Sajid Hussein
EMEA general counsel
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Sajid Hussein’s experience at Bank of America Merrill Lynch has certainly prepared him for exciting challenges. When he joined Bank of America in 2005, he couldn’t have known that within three years he would be working on one of the biggest deals of his life.
‘Undoubtedly Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch at the height of the 2008 financial crisis was a career highlight,’ he says. ‘It certainly taught me that nothing is impossible if you have the right team in place, and the value of perseverance.’
Hussein’s business nous is evident in his approach to outsourcing legal work and he understands how in-house lawyers now need to be much more at the cutting edge of the action.
‘We are becoming more and more integral to decision-making processes with regulatory and legislative imperatives dictating strategy to a greater extent than ever before,’ he says.
Law firms used: Allen & Overy, Ashurst, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, Mayer Brown, Shearman & Sterling, Simmons & Simmons, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
2005-present: EMEA general counsel, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
2001-05: Director, legal department, Deutsche Bank
1994-2000: Solicitor, Allen & Overy