MICHAEL BLAIR QC AND DAVID SIMPSON TO ADVISE ASTANA INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE

Michael Blair QC and David Simpson have been appointed to the Legal Advisory Council of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). Mr Blair, who has been appointed chairman, chaired the inaugural meeting of the Council on Friday 5 May 2017 in the Kazakh Embassy in London in the presence of the Kazakh ambassador to London, His Excellency Mr. Erlan Idrissov, the Governor of the AIFC, Mr Kairat Kelimbetov, the British Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Dr Carolyn Browne and The Rt Hon. Lord Woolf CH.

The AIFC was recently established by the Government of Kazakhstan as a financial hub for Central Asia, the Caucasus, EAEU, the Middle East, West China, Mongolia and Europe. It will operate within a special legal regime based on the Common Law. Its main activities will include capital markets, asset management, Islamic finance, fintech, private banking and green finance.

Michael Blair QC was a member of the Board of the Dubai Financial Services Authority between its establishment in 2003 and 2013. He is also President of the Panel of Senior Decision Makers appointed by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.

David Simpson has acted as a consultant to the Qatar Financial Centre since 2006 and has been involved in drafting a suite of rules and regulation for the centre.

Further information on the AIFC may be found here: http://www.aifc.kz/.

Reports on the inaugural meeting of the Legal Advisory Council may be found at http://www.inform.kz/en/legal-advisory-council-established-at-aifc_a3024095 and http://www.kazembassy.org.uk/en/articles/article/334