As reported in our previous client update, on 5 January 2021, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, along with Egypt, signed the “Al-Ula Declaration” at the 41st GCC Summit held in the city of Al-Ula. This marks the end of a three and a half year boycott against the State of Qatar, which was put in place in June 2017. Although the formal text of the “Al-Ula Declaration” has not been made public, it is clear from public statements made by senior Saudi, UAE, Egyptian, Bahraini and Kuwaiti officials that the instrument paves the way for the re-establishment of political and economic ties between Qatar and each of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt (the Quartet).
 
A summary of the official announcements, confirmations with public authorities and practical observations on various measures introduced by the Quartet are set out in our most recent alert, highlighting the recent developments in respect of:
Re-opening of borders and resumption of air and sea travel;Customs clearing procedures; and Financial flows and designations under Counter-Terrorism Laws

To view the full alert, please click here or the download button below.

Despite the lifting of the trade restrictions in relation to Qatar, it is still too early to tell how this will be implemented in practice. We are watching this space carefully, and we continue to engage with various government agencies and authorities in Qatar and the Quartet for clarification and updates. We will issue follow up updates as new developments emerge.

For future updates, you can visit and subscribe to our Middle East Insights blog: 
me-insights.bakermckenzie.com/.

*This client alert is not meant to constitute legal advice, and as the situation is constantly evolving, specific advice should be sought from relevant professionals. Should you have any queries, please contact one of our lawyers below.

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Ian Siddell
Baker McKenzie
Managing Partner
Bahrain / Qatar
Ian.Siddell@bakermckenzie.com


Mohsin Iqbal
Baker McKenzie
Partner
Qatar
Mohsin.Iqbal@bakermckenzie.com


Borys Dackiw
Baker McKenzie
Partner
UAE
Borys.Dackiw@bakermckenzie.com


Samir Safar-Aly
Baker McKenzie
Senior Associate
UAE
Samir.Safar-Aly@bakermckenzie.com


Jad Slim
Legal Advisors
Abdulaziz Alajlan & Partners
Senior Associate
Saudi Arabia
Jad.Slim@legal-advisors.com
Author

Borys has been a partner of Baker McKenzie since 1995. In 2008 Borys was appointed managing partner of the Gulf offices (including Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh and Bahrain), coordinating the opening of the Abu Dhabi and Doha offices and the merger in the UAE with Habib Al Mulla in July 2013.

Author

Author

Iqbal is the Head of the Capital Markets Practice Group. Iqbal has been involved in various capital market transactions, representing both issuers and banks/underwriters, in both equity and debt capital market. His work encompasses various sectors, including IT, plantations, healthcare, mining and transportation sectors. When representing issuers, Iqbal's work often also involves pre-IPO work. This includes assisting the issuer in putting in place the appropriate corporate and shareholding structures (which may include selling out or injecting new assets). Other than capital raising, over the years Iqbal has also been involved and led teams in doing most of the delisting and going private transactions in Indonesia. Iqbal has also been involved in debt issuance transactions, both USD and IDR denominations. Iqbal also regularly advises clients on various capital market issues such as disclosures, good corporate governance, related party and material transactions, and takeover issues.

Author