Al Tamimi & Company, jointly with Ernst & Young Jordan, hosted an informative seminar on “Family Businesses – Foundations for Success”. The event was extremely relevant in the current landscape of the Jordanian business market and was attended by more than 40 of Jordan’s most prominent family business figures, who enjoyed a networking breakfast before sitting down to learn more on various challenges facing family businesses and their solutions. Keynote speaker Ghassan Nuqul, Vice Chairman of Nuqul Group, gave an insightful and interactive presentation on the “Institutionalisation of Family Businesses”, drawing direct examples and incidents from his own family business and experiences. He covered a range of topics from corporate governance to family protocol and the ethos of Nuqul Group. Stijn Janssen, EY Tax Partner in Dubai, shed light on the importance of having a suitable succession plan in place and guided the audience through the methodology behind such plans, including the tax implications that family groups may be open to. Gary Watts, Partner and Regional Head of Corporate Commercial at Al Tamimi together with Khaled Saqqaf, Partner and Head of Jordan & Iraq offices, spoke about the various legal structures available to Jordanian family businesses. Gary provided examples of both poor and effective family business structures and enhanced Mr. Nuqul’s discussion on the corporatisation of the family business. He also touched on GCC structures that Jordanian family business owners may wish to consider for their groups. Members from Ro’ya TV, media sponsors of the event, were also present to ask the speakers about their views on having a dialogue on family businesses in the region.