We are business lawyers who focus on the investment management industry and its specific legal needs. Our practice reflects the breadth and diversity of the investment management industry. We are preeminent in the field; our attorneys are interdisciplinary, drawing on expertise across related fields. Our proficiency extends across all investment and financing strategies.
Members of our team have strong and complementary backgrounds and experience that incorporate business, legal, regulatory and consumer perspectives. Our lawyers have solid and extensive experience with financing of funds and investment managers, including representation of both lenders and borrowing entities. We advise clients on employment and incentive arrangements to attract, retain and motivate key personnel, including shadow equity plans, incentive partnership structures and security companies.
Saba international Law Office investment management attorneys are devoted to structuring hedge funds, private equity funds and mutual funds, and providing regulatory advice. They are supported by specialists in tax; business transactions; derivatives; finance; structured products; human resources; bank regulatory; real estate, estate planning and litigation (all of whom have substantial expertise in the issues facing investment funds and investment managers).
Our lawyers counsel private investment funds, including venture capital and infrastructure. Our representation of a broad range of investors affords us a wide-ranging perspective over a rapidly evolving market.
We provide our clients with creative solutions to their investment management problems. We place as much emphasis on structuring the fund management entity and ensuring its successful operation as we do on properly structuring the funds to suit their investment strategies. We have kept our clients abreast of new requirements and a host of other recent legislative and regulatory initiatives.
We have advised many investment corporations on a wide variety of compliance and regulatory matters, reviewing policies and procedures as required in the process. We have substantial experience providing large, sophisticated clients with transactional, regulatory and fiduciary advice and representation in developing and implementing their investment programs.
We advise on limitations on foreign investment and the ability to repatriate earnings, as well as international tax issues, including double taxation risks, terms, and conditions for company transactions.
We maintain a strong practice in all areas of global funds offerings, including multinational private placements and offshore funds. We also assist foreign investors entering the Middle East area, national funds and their managers seeking clients throughout the world.
Saba international Law Office represents a prominent clientele that includes domestic and foreign publicly-traded corporations as well as offshore corporations. We have advised the largest investors in the region in structuring and marketing private equity funds that fall outside registration requirements.
Moreover, we counsel our clients on acquisitions, recapitalization, restructuring, and dispositions of investments.
We have the highest quality investment lawyers, as well as distinguished corporate finance lawyers and business lawyers. Our attorneys have earned a solid reputation as strategic problem-solvers, ardent negotiators and successful deal-makers.
We consider ourselves seasoned strategists who can navigate our way across the negotiating table as well as the courtroom. Since the year 2000, we have been the legal advisor to the top Investors in the Middle East, despite our major competitors’ considerably larger size.
The 2001 Investments Law of Lebanon
In accordance with the private-investments-oriented government policy, Law No 360, dated August 16, 2001, the Lebanese territory was divided into three investment zones. Potential investors may submit their a projects to the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL) in order to benefit from Incentives set forth as part of the ”One-stop Shop” initiative. The regulations are as follows:
Package Deal Contract with IDAL
The aforementioned Investment Law No 360/2001 grants the investor the option to submit a “one-stop shop” project, or a package deal, (www.idal.com.lb) which is an agreement signed on their behalf with IDAL, in order to benefit from the greatest extent of incentives:
1. Maximum incentives granted by the package deal
2. Income & dividends taxes fully exempted for 10 years
3. IDAL will issue all work permits
4. Reduction of work and residence permit fees up to a maximum of 50
5. Housing bank shall be reduced by 1/2
6. Reduction up to a maximum of 50% of construction permit fees
7. Full exemption from land registration fees and from fees levied for annexation, sub-division, mortgage, and registration of lease contracts at the Real Estate Register, conditional on launching the project within 5 years as of the date of lot registration.