Souraya Machnouk

Practice Areas

Mergers & Acquisitions ● Banking ● Finance and Capital Markets ● Corporate Law ● Tax ● Energy ● Project Development and Finance ● Government Relations and Public Policy ● Real Estate and Construction ● Franchising ● Data and Privacy ● Telecommunications and Technology

Career

Souraya Machnouk is a partner at Abou Jaoude & Associates Law Firm, and heads the M&A practice. She previously worked at the international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright in Paris.

Souraya has more than 20 years of experience advising prominent local, regional and international clients in a wide array of industries. Her practice is distinguished by an in-depth specialization and a significant track-record leading on complex cross-border transactions and agreements, often of first impression, notably in the fields of M&A, banking, finance, energy (renewables), project development and finance, and telecoms.

Her extensive experience includes counseling investors, startups, established companies and investment firms on corporate structurings and restructurings, joint ventures, market-entry conditions, data protection and privacy, private equity deals, banking facilities, issuances of financial instruments, securitizations, offerings of financial services and products, and public-procurement matters. She also specializes in franchising, having acted for several notable clients in the F&B, retail and fashion industries, and represents key non-governmental organizations.

Souraya regularly participates in legal reform initiatives aimed at enhancing the business climate in Lebanon.

Souraya is consistently recognized as a leading lawyer by prominent international directories, including Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500 (Hall of Fame), and IFLR1000. She was also featured on IFLR1000 Women Leaders’ rankings for EMEA.

Souraya’s recent notable representative experience can be viewed here: https://www.ajalawfirm.com/Lawyers/41/souraya-machnouk.

Professional Memberships

• Admitted to the Beirut Bar Association.

• Member of the International Bar Association.

• Member of the American Chamber of Commerce’s (AmCham) Banking & Finance Committee.

• Member of the inter-ministerial legal committee for the Reform of the Investment Climate in Lebanon organized by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in collaboration with the World Bank.

• Member of the board of experts of the Lebanese Franchise Association.

• Member of the board of T2SD, an initiative by the UNDP aimed at engaging the private sector in contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs).

Publications

• Co-author of the current Lebanon chapter of the ‘Inward Investment & International Taxation Review’ published by The Law Reviews and edited by Latham & Watkins USA.

• Co-author of the current Lebanon chapter of the ‘Banking Regulation’ guide published by Getting the Deal Through and edited by Wachtell, Lipton, Rose and Katz USA.

• Co-author of the current Lebanon chapter of the ‘Energy Regulation & Markets Review’ published by The Law Reviews and edited by Latham & Watkins USA.

• Co-author of the current Lebanon chapter of the ‘Data Protection in the Financial Sector’ guide published by One Trust Data Guidance.

• Co-author of the Lebanon chapter of the 2018 ‘Technology, Media and Telecommunications Review’ published by The Law Reviews and edited by Latham & Watkins USA.

• Contributor to the current World Bank Lebanon Doing Business Reports on ‘Starting a Business’, ‘Getting Credit’, ‘Registering Property’, and ‘Contracting with the Government’.

• Speaker at the Euromoney Lebanon conference, the International Beirut Energy Forum (IBEF) on ‘Lebanon’s First Power Purchase Agreement’, and the Annual Harvard Arab World Conference (HAWC) on ‘Lebanon’s Rising Oil and Gas Sector: Challenges and Future Prospects’.

Personal

• LLB (Bachelor of Laws) (double major in private and public law), Saint-Joseph University, Lebanon.

• Advanced Graduate Degree (DEA) in Banking & Financial Markets Law, Saint Joseph University accredited by the University of Paris II-Assas, France.

• Master of Laws (LLM), George Washington University (joint program with Georgetown University), USA.

• Certificate of Qualification in Syndicated Loan Markets Documentation, The Loan Market Association (LMA), UK.

• Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration, International Chamber of Commerce, France.

• Diploma in Leadership in Law Firms, Executive Program, Harvard Law School, USA.