Dr Saad Alrayes
Lecturer in Law
Peter Lanyon Building A143
Overview
Particulars
Dr Saad Alrayes is a lecturer in law (Education and Research) with a robust interdisciplinary background that spreads across law, finance, and technology.
Prior to taking up the position of a lecturer at the University of Exeter, Dr Alrayes worked as a qualified lawyer in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. Dr Alrayes has a practical understanding of the law and extensive experience in the legal profession; he is the CEO of the Al-Dar Law Firm. In the course of his career, Dr Alrayes has worked in Kuwait, Qatar, and Dubai as an independent legal consultant and business analyst for more than 45 companies and capital market authorities. He contributed to the corporate restructuring of legal and financial aspects of many companies in the Middle East, with a particular focus on the consequences of the global financial crisis. This increased his ability to become a board member of various companies. He executed duties as an academic tutor at Queens University Belfast (QUB) and Oxford Academy and has formally been appointed as an Academic Fellow of the Commercial Law Centre at Harris Manchester College, the University of Oxford.
Over the years—as legal, finance, and technology research sparked his interest— Dr Alrayes applied the practical aspects of more than 15 years of experience as an independent legal consultant to the academic field. He writes about the complex field of corporate law and financial regulation in several leading Gulf newspapers. He was awarded a PhD from QUB, passing the viva without correction. His doctoral thesis was titled: ‘The Architecture of the Stock Market Accessibility and Operational Framework: What Can an Emerging Market Economy Learn from the ‘International Standards’ and the ‘Best Practice’ Models of the US and UK?’
External Fellowships
- Fellow of the Advance HE (The Higher Education Academy).
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Fellow of the Younger Comparativists Committee (YCC) of the American Society of Comparative Law (ASCL).
Higher Education Degrees
- PhD in Law: Achieved without corrections.
- LLM in International Trade and Commercial Law: Achieved with Distinction.
- LLB (Hons): First-Class Honours - Achieved with %84.38.
Research
Dr Alrayes’s general work and research interests lie in the fields of the complexity of the law, finance and technology, corporate law, and financial regulations.
He pays particular interest in the following areas of research and practice: Fintech, Regtech, Legtech, Cryptocurrencies, Law & Innovations, Venture Capital & Equity, Paytech, Tech-platform, Token Economy, Blockchain, Crowdfunding, Artificial Intelligence & Ethics, e-Commerce & Market Design, Financial Market Infrastructures, Big Data, Digital Finance, Smart Regulations, Smart Contracts, Stock Markets, Securities & & High-Frequency Trading, Behavioural Finance & Financial Decision Making, Corporate Governance, Corporate Finance, Green & Sustainable Finance, Small & Medium-Sized Enterprises Law (SMEs), Sharing Economy, Entrepreneurs & Startups Regulations, Open Banking, Digital Banking, Open Finance, Foreign Investment Policies, Investment Firms & Regulatory Compliance, Green Contracts & Financial Impacts, Green Fintech, Mobilising Green Investment, Green Technology, & all that are shaping up the future of alternative finance.
Prizes and Awards
- Awarded ‘Eureka Fellowship’ in Law, Finance and Technology with access to £475k research grants.
- Awarded the QUBSU Education Award for the AHSS for two academic years (2017/2018).
- Awarded the best external research paper prize at Kent Law School Conference - 2017 for Research Paper titled: ‘Convergence Foreign Investment Policies: What an Emerging Market Economy Can Learn from the US and UK’.
- Awarded the best external research paper prize at Fordham University School of Law Conference, New York, 2018 for Research Paper titled: ‘Converging Policies and Regulations: What an Emerging Market Economy Can Learn from the ‘Best Practice’ Models, the US and UK’.
Research Outputs
Contribution to Journal Articles
- Saad Alrayes, ‘Shareholder Empowerment, Steps Forward and Steps Back: Comparative Analysis of the US and UK Regulations’ (2019) 27(2) Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance 169-196 https://doi.org/10.1108/JFRC-03-2018-0054
- Saad Alrayes, ‘Creating Robust Securitisation in the Shadow of Brexit: The Impact of UK, EU Regulatory Changes’ (Under revision).
Other Contributions
- Saad Alrayes, ‘Inside the Fall of Dubai Private Equity Firm ‘Abraaj Holdings’: Lessons Drawn’ (2019) Commercial Law Reform.
- Saad Alrayes, ‘Pandemic Highlights Need to Reform Shareholder Rights’ (2020) Law360-LexisNexis.
- Saad Alrayes, ‘Regulating the Online Shopping Step of Facebook and Instagram; I See, I Like, I Click Buy, I Hit Confirm’ (2019) Commercial Law Reform.
Conference
- The Commercial Law Centre Workshop 2020 – Harris Manchester College, the University of Oxford, Research Paper titled ‘Market (re)Classification and Modernisation of Stock Market Accessibility.
- Future of Blockchain Summit 2018 – Dubai, Research Paper titled: ‘7 Ways for Regulating New Fintech: Bridging the Gap Between the Fintech Legislation and Policy’.
- The Centre for Business Law and Practice (CBLP) Conference 2018 – University of Leeds, Research Paper titled ‘The Efficiency Market Accessibility Regulations and Operational Framework’.
- East Chain Open Hub 2018 – Kuwait, Research Paper titled ‘Responding to the Security by Design Demos: The Best Regulatory Practice for Internet of Things (IoT) and Cybersecurity’.
- Global Informatics Forum 2019 – Gulf University, Research Paper titled: ‘Developing a Legal and Ethical Response to eDiscovery: Comparative analyses of the US Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) and Part 31 of the Civil Procedure Rules in England and Wales’.
- The American Society of Comparative Law’s Younger Comparativists Committee Workshop (ASCL, YCC) 2018 in collaboration with Fordham University School of Law, New York, US on Business and Financial Law, Research Paper titled ‘Converging Policies and Regulations: What an Emerging Market Economy Can Learn from the 'Best Practice' Models, the US and UK’.
- Liverpool John Moores Law School Conference in cooperation with the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) – 2017, Research Paper titled ‘Can Shareholder Empowerment be Considered an Effective Means to Regulate Corporate Activities? What the UK Can Learn from the US’s Corporate Governance Model’ A Comparative Analysis between the US and UK Regulations.
- The University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Colombo, Sri Lanka in collaboration with Warmadewa University, Indonesia – ICED 2017, Research Paper titled ‘Transferring Foreign Investment Policies: Legal and Economic Context’.
- Kent Law School Conference – 2017, Research Paper titled: ‘Convergence Foreign Investment Policies’.
- The Institute of Commercial and Corporate Law (ICCL) – Durham University Annual Research Conference 2017, Research Paper titled: ‘The Efficiency of Converging Foreign Investment Regulations’.
