Ibtissem Lassoued

Ibtissem Lassoued is a Partner and Head of the Regional White-Collar Crime Advisory, Compliance, Investigations & International Cooperation Practice at Al Tamimi & Company, based in the Dubai International Financial Centre and covering all ten of the firm's jurisdictions. Her practice focuses on White Collar Crime.

She graduated from the Sorbonne University (Paris) and joined Al Tamimi & Company in 2007 from the legal department of the French Group Vivendi, where she conducted primarily US litigation (e.g. class actions, Securities and Exchange Commission ('SEC') and Department of Justice ('DOJ') investigations).

Ibtissem has extensive experience advising international clients on a spectrum of complex, multijurisdictional white collar crime issues, including but not limited to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, global economic sanctions, anti-corruption matters including the extraterritorial effect of the US FCPA and UK Bribery Act, complex fraud, capital market investigations, extradition and INTERPOL, including challenges to INTERPOL Red Notices, and reputational risks attached to such issues.

She has been ranked as Band 1 in Chambers Global for Corporate Investigations for 9 consecutive years since the category's inclusion and is commended for being "at the forefront of the market in this arena," "as passionate about her area of expertise as she is knowledgeable" and "stunningly good at what she does."

In 2019, she was ranked amongst Financial News' 50 Most Influential Women in Middle East Finance. She currently serves as a member of the International Advisory Board of the CEELI Institute, a non-profit non-governmental organisation based in Prague dedicated to advancing the rule of law, and has been included by Asian Legal Business within the MENA Super 50 since 2021. Her international profile and engagement with the financial sector has led her to assume an influential role in financial crime reform in the MENA region.

Her recent experience includes conducting numerous reviews of anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies for compliance with regional laws, assisting clients with extradition matters, providing legal opinions and training to international law firms and clients, advising a bank on the conduct of an internal investigation into potential mismanagement and breaches of procedure by the CEO, providing strategic advice in relation to Capital Markets Authority investigations in Saudi Arabia, and advising UHNW clients and challenging Red Notices before the Commission for the Control of Interpol's Files at Interpol Headquarters in Lyon, France.

She holds a Master's Degree in Commercial Law and a DEA in Tax Law from Sorbonne University. She speaks Arabic, French and English.