Dubai-based infra specialist joins Squire Patton Boggs

Squire Patton Boggs, a Cleveland-based law firm, has added project finance specialist Shane Wilson as a partner in its Dubai office.

Wilson, whose focus has been on the Middle East and Africa, joins the firm’s public and infrastructure finance practice group. His experience includes work on Shariah-compliant project financing, according to Squire Patton Boggs.

Wilson joined the firm from the Dubai office of Gowling WLG, a London-based law firm. Projects on which Wilson has advised include a solar independent power project in Abu Dhabi, the Az Zour North 2 Independent Water and Power Project in Kuwait and an IPP in Armenia.

In adding Wilson, the law firm enhances its ability to work on projects that include Islamic financing, which complies with the religion’s prohibition against interest. Islamic finance is particularly critical in the African and Asian markets, where most of the world’s Muslim population lives. It has emerged as an important financing tool over the past two decades, according to a report issued this month by the World Bank and the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility.

“The asset-backed nature of Islamic finance structures and their emphasis on shared risks make them a natural fit for infrastructure PPPs,” the report read.

The move is the latest in a series of recent infrastructure hires for Squire Patton Boggs. In September, the firm added Tatjana Misulic as a counsel in the Washington, DC office as well as Nick Helm as a partner in its Manchester office.