Managing Partner
Datuk Dr Hj Abdul Raman Saad

Datuk Dr Hj Abdul Raman Saad (dars@arsa.com.my), age 59, graduated with a Bachelor of Law (Honours) from the National University of Singapore (then known as University of Singapore) in 1974. He also holds a Master of Electronic Law from the University of Melbourne, Australia in 2004 and in February 2007 he was conferred a Doctorate in Business Administration (Honorary) from Midwest Missouri University, USA.

Datuk Dr Raman was called to the Malaysian Bar in 1977, the Singapore Bar in 1995 and was admitted as Solicitor for England and Wales in 2002.

Upon graduation he served the Malaysian Judicial and Legal Services for four and a half years as Magistrate, Deputy Public Prosecutor/Federal Counsel and Assistant Director of Legal Aid, Malaysia. While in Government service, Datuk Dr Raman completed a one-year post-graduate training programme at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California in 1976. Datuk Dr Raman left the Judicial and Legal Service in 1977 to join a legal firm for one and a half years before founding ARSA LAWYERS (www.arsa.com.my) in January 1979.

As part of his professional development, Datuk Dr Raman completed an Executive Programme in “Leading Professional Service Firms” at the Harvard Business School in 2000 and recently in April 2008 he participated at the Islamic Finance Seminar organized by Harvard Law School, Boston USA.

Datuk Dr Raman has 29 years of experience in legal practice, in diverse matters such as criminal litigation, civil litigation, corporate & commercial laws, restructuring, corporate banking & finance, Islamic finance & sukuk, merger & acquisition and privatisation.

Datuk Dr Raman is the Co-Head of Islamic Finance Department of ARSA LAWYERS and now specialises in Information Technology Law, M&A, Cross-Border transactions and Islamic Finance.

He was involved in advising many government agencies including a Malaysian-government owned company called CyberSecurity (formerly known as NISER) which dealt with information technology security and he has advised other governmental bodies on technology issues. He is the lead adviser for eMedina: an egovernment initiative for the Holy City of Medina Munawara, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Datuk Dr Raman is an active speaker and presented many papers at law conferences both at national and the international level. At the international symposium on “Knowledge Cities” held on 28-30 November 2005 at Al-Madina Al-Munawara, Saudi Arabia under the patronage of HRH Prince Moteb Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal & Rural Affairs, he spoke on “Information Privacy”. End of April 2008 this year, he spoke at the Inter-Pacific Bar Law Conference in Los Angeles on “Globalisation And the Transformation of the Legal Profession In Asia: Cause Or Effect?” He is one of the notable speakers at the forthcoming Personal Data Protection Seminar to be held on 6 June 2008 at Grand Millennium Hotel, Kuala Lumpur where he will speak on “Compliance of Personal Data As a Strategic Issue”.

He has written a book entitled “Personal Data Privacy Protection” published by Lexis Nexis/Malayan Law Journal in 2005. He co-authored a write-up on the Malaysian perspective of legal due diligence work entitled The Importance Of Due Diligence In Malaysia From The Perspective Of Securities Regulations Of Malaysia, published by Sweet & Maxwell (London) in the publication Due Diligence Law And Practice by Christopher Davis (6th release, September 2001).His recent article on “IP Collateralization In Islamic Finance” was published in IPBA Journal, March 2008 issue.

He is currently a Council Member of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (“IPBA”) (www.ipba.org) a leading international law organisation for business lawyers with interest in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Datuk Dr Raman was a director of several public companies listed on Bursar Malaysia. He had served on the Board of Directors of the National Technical University Melaka (formerly known as Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia), a government funded university for five years and is a director of Ayer Keroh Country Club Berhad in Melaka.

Datuk Dr Raman was a President of Consumers’ Claim Tribunal of Malaysia for 3½ years from 15 November 2003 until September 2007. In the global business arena, Datuk Dr Raman is the President of the Malaysia Arab Business Association with the primary objective of collaborating business between the two countries.

He is the Managing Partner of ARSA LAWYERS, being one of the leading law firms in Malaysia with head office in Kuala Lumpur and branch offices in Johor Baru and Melaka. ARSA LAWYERS have established overseas office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with Al Soaib Law Firm and a strategic alliance with Messrs Jamal & Jamal Law Firm of Kuwait.

For his outstanding services to the community, Datuk Dr Raman was conferred the award of “Darjah Mulia Seri Melaka” [DMSM], which carries the title “Datuk” by His Excellency TYT Governor of Malacca in 1996. The award of “Kesatria Mangku Negara” (KMN) was conferred on him in 2000 by His Majesty The Yang DiPertuan Agong.

Datuk Dr Raman Saad is married to Datin Rukamariah and blessed with 4 children. He now lives in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru. Besides reading during his free time, he plays golf.