Premier Chambers LLP

Website: https://www.premier-chambers.com

Tel: +960 3314377

Email: [email protected]

Managing Partner: Shaaheen Hameed

Number of partners: 03 (three)

Number of lawyers: 09 (nine)

Languages: Dhivehi and English

Firm Overview:

Premier Chambers LLP (“PC”), established in the early 1990s, pride themselves in pioneering the provision of professional legal advice and assistance in the Republic of Maldives. Their team consists of foreign and locally-trained lawyers, qualified and experienced to tackle complex legal matters.

The cornerstones of PC are the quality of their services, assurance of complete confidentiality and strict adherence to professional ethics, effectively contributing to the development of the firm.

PC caters comprehensive, innovative and practical legal advice, suited to the needs of their clients in diverse areas of law. Although their areas of expertise stand in banking and finance transactions, corporate and commercial matters, criminal defence, tourism-related acquisitions, foreign investment, employment and tax disputes, they offer services encompassing nearly the entire spectrum of legal practice in the Maldives.

The firm maintains a long-standing relationship with clients, both foreign and local, comprising of leading resort owners/operators, local and international financial institutions, public and private companies, individual entrepreneurs and private individuals. They also have links with law firms in Australia, France, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.

Main Areas of Practice

Banking and Finance: 

PC’s lawyers have vast experience in legal services related to banking and finance, including structuring complex financial transactions and cross-border syndicated loans, that meet the clients’ unique needs, within the legal and regulatory framework of the Maldives. Shaaheen Hameed (founding partner) has been retained by the country’s national bank, Bank of Maldives PLC, as the senior external counsel since 1993, and has been instrumental in the development of bank security documentation and recoveries.

Their clientele comprises of major banks, both domestic and international, government owned companies providing financial services and prominent local and international individuals and businesses, spanning across a wide range of industries.

It is noteworthy that PC acted as the local legal counsel for the lenders in the acquisition of the seaplane operations of Trans Maldivian Airways Pvt. Ltd. by the American equity fund Blackstone Group in 2013, forming the largest seaplane fleet in the world. They also acted for the lenders in the subsequent acquisition of the seaplane operations by Bain Capital from the Blackstone Group in 2017.

Tax Disputes: 

Led by Maaz Shareef (Senior Partner), PC advises clients in matters related to tax disputes and advises them on full compliance with the statutory obligations related to tax. Their services extend to the provision of legal advice and assistance from the initial stage of raising objection to a determination by the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority, challenging such determination at the Tax Appeal Tribunal of the Maldives as well as during the appeal stages at the relevant courts of the Maldives.

Criminal Defence: 

PC handles various criminal cases and regularly represents clients against allegations of minor offences to the most sophisticated white-collar crimes and other complex crimes. Led by Maumoon Hameed (Partner), a formidable defence lawyer with experience in law enforcement and formulation of the criminal procedure code, their team is available to assist clients from the outset through each stage of the criminal procedure in the Maldives, starting from pre-trial through trial, until exhaustion of all legal remedies, local and international. The combination of knowledge, experience and expert advocacy skills of their team allow them to confidently reassure clients of the high quality advice and representation rendered.

Tourism-related Acquisitions and Foreign Investment: 

Having provided legal advice and assistance to various local and foreign clients in the tourism industry for more than 25 years, their attorneys are well-versed with the laws and regulations governing this area. PC’s attorneys have extensive experience in obtaining the relevant approvals and liaising with the relevant ministries and authorities in all stages of the investment and the acquisition process.

Notably, the Tourism Act of Maldives was drafted by Shaaheen Hameed (founder and managing partner), while PC provided foreign investment advice in the establishment of the international franchises Burger King, Coffee Club, The Pizza Company and Thai Express in 2013 as well as Pizza Hut, KFC, Costa Coffee, and Harvest Market in 2018 at the Velana International Airport in the Maldives.

Employment: 

PC advises their clients on the fully array of labour and industrial matters, including litigating employment claims, drafting employment terms and conditions and assessing the employment-related policies of their clients.

PC also represents individuals facing discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination and adverse actions arising from the terms of conditions of employment.

Litigation: 

The attorneys at PC are regularly engaged in advising and representing clients at the lower courts, the High Court and the Supreme Court of the Maldives in a wide variety of civil and commercial disputes, debt recovery and enforcement proceedings.

Impressively, PC successfully won the landmark case at the Supreme Court of the Maldives involving compensation for medical negligence, and recognition of vicarious liability in the Maldives.

Our International Work

The aptitude of PC’s global practice is reflected both in the multi-jurisdictional nature of their work and their international clientele, advising on corporate, commercial and financial cross-border deals every day. This has given their attorneys exposure to international contacts and insights which, combined with their extensive knowledge of local practice and culture, enables them to provide their clients with legal excellence.

Practice Areas

• Banking and Finance
• Constitutional and Administrative
• Commercial
• Corporate
• Criminal Defence
• Foreign Investment
• Family Matters and Inheritance
• Intellectual Property
• Islamic Banking and Finance
• Labour and Industrial
• Legislative, Drafting and Consultancy
• Litigation and Dispute Resolution
• Real Estate and Investment Projects
• Tax Disputes
• Tourism-related Acquisitions

Offices

Kaneeru Villa, 6th Floor

Orchid Magu, Maafannu

Malé 20212, Republic of Maldives