Who this practice serves
This practice is designed for foreign companies, international groups, founders, investors, lenders and external law firms that need Syrian legal support. It is relevant both to a first market-entry assessment and to an established operation that needs contract, governance or compliance assistance. We also act on defined local-counsel assignments when the client’s lead advisers remain outside Syria. The first objective is to understand the proposed activity, ownership, decision makers, counterparties and commercial timetable before recommending a legal route.
Common mandates and the limits of an engagement
Typical mandates include comparing establishment options, coordinating company or branch documents, reviewing commercial contracts, mapping licences, conducting focused legal due diligence and supporting corporate approvals. A mandate may cover one transaction or several workstreams, but its boundaries should be written. Legal counsel does not replace tax, accounting, technical, banking, sanctions or sector-specific advice. Where another discipline or foreign jurisdiction is involved, we identify the dependency and coordinate with the appropriate adviser rather than treating it as settled Syrian legal advice.
Cross-border preparation and coordination
Foreign corporate documents may need recent certified copies, a complete legalisation chain and certified Arabic translation. Names, ownership percentages, signing authority and the intended activity should be consistent across registry extracts, resolutions, powers of attorney and application forms. We can work with foreign management and external counsel through a document list, responsibility table and written issue log. This reduces repeated requests and makes clear which decision belongs to the client, Syrian counsel, a foreign adviser or the competent authority.
Risks, timing and evidence
Timing depends on the chosen structure, the activity, document legalisation, translations, beneficial-ownership information and any sector approval. A general registration estimate should not be applied to tourism, industry, finance or another regulated activity without checking the additional route. Commercial commitments made too early can create authority, payment, tax or enforceability risks. The working file should therefore preserve signed approvals, submission receipts, final Arabic texts, licences, registers and material correspondence. We report assumptions and unresolved points instead of presenting uncertain approvals as guaranteed.