FRA strengthens Middle East and Africa practice with appointment of new Director

We’re pleased to announce that May Mhanna has been appointed as a Director within our Dubai office. In addition to strengthening FRA’s financial services advisory expertise, May’s particular experience serving public sector clients will broaden our offer in this area.

May’s appointment comes as the office sees rapid growth, with three senior hires made since its launch in March. She joins a group of other senior female leaders, including Temi Labor, who was appointed as Associate Director in June.

Prior to FRA, May worked at Deloitte Middle East for more than fourteen years – most recently as a Director, where she advised clients in the financial services and public sectors, taking part in major advisory projects involving large-scale banking remediation, regulatory recovery and portfolio de-risking, Central Bank framework transformation, financial crime compliance, crisis management, banking recovery and resolution planning, and development finance.

May’s strong financial services advisory background will help to consolidate FRA’s presence in the region, strengthening its expertise – notably in financial investigations involving anti-money laundering (AML), anti-bribery & corruption, sanctions, and compliance – and financial crime remediation capabilities both in Financial Services and Public sector.

Bhavin Shah, Partner and Head of the FRA Dubai office says: “We’re delighted to welcome May to the team. She joins more than six months after the launch of our office and during a period of rapid expansion. Her extensive financial services experience and deep knowledge of the Middle East market will help take the business to the next stage of our international growth journey, and cement our status as the ‘go-to’ consultants for forensics and advisory services across the region.”

Commenting on her appointment May Mhanna adds: “I am thrilled to be joining FRA and working with a group of such talented leaders in the field. Having worked in the Middle East for more than fourteen years now, I have seen first-hand the development of financial crime regulation and legislation, need for robust corporate governance, and the extensive rise of development finance amongst banking and public sector institutions. I look forward to serving our clients across the region in these critical and complex situations.”