Covington & Burling LLP
About us
Covington & Burling LLP is a pre-eminent global law firm with more than 1,400 lawyers and advisors and 14 international offices.
We offer critical compliance competencies for global businesses in “The Big 7” compliance practices: anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism, competition, cybersecurity, data privacy, ESG, and sanctions and export controls. Currently, over 150 lawyers and policy advisors across our offices are working on our clients’ matters across the MEA region.
What sets us apart is our ability to work collaboratively to provide practical solutions to our clients' most challenging matters, combining market-leading litigation, investigations, and corporate practices with deep knowledge of policy and policymakers, and one of the world’s leading regulatory practices.
Our Team
Our teams draw on over 30 years’ experience to advise global businesses, government agencies, and private investors with interests throughout the Middle East and Africa. Clients turn to us to create novel solutions for their toughest problems, successfully resolve their bet-the-business cases and deliver commercial and practical advice of the highest quality.
For the past seven years, we have been named Law360’s “Compliance Practice Group of the Year,” and GIR recently recognised Covington as “Investigations Practice of the Year.” With one of the most experienced and recognized compliance and investigations practices in the world, unmatched credibility before enforcement authorities, and seasoned practitioners operating on the ground from our Dubai and Johannesburg offices, Covington offers unique value to clients doing business in the Middle East and Africa.
Covington has a long-standing partnership with MEACA, focused on bringing together compliance professionals in the Middle East and Africa to share experiences and best practices on a range of compliance issues. We are delighted to strengthen our relationship with MEACA as an Institutional Partner, and look forward to advancing MEACA’s mission.
Ben Haley, Dubai & Johannesburg
+971 4 247 2100 & +27 11 944 6914 bhaley@cov.com
Ben Haley
Ben leads the firm’s compliance and investigations practice in the Middle East and Africa and is a chair of the firm’s broader Africa and Middle East practices. With deep experience representing clients before regulators in high-profile white collar and disputes matters and a history operating on the ground in emerging markets, he helps clients assess and mitigate a wide range of complex legal and compliance risks. Complementing his investigations and dispute resolution practice, Ben has a broad-based compliance advisory practice, helping clients proactively manage compliance risk in areas including anti-corruption, trade controls, anti-money laundering, fraud, and data privacy.
Tarek Khanachet, Dubai
+971 4 247 2113
tkhanachet@cov.com
Tarek Khanachet
Tarek leads Covington’s Middle East Sovereign Advisory, Regulatory, and Public Policy practice and is a chair of the firm’s Middle East practice – working with both governments and global businesses on their most complex policy challenges throughout the MENA region. Tarek advises regional governments and government entities on governance, regulatory infrastructure development, policy design, new entity establishment, and economic diversification initiatives. His private-sector practice focuses on assisting global businesses with regional government affairs matters, including legislative advocacy, Ministry-engagement, regulatory compliance, and market access. This work crosses key highly regulated sectors, where global businesses may have to balance competing regulatory challenges between jurisdictions.
Haykel Hajjaji, Dubai
+971 4 247 2109
hhajjaji@cov.com
Haykel Hajjaji
Haykel advises global corporations, sovereign investors, and financial institutions on complex cross-border transactions, regulatory strategy, and market entry across the Middle East. He has a particular expertise in supporting clients operating at the intersection of innovation, compliance and geopolitics. Drawing on more than two decades of experience, he regularly counsels clients on developing market entry strategies, structuring transactions, navigating foreign investment regimes, and managing legal risk in sensitive environments.
Ahmed Mokdad, Johannesburg
+27 11 944 6915
amokdad@cov.com
Ahmed Mokdad
Ahmed advises multinational companies on complex regulatory and compliance matters across Africa and the Middle East. Drawing on more than a decade of cross-border experience, he supports clients in navigating sensitive internal investigations, regulatory risk, and high-stakes issues in challenging and fast-evolving markets. Ahmed’s practice spans areas including anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, fraud, and data privacy, combining investigations experience with pragmatic, commercially focused advice on compliance frameworks and proactive risk management.
Agnieszka Gronwald, Dubai
+971 4 247 2124
agronwald@cov.com
Agnieszka Gronwald
Agnieszka specializes in white-collar compliance, defense, and investigations. With a strong focus on cross-border matters in the Middle East and Africa, Agnieszka has advised multinational clients on sensitive compliance matters, including internal and regulatory investigations, risk management, and crisis management matters, involving anti-bribery and corruption, anti-money laundering, fraud, tax evasion, and competition issues. Agnieszka has also advised on the design and implementation of ethics and compliance programs, including supporting global rollout and change management initiatives.
Maryam Chauhan, Dubai
+971 4 247 2118
mchauhan@cov.com
Maryam Chauhan
Julie Teperow, Dubai
+971 4 247 2107
jteperow@cov.com
Julie Teperow
Julie advises multinational clients on regulatory, compliance, and public policy issues across the Middle East and North Africa. She focuses on cross‑border compliance and helps clients navigate complex, overlapping regulatory frameworks and the practical challenges of doing business in the region. She also advises on government affairs and market access in the GCC, supporting clients in engaging with regulators and managing policy developments. Julie has particular experience helping companies enter and operate in emerging markets. Her practice further includes advising on regulatory aspects of corporate and commercial transactions, including employment matters. She is also the Dubai lead for Covington’s Women Forum.
Antonio Michaelides, London, Dubai
+44 20 7067 2027
amichaelides@cov.com
Antonio Michaelides
Antonio advises clients in heavily regulated sectors on cross-border regulatory and compliance matters and has particular expertise in international HR-legal compliance issues. In addition to providing general employment/HR-Legal counselling to clients across the Middle East and Africa, he has extensive experience with government affairs and regulatory matters in North Africa and the Middle East—advising government entities, as well as private companies, on a variety of regulatory infrastructure and compliance issues. He previously advised free zone authorities in the Emirate of Dubai on employment and immigration matters, including amendments to the DIFC Employment Law and the application of the DMCC Employment Regulations, and has advised on the development of legal and regulatory infrastructure for a number of government-led projects in Saudi Arabia.
Mark Finucane, London
+44 20 7067 2185
Mfinucane@cov.com
Mark Finucane
Mark is a U.S. and UK-qualified lawyer who specializes in representing in high-stakes criminal and regulatory investigations. Recognized in Global Investigations Review as having “excellent strategic judgment in dealings with government agencies,” Mark has achieved numerous successful resolutions and declinations for clients facing investigations by U.S. and international regulators.
Complementing his investigations practice, Mark regularly advises clients on how to manage their compliance risks by designing and implementing compliance programs, performing risk and compliance program assessments, and conducting due diligence in the context of corporate transactions.
Sarah Bishop, London
+44 20 7067 2393
sbishop@cov.com
Sarah Bishop
Sarah is a U.S. and UK-qualified lawyer who advises on ethics and compliance programs, compliance with anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws, business and human rights, white collar investigations, and suspension and debarment. Sarah’s practice includes helping corporations develop ethics and compliance programs, conducting risk assessments, conducting transactional and third party due diligence, supporting post-acquisition compliance integration projects, and delivering compliance training. She has particular expertise advising on the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and UK Bribery Act. Sarah has extensive experience conducting internal and government-facing white collar investigations and has been recognized in the Global Investigations Review Women in Investigations survey.
Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Registration number 77071. A list of partners and their qualifications is available on our web site at www.cov.com.
