Moves – 15 July 2010

Norton Rose (Middle East) LLP has added depth to its Middle East practice with the return of Mohammed Paracha to the firm’s banking practice in Bahrain. Paracha, who specialises in Islamic financial and banking transactions and has a broad range of transactional experience, has been appointed as a partner and deputy global head of the firm’s Islamic finance practice. Having previously spent three years in Norton Rose Group’s London banking team before working for two years in the banking team in Bahrain, he now rejoins the firm from Al Salam Bank-Bahrain BSC, where he was executive vice president and head of Europe. The appointment follows the relocation to Hong Kong of London-based partner Davide Barzilai, as the firm seeks to extend its Islamic finance capabilities beyond London and the Middle East. Barzilai has substantial expertise in Islamic and conventional shipping and asset finance, Islamic treasury management, Islamic project/property finance and structured trade finance.

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP has appointed Don S Williams as a partner in the firm’s Shanghai corporate practice group. Williams’ practice encompasses a broad range of general corporate and transactional matters including venture capital and private equity financings, public offerings, and M&As. He most recently practised with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Shanghai after spending more than a decade with the firm’s Silicon Valley office, and he has represented private and public companies across many industries, as well as both buyers and sellers in a large number of M&A transactions. A Mandarin speaker, Williams works both with US companies conducting business and raising funds in Asia and with Asian companies conducting business and raising funds in the US.