10 January, 2022, Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Forensic Risk Alliance (FRA), a forensic accounting and data governance consultancy specialising in international and complex investigations, compliance and disputes, is pleased to announce that Bhavin Shah, former Partner at Deloitte Middle East, has been appointed to head up the firm’s new Middle East and Africa (MEA) office based in Dubai.
The launch of the FRA MEA office in Dubai comes as the forensics and advisory market in the Middle East and Africa region has grown to several hundred million dollars per year, largely driven by increasing and coordinated enforcement efforts both within the region and globally.
Importantly, it marks a significant investment in the firm’s international expansion plans and bolsters the firm’s existing engagements in the MEA region, with localised and on-the-ground support in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
Bhavin will further deepen FRA’s full-service offering and breadth of expertise to corporations, government-related entities, financial institutions and their counsel across a range of areas such as sanctions, bribery and corruption, AML, and compliance. His particular expertise in financial services will also strengthen FRA’s market-leading white-collar capabilities globally.
Bhavin has more than 18 years of professional services experience, working in financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds, investment companies, development institutions and regulators across Asia, the Middle East, America and Europe. His expertise spans complex legal matters, forensic and crisis management, and monitorships, having advised on many high-profile cases in the region and globally with global financial institutions, regulators and government authorities.
Prior to FRA, he was founder and Managing Director of management consultancy True North and Senior Advisor at Roland Berger. He also served as Partner at Deloitte Middle East for five years, heading up the Financial Services Regulatory Advisory practice.
Stuart Ells, CEO, said: “We are thrilled to launch an office in the DIFC. FRA’s Dubai office will serve as a key location for high-value litigation, complex cross-border disputes, financial crime investigations and forensic work across key markets such as the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the wider MEA region. Bhavin’s extensive leadership and financial services experience, and knowledge of the Middle East market, will give our clients valuable insight when navigating regulatory proceedings. His appointment also allows us to build a strong, local footprint in a region that is of great strategic value.”
Bhavin Shah said: “I’m delighted to join FRA, a firm with such an outstanding reputation from its high-profile, international advisory work. I’m honored to lead the charge in launching the FRA MEA office in Dubai. There is an increasing demand among clients for independent expert advice that few global firms can provide. We look forward to continuing to meet that demand, both for clients based within the MEA region as well as for our existing global client base with commercial interests in the region.”
Toby Duthie, co-founding Partner at Forensic Risk Alliance, said: “We are excited to welcome Bhavin to the FRA family. A new office in Dubai marks another milestone in our global team’s 20+ year track record of punching above our weight, including working on some of the most high-profile cases connected to the Middle East region. Bhavin’s deep subject matter expertise and regional knowledge, combined with his entrepreneurial drive to deliver excellence, makes him the perfect person to carry the FRA ethos to the MEA region.”
About FRA
Forensic Risk Alliance [FRA], is a forensic accounting, e-discovery, data governance and compliance consultancy firm, specializing in international corruption, sanctions, AML and all types of financial and accounting fraud investigations for major global corporations and law firms. For more than 20 years, FRA has offered extensive multi-jurisdictional data privacy, transfer, and protection expertise in order to help clients achieve their objectives with compliance, litigation and investigations. With around 200 employees, FRA is headquartered in London and Washington DC, with 9 additional offices across EMEA and the US. FRA has extensive cross-sector and cross-border experience and scalability anywhere in the world with globally integrated teams across both devel
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