Fikri commenced his legal practice in Indonesia in 1992, and in 1994 graduated from Cornell Law School (Ithaca, New York), having earlier attended the University of Indonesia. With his extensive knowledge, incisive insights and practical hands-on approach, he is widely recognized as one of the country’s most talented and innovative lawyers in the banking and finance, M&A, corporate/debt restructuring, project finance and capital market arenas.
The respected AsiaLaw Profiles reports that “Assegaf in particular is recognised by peers for his expertise on regulatory issues,” while Chambers Asia Pacific refers to him as “one of the best legal minds in Indonesia,” “extremely knowledgeable and commercially minded,” “creative and innovative,” and having “an excellent reputation amongst both peers and clients.”
Fikri is also named a “leading individual” in the Banking & Finance, and Corporate/M&A practices by the Legal500 Asia Pacific, and by Asia Leading Lawyers as a leading Asia-Pacific practitioner in the banking, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and corporate finance areas, while the 2012 IFLR Indonesia Annual Review names him a “Leading Lawyer” in Islamic Finance, Capital Markets and M&A.
Experience
In banking and finance, Fikri has represented a long list of blue-chip domestic and international financial institutions and investment funds in arranging corporate financing, while in his capital-markets practice he has advised an array of prominent listed companies, as well as the Government of Indonesia, in both private placements and public offerings of debt and equity.
In his M&A practice, Fikri has acted as counsel to buyers and sellers alike in acquisitions involving public and private Indonesian companies operating in a wide range of sectors, including banking, petrochemicals, oil & gas, power generation, ICT, mining, and plantations.
During the height of the Asian economic crisis in 1998, besides representing creditors and borrowers in complex debt restructuring exercises, many of them groundbreaking in the Indonesian context, Fikri also extensively advised the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), which was established to nurse the country’s banking sector back to health. In this capacity, he advised IBRA on corporate-debt restructurings, takeovers and recapitalizations in the financial sector, global asset recovery measures, and the creation of Bank Mandiri out of the ruins of the devastated Indonesian banking sector (Mandiri is now the country's largest bank). He also played a significant role in the drafting of new national banking legislation to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis -- legislation that has more than proved its worth by insulating Indonesia from the worst effects of the 2008-2009 international financial meltdown.
More recently, Fikri has carved out a reputation for himself as one of the country’s foremost authorities on Islamic finance, having advised the Ministry of Finance in 2008 on the drafting of Indonesia’s first Islamic bond legislation. He subsequently represented the Ministry in the successful launch of the country’s debut international sovereign sukuk in August 2008.
Memberships / Directorships
- Indonesian Bar Association (Peradi)
- Standards Committee of the Indonesian Association of Capital Market Legal Consultants