Iqbal Rajahbalee is the Co-Founding Partner of BLC Robert & Associates and specialises in the practice areas of Financial Services, Compliance and Dispute Resolution. He is a Senior Counsel with over 30 years of practice at the Bar of Mauritius advising on a number of diverse cross-border finance transactions, including asset financing and investment funds both for the public and private sectors.
Iqbal is the founder of the offshore financial industry in Mauritius and served as the first Executive Director of the Mauritius Offshore Business Activities Authority. He was appointed as the first Chief Executive of the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius, the regulatory body of the non-banking finance industry. He has acted as Mauritian counsel in setting up a number of global investment funds and advised a number of multinationals. In addition, Iqbal served for more than 10 years at the Attorney General‘s Office, Ministry of Justice rising to the position of Assistant Solicitor General. He is often called upon by the Government to advise on financial law matters and has drafted numerous pieces of legislation in Mauritius including the Securities Act, the Financial Services Development Act and the Insurance Act.
Over the last 10 years, Iqbal’s practice at the Mauritian Bar has been essentially directed to commercial litigation and he has acted as counsel to a number of multinationals and local major companies before the Supreme Court in Mauritius and in both local and international arbitration. Iqbal has also been called as expert witness with regard to Mauritian corporate law before the High Court of England and Wales and before the High Court in the Republic of Singapore.
Iqbal has led several Government delegations on a wide range of issues from international territorial disputes to taxation and has sat on a number of government appointed committees. Iqbal completed both his bachelor and master ofLaws at the London School of Economics.
Iqbal is rated as Leading Lawyer by Chambers Global, ILFR 100 and Legal 500. Chambers Global have stated that “he knows this business outstandingly well” and is a “sensible choice for large corporate transactions.” The guide states that “Observers credit his ‘tremendous track record’ as one of the reasons why he is held in such high esteem by clients.”
Areas of Expertise
• Corporate and Commercial Law
• Litigation and Arbitration
• Construction Law
• Financial Services and Regulatory
• Compliance
Accolades
• Lifetime Achievement Award in by IFLR Africa Awards 2021
• Iqbal has been ranked as a Band 1 lawyer by Chambers Global since 2011
• PLC Which Lawyer? 2011 ranks Iqbal as a top tier lawyer
• Iqbal is ranked as a Leading Individual by Legal 500
• Iqbal has been ranked as a Highly Regarded Leading Lawyer by IFLR 1000 since 2011