Farmida Bi CBE has been our EMEA chair since May 2018. Her priorities are supporting Norton Rose Fulbright's vision of providing exceptional client service and fostering a culture of inclusivity and connectivity across the firm's 50+ offices worldwide.

Farmida has continued to work in her own practice of debt capital markets and Islamic finance, and she has a particular interest in the role Islamic finance, as a form of ethical finance, can play in unlocking funding for ESG initiatives designed to promote the UN Social Development Goals.

Recognized in the 'Hall of Fame' for both debt capital markets and Islamic finance in The Legal 500 UK 2022, Farmida's leadership and practice have also been acknowledged with awards such as the Financial News 'Fifty Most Influential Lawyers 2022', 'Top 20 Most Influential in Legal Services 2021' and '100 Most Influential Women in European Finance' from 2019-2021; the HERoes Top 100 Role Model List 2022, 2020 and 2019; The Lawyer's 'Hot 100 Leaders 2019'; the 'Outstanding Practitioner Award 2019' at the Euromoney: Europe Women in Business Law Awards; 'Finance Team of the Year 2018' at the Legal Business Awards; and the Financial Times '100 Innovative Lawyers Europe 2018'.

In addition to her work at Norton Rose Fulbright, Farmida is also Chair of Trustees for the Barbican Centre Trust (which raises funding for the Barbican, the largest performing arts center in Europe) and for the Patchwork Foundation (a charity that promotes engagement in politics and civil society for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds).

Farmida was recognized for her services to the law and to charity by the UK's HM The Queen in the 2020 Birthday Honours by being made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). She is a graduate of Downing College, Cambridge and qualified as a solicitor in 1992, and as a New York attorney in 1999.