial Centre, similar to the dispute resolution system of the DIFC.
Additionally, she was responsible for strategy development, business excellence and strategic partnerships for the DRA and its divisions.
Faizal joins Jersey Finance from international law firm Trowers & Hamlins, where he was Managing Legal Counsel for Saudi Arabia.
Over the past 10 years, Faizal has worked and advised institutions, corporates and families across many Middle Eastern and African countries.
His arrival will enable Jersey Finance to service new markets from the DIFC – the Levant territories of Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey, plus Kenya.
Of Malawian heritage and fluent in Chichewa, Faizal will help deliver Jersey Finance’s dual approach for targeting Africa, from both Dubai and Jersey/London. He will also work in collaboration with Allan Wood on the broader Africa proposition.