Image of Jodi Norman

Jodi Norman

Partner

Jodi heads the Middle East Financial Regulatory team and has unrivalled knowledge across the full suite of regulations applicable in the UAE: UAE Central Bank law and regulation, UAE SCA law and regulation, ADGM law and regulation and DIFC law and regulation. 

She also has capability advising on SAMA/Capital Market Authority (CMA) law and regulation and supports A&O’s KSA desk on financial services regulatory matters. This regional knowledge is supported by strong working knowledge and experience in UK/EU financial services law and regulation. 

Jodi advises many of the world’s leading financial institutions and we have invested in building a team with international support that can provide financial services regulatory advice to clients across all segments of the financial services industry, including: commercial banks, investment banks and broker-dealers (the sell side); asset managers, investment consultants, pension funds and other institutional investors (the buy side), exchanges, multilateral trading facilities and clearing houses (infrastructure providers), as well as regulators and governments on their regulatory frameworks. 
Increasingly, the clients that she advises includes a broad range of non-traditional financial services providers, such as payment services and cryptoasset providers and fintech start-ups. 

Jodi is the Regional DE&I Partner for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey (META). In this role Jodi sponsors the META DE&I Working Group and is integral to delivering a work program that focuses on enhancing gender diversity and cultural diversity and supporting A&O’s working parents. 

Jodi holds a CISI Level 6 Diploma in Investment Compliance, a qualification developed specifically for compliance professionals. 

Experience

Representative matters

Several government entities on the development of their virtual assets regulatory regimes, including with respect to the issuance of Central Bank Digital Currency, cross-border issuance of virtual assets and the licensing and supervision of virtual assets services providers (VASPs). 

Legislative framework for introducing Special Purpose Acquisition Companies in the UAE.

Dubai Financial Market on the on the consolidation a rewriting of the entirety of its Markets Rules. This exercise involved the development of two new rulebooks (i) the Listing Rules and (ii) the Markets Rules. 

ADGM FSRA on the development of its sustainable finance regime and drafting the regulatory regime implementing the same. This mandate involved extensive benchmarking of global ESG proposals and right-sizing for the regional market.

Multiple ‘onshore’ UAE clients on their license applications to the UAE Central Bank under the UAE Central Bank’s Stored Value Facilities Regulation and Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes Regulation. As both regulations are recently published, our clients were some of the first to submit licensing applications to the UAE Central Bank under these regulations.

Al Maryah Community Bank on its license application to the UAE Central Bank to become the UAE’s first wholly digital bank.

Multiple new entrant DIFC-based clients on their license applications to the Dubai DFSA to provide payment services on a cross-border basis from the DIFC.

Multiple new entrant ADGM-based clients on their license applications to the FSRA to provide a range of services including payment services, virtual asset-related activities and digital private banking services.

An ‘onshore’ Dubai-based virtual asset exchange on its license application to the newly established Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. 
A semi-autonomous zone on its founding laws and regulations across a number of sectors.

QFMA on the review of its consolidated regulations covering (i) Markets Rules and (ii) Financial Services Rules.
 

Recognition

Jodi Norman understands the issues at stake and provides well-balanced and cost-effective advice based on her vast experiences in the financial services regulatory area.
Legal 500, UAE, 2020, Banking & Finance: Financial Services Regulation
Jodi Norman is consistently excellent with a thorough knowledge of both her clients’ business and commercial aims and incredibly sound judgment when it comes to regulators and their approaches.
Legal 500, UAE, 2021, Banking & Finance: Financial Services Regulation

Qualifications

Admissions

Admitted as a lawyer, Ireland, 2018

Admitted as a lawyer, England and Wales, 2009

Academic

BA PPE (Hons), Politics, Philosophy and Economics, University of York/University of California, Santa Cruz, 2005

Level 6 Diploma in Investment Compliance, 2014

CISI Certificate in DIFC Rules & Regulations, 2012

CISI Islamic Finance Qualification, 2012

Languages

English
Disclaimer
A&O Shearman was formed on May 1, 2024 by the combination of Shearman & Sterling LLP and Allen & Overy LLP and their respective affiliates (the legacy firms). Any matters referred to above may include matters undertaken by one or more of the legacy firms rather than A&O Shearman.