Rob Flaws

Rob Flaws is a Partner and Head of the Technology and Innovation Team at Mishcon de Reya in the MENA region.

He has spent more than eighteen years in practice, fourteen of them in the Middle East, and brings a perspective few law firm partners can offer: he has been the General Counsel at three of the region's most prominent technology businesses. Rob served as General Counsel and Head of Legal at Tabby, the first fintech unicorn in the Middle East; at Alpheya, the ADGM-based artificial intelligence wealth technology venture backed by BNY Mellon; and at one of Africa's largest mobile money platforms. In each role he built and led the legal and compliance function from the ground up, guiding the business through fundraising, licensing, regulatory engagement and market entry across the UAE, KSA and wider international markets.

In private practice Rob acts for fast-scaling technology, fintech, blockchain, video gaming and artificial intelligence ventures, and for global and regional enterprises leading digital transformation programmes. He has advised the region's flagship international airline, leading UAE Government entities, regional banks and telecommunications groups, and global technology consultancies and hyperscale cloud providers on complex commercial, innovation and regulatory projects.

His regulatory work spans licensing applications and regulatory engagement with the CBUAE, SCA, VARA, SAMA and other leading financial authorities across the Gulf. Rob is also an experienced Data Protection Officer with deep expertise in data governance, privacy frameworks and compliance filings, and has been a registered DPO in the DIFC, ADGM and with SDAIA in Saudi Arabia.

Rob maintains strong relationships across the regional innovation ecosystem, including the ADGM and DIFC hubs and the DMCC crypto and video gaming community. He regularly works with founders, investors and boards on strategic growth, commercial partnering and practical risk management, and leads Mishcon GC, the firm's outsourced general counsel offering for high-growth companies.

Key Experience

• General Counsel, Alpheya. Built the legal function for the ADGM-based artificial intelligence wealth technology venture backed by BNY Mellon, from first hire to institutional launch: AI governance, procurement and deployment of the models, data and infrastructure behind the platform, investor onboarding, regulatory authorisation with the SCA and ADGM, and the global IP and data protection strategy.
• Head of Legal, Board Secretary and Data Protection Officer, Tabby. Stood up the legal, compliance and data protection functions across five GCC jurisdictions and procured the technology stack behind the business, from payment rails, cloud and core banking to credit, fraud and data platforms, through the scale-up that made Tabby the first fintech unicorn in the Middle East.
• Group General Counsel, a UAE-headquartered crypto payments business. Secured payment licences across the UAE, the UK, Switzerland and the EU, and led the global negotiations with payment service providers and investors that turned a licensing roadmap into a live business.
• Global Legal Counsel, a pan-African telecommunications group. Single-handedly ran technology procurement, outsourcing and regulatory alignment across the group's global territories, while acting as first de facto General Counsel to its mobile money arm, one of the largest in Africa, on a separate procurement rail securing the technology and data centre facilities behind its growth.
• Partner and Head of Technology, Media and Communications (Middle East), an international law firm. Advised founders, scale-ups and multinational enterprises on commercial technology, regulatory frameworks, investor readiness and market expansion across the GCC.
• Regional flagship airline. Advised on the creation of a dedicated data centre and on the outsourcing, redevelopment and enhancement of its booking platform, still one of the largest commercial technology programmes ever run in the region.
• Global technology consultancy. Advised on the deployment of enterprise technology, digital transformation solutions and artificial intelligence platforms to major customers across the UAE and KSA.
• Multinational e-commerce group. Advised on the merger, upgrade and launch of its principal platforms in the UAE and KSA during market entry, including the cloud, marketplace and logistics technology infrastructure underneath them. 

Career History

Partner, Mishcon de Reya LLP
General Counsel and Head of Compliance, Alpheya
Head of Legal and Compliance, Data Protection Officer and Company Secretary, Tabby Inc
General Counsel, Papel Payment Services
Global Legal Counsel, MTN/MoMo
Partner and Head of TMC Middle East, CMS UAE LLP
Senior Legal Consultant, DLA Piper UK LLP (Middle East)
Legal Director, Paramount Pictures Ltd
Senior Associate/Associate, CMS UK
Trainee Solicitor, Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP
University of Leeds, BA Hons History
College of Law, York, Graduate Diploma in Law
Nottingham Law School, Legal Practice Certificate