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BDackiw

Borys Y. Dackiw

Senior Counsel
Baker & McKenzie LLP

Biography

Borys is a senior counsel in the Firm's UAE offices. He was a partner of Baker McKenzie from 1995 to 2024 and was previously managing partner of the Gulf offices (including Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh and Bahrain), coordinating the opening of the Abu Dhabi and Doha offices in 2008 and the Dubai office in 2013.

Borys is head of the Investigations, Compliance & Ethics practice in the Middle East and is co-chair of the Investigations, Compliance & Ethics Steering Committee for the EMEA region. He regularly advises clients across various industries on a broad range of compliance-related matters, including anti-bribery policies and programs. Borys has participated in whistleblower interviews and has led investigations relating to allegations of fraud, embezzlement, bribery and breach of trade sanctions. He also works with in house legal teams of multi-national clients to deliver tailored trainings on anti-bribery issues and trade compliance matters and is increasingly involved in assisting clients in the structuring and implementation of comprehensive, risk-based compliance programs.

Borys' practice also extends to advising multi-national clients on foreign direct investments, including joint ventures and strategic alliances, the structuring of offset programs for defense contractors, mergers and acquisitions (including privatizations) and general corporate counseling.

Borys has practiced in numerous jurisdictions over his career. Prior to moving to the Gulf, Borys was the managing partner in the Prague (Czech Republic) and Kyiv (Ukraine) offices of Baker McKenzie, spending approximately eight years in each office location. He started his legal career in New York.

Representative Legal Matters

Compliance Advisory and Risk Assessment

  • Advising a major Gulf-based national oil company on undertaking a group wide compliance risk assessment and designing and implementing a monitoring and reporting tool to be undertaken as part of an on-going assessment of the effectiveness of the compliance program.
  • Advising the marketing arm of a major Gulf state-owned petrochemicals and steel trading company in developing a compliance protocol for the Chinese market, and undertaken a legal, compliance and tax audit on their operations in Europe and India.
  • Advising the distribution arm of a major Gulf-based national oil company on a full-scale review of their compliance related policies and procedures (P&P) to accommodate the requirements or approach followed under Saudi law and enforcement practice, in relation to the client’s entry in the Saudi market.

Investigations, Ethics and Regulatory

  • Advised a European headquartered wealth management and banking group in an internal investigation into allegations of fraud and embezzlement by the former employee of the client’s representative office in Dubai and on criminal proceedings and various reporting obligations to regulatory authorities.
  • Advising a Swiss pharma group in an ongoing investigation involving allegations of fraud, bribery and other misconduct by their third party distributors and other business partners in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
  • Advising a multinational consumer electronics company in an ongoing investigation into allegations of fraud, bid-rigging and other misconduct by senior managers responsible for their Morocco and Libyan operations.

Trade Sanctions and Export Controls

  • Advising one of the largest commodities trading groups in the MENA region, in relation to UN, US, UK and EU sanctions relating to Iran, Iraq and Belarus.
  • Advising a Saudi Arabian telecoms services company on Iran sanctions related matters.
  • Advising a global consumer goods manufacturer on trade sanctions matters, including the application of the UAE's Targeted Financial Sanctions regime to commercial arrangements in Yemen.
  • Advising a global technology company on the UAE's Anti-Money Laundering / Counter Terrorist Financing and Targeted Financial Sanctions regime.


Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Czech Bar Association
  • New York State Bar Association

Admissions

  • Czech Republic (Advocate)~Czech Republic (2001)
  • New York~United States (1987)
  • Dubai - Registered Legal Consultant

Education

  • Stanford University (Master International Policy Studies) (2001)
  • Columbia University (J.D.) (1986)
  • Georgetown University School of Foreign Service (B.S., magna cum laude) (1983)

Languages

  • Czech
  • English
  • French
  • Ukrainian

Previous Offices

  • Doha
  • Kyiv
  • Moscow
  • Prague
Baker & McKenzie LLP.