Muneeb Zia


SENIOR PARTNER
Arbitrator | Board Member | Lecturer
Advocate High Courts
BA LLB (Punjab) LLM (London)

He is the Founding Partner of the Firm and a corporate lawyer for over 28 years. He specialises in banking and finance, companies and contracts, investment and divestments, oil and gas, privatisation, procurement, regulatory affairs, telecom and trade. He has been advising banks, companies, multinationals and SOEs on business set-up, commercial transactions, construction, energy projects, financing and investment agreements, and regulatory affairs. He has handled many commercial arbitrations, and acted as arbitrator in several of them. He has also acted as a Board member and advised several Boards of leading commercial entities on law and policy. 

Muneeb has advised the Ministry of Finance and State Bank of Pakistan for over 12 years, and represented Government of Pakistan before several international fora for over 10 years He has provided legal consultancy to the World Bank, USAID, UNODC, IFC, GIZ, FAO and ADB on reform of economic and financial laws of Pakistan for over 25 years. He is a trainer of regulatory frameworks, and has delivered over 50 trainings in the last 10 years. He was a visiting lecturer at leading law schools and business administration universities for over 7 years. 

Professional Works: His significant transactions in the recent years are: 

  • design and development of manufacturing project of 30,000 hybrid motorbikes per year; 
  • licensing and setting up of gas supply business of 25 mmbtu per day; 
  • transaction structure for LNG imports and re-gasification, and gas supply of 300 mmbtu per day to industrial entities; 
  • licensing and commercial agreements for gas supply of 45 mmbtu per day to an industrial concern; 
  • licensing, tariffs and development of two wind farms of 50 MW in Jhimpir, Sindh;
  • refinance agreements for power sector debts of USD 200 million;
  • syndicated financing and security agreements for a value of USD 300 million;
  • JV and setting up of oil storage facilities for a value of USD 200 million; 
  • development of regulatory framework for gas transportation and LNG terminals; 
  • drafting standard agreements for waste-to-energy projects for the Government; 
  • development of policy framework for captive power projects for the Government; 
  • acquisition, liquidation and transfer of over 250 secured NPAs; 
  • international sales and procurements for a value of over USD 700 million; 
  • construction projects including multi-use buildings and software parks of over USD 200 million; 
  • creation of public investment fund of USD 100 million for capital market support; and 
  • commercial arbitrations of over USD 1,000 million. 

Law Reforms: Muneeb has been engaged in legal and regulatory reforms for over 25 years. He did extensive work on law and policy relating to AML/CFT, corporate restructuring and rehabilitation, credit bureaus, credit guarantee fund, foreign direct investment, investment treaties, mutual legal cooperation, midstream and downstream gas businesses, privatisations, procurements, securities market and SOE reorganisations. 

Key Reform Works: His key consultancies on legal and regulatory reforms are: 

  • “Strengthening Social Protection Institution (BISP) for Project Services” (2024);
  • “Transaction Model for LNG Import by Industrial Entities” (2023); 
  • “Manual of Legislative Drafting” (2022); 
  • “Rule of Law – Strengthening Criminal Justice Institutions of Balochistan” (2021); 
  • “Reform of Benevolent Fund Law in Sindh” (2021); 
  • “Bottlenecks in Development of Gas Market” (2019); 
  • “Capacity Allocation for Third Party Access to Gas Network” (2018);  
  • “Institutional Strengthening against Financial Crimes” (2018);  
  • “Risk Assessment of Financial Crimes” (2017); 
  • “Reform of Private Fund Regulation” (2016); 
  • “Options for Corporate Rehabilitation Law” (2015); 
  • “National AML/CFT Policy of Pakistan” (2010); 
  • “Framework for Asset Management Companies in Pakistan” (2010);  
  • “Mortgage Financing Regime of Pakistan” (2009);
  • “NPA Resolution Mechanism & Lessons Learnt” (2006);  
  • “Proposed Corporate Rehabilitation Law” (2003); and
  • “Legal Regime of Secured Transactions in Pakistan” (1999).