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Media & Speaking

The public record of broadcast appearances, print citations, and speaking engagements. The calibre of the peer group tells the story.

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Broadcast Print Citations Speaking Engagements Speaker Bios Speaking Topics Booking

Broadcast

Over 300 appearances on PTV World, Pakistan's international broadcast channel, as a political and legal analyst. Coverage spans Pakistan's national security posture, South Asian strategic dynamics, active conflict in the Middle East, the geopolitics of financial regulation, and global capital flows. Officially appointed as PTV World's South America Correspondent — reporting from São Paulo, Brazil.

Safi Ghauri on Regime Change in Venezuela — PTV World Newsroom with Sana Maqbool. Safi's segments begin at 17:00 and 27:00.

Recent Print & Digital Citations

The Independent (UK) · April 2026
'Trump's blockade appears to be turning back tankers in the Strait of Hormuz — but Iran has a trick up its sleeve.' Cited on the asymmetric naval threat posed by unmanned underwater vehicles to US assets enforcing the blockade. Peer group: Chatham House, Kpler, New York Law School, Birkbeck.
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Bloomberg Arabic (Asharq Business) · April 2026
Three-question interview on the financial and strategic dimensions of the Hormuz crisis. Dollar dominance and energy opportunism; Pakistan's diplomatic exposure as ceasefire broker; the GCC states as structural losers of a prolonged strait closure.
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Print & Digital Citations

Gulf News
'UAE Legal Experts Welcome Crypto Rules.' Cited on the legal implications of Dubai's digital assets regulatory framework.
China Business Law Journal
Coverage of the RUDA project — cited in the context of one of the largest Chinese infrastructure investment projects outside China. Via Esquare Legal's Chinese Embassy mandate. China Deals of the Year 2024.
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Dawn · Multiple Citations
First-ever BNPL licence in Pakistan — QisstPay, December 2021. PIA privatisation associations challenge. NRO-related proceedings.
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Geo.tv · March 2022
Lead counsel in defamation proceedings producing Pakistan's largest-ever defamation award — Rs100 million for the Jang/Geo Group.
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Yahoo Finance / Business Wire · January 2024
'Light on Crypto Adoption and Education at Future Fest' — Named as 'Managing Partner Esquare Legal' on conference screen during KuCoin Future Fest panel on crypto markets in Asia and Africa.
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Academic & Institutional

Chinese Arbitration Research Institute · 2025
Expert interviewee, peer-reviewed paper on blockchain arbitration and smart contract enforceability. Indexed on SSRN.
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NEPRA Official Newsletter · Q2 2023
Named as presenter alongside NEPRA Chairman at the Blockchain in Energy Trade Webinar. Pakistan's national electricity regulator.
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Company Law Reference Book · 2024
Acknowledgment in "Judgements (Head Notes) on Company Law (1947 to 2021)" by Jawed Hussain, Author of Pakistan's Companies Act 2017. Named among key contributors in the acknowledgments section.

Speaking Engagements

Safi Ghauri speaking at DARTE, European Commission and UNIDROIT expert series on MiCA and Travel Rule across Latin America

Safi Ghauri at the DARTE Digital Assets Roundtable Experts series, co-organised by the European Commission and UNIDROIT, São Paulo, March 2026.

Global Governance & Intergovernmental

EventDateRole & Context
Horasis Global Summit, University of São PauloOct 2025Speaker on digital assets regulation. 1,000 leaders from 50 countries. Opened by the Vice Governor of São Paulo state.
COP30 Side Events, Belém, Brazil2025Speaker on blockchain technology for climate finance infrastructure. UN climate conference.
UNODC Sensitization Workshop for Terror Financing Stakeholders on use of Cryptocurrencies and Dark Web2023Trainer. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Funded by U.S. Embassy / INL.
FATF Panel on Cryptocurrencies, Pakistan2023Panellist. Financial Action Task Force.
Training Civil Servants — Freedom of Information and Right to Information, NCRD2023Trainer for government officials.

Major International Conferences

EventDateRole & Context
DARTE — European Commission + UNIDROIT, World Trade Center São PauloMar 2026Panellist. Co-organised by European Commission and UNIDROIT. MiCA and Travel Rule across Latin America.
Stellar Meridian, Copacabana Palace, Rio de JaneiroSep 2025Speaker. 1,200+ attendees. Former Central Bank of Brazil President keynoted. PayPal PYUSD launched at conference.
ETH Latam, São Paulo2025Panellist, closed-door high-level regulatory session with ETH Latam leadership.
Singularity by Stellar, Goa, IndiaFeb 2026Legal mentor on digital assets and regulation.

Regulatory & Institutional

EventDateRole & Context
Panel on Chinese Infrastructure Contracts, Islamabad2023Invited address on interpretation and commercial implications of Chinese infrastructure contracts, delivered to civil service and policy officers.
NEPRA Blockchain in Energy Trade Webinar, PakistanJun 2023Presenter alongside NEPRA Chairman Tauseef H. Farooqi.
Training Civil Servants — Freedom of Expression, Islamabad2023Trainer for government officials.
Google Developers Club — Web3 Panel2022Panellist.

Multi-Year Institutional Judging

EventDateRole & Context
IMechE Speak Out for Engineering — UAE nationals, Middle East regionals, Pakistan nationals, Africa regionals, Global finals2018–2024Distinguished Judge, all tiers, every year since 2018. UK Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
IMechE Abul Kalam Design Challenge, National Pakistan2019Distinguished Judge.

Speaker Bios

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One Line

Barrister and strategic adviser operating at the intersection of digital asset regulation, cross-border capital flows, and geopolitical intelligence across MENA, Latin America, and Asia.

Short (2 sentences)

Safi Ghauri is the Managing Partner of Esquare Legal and a Partner of Tahota Law Firm (top-100 global, 4,000+ practitioners). A barrister qualified at Lincoln's Inn and registered to practise in Brazil, he advises on digital asset regulation and cross-border transactions across MENA, Brazil, and China — while maintaining a parallel record as a geopolitical analyst with over 300 broadcast appearances and citations in The Independent (UK), Bloomberg Arabic, CNA, and Reuters.

Full (for conference programmes)

Barrister Safi Ghauri is the Managing Partner of Esquare Legal, a crypto-native cross-border law firm operating across the UAE, Brazil, Pakistan, and China through a partnership with Tahota Law Firm (top-100 global, 4,000+ practitioners, 30+ offices). Qualified at Lincoln's Inn and registered to practise in Brazil, he is based in São Paulo. His landmark cases include Pakistan's largest-ever defamation award, the NRO litigation, the Panama Leaks Election Commission proceedings, representing all associations of Pakistan International Airlines (300,000+ employees) in the PIA privatisation challenge, and a successful cryptocurrency matter before three Supreme Court of India judges. He secured Pakistan's first BNPL licence and established the country's lending fintech sector. He led the RUDA project, one of the largest Chinese overseas infrastructure investments at the time, valued at $4.8 billion. He secured one of VARA's earliest virtual asset licences and has overseen hundreds of millions of dollars in fundraising. A political analyst with over 300 broadcast appearances, he trained at Pakistan's National Defense University and serves as PTV World's South America Correspondent. He has spoken at the Horasis Global Summit, COP30, and the European Commission and UNIDROIT's DARTE expert series. He has trained judges and prosecutors for UNODC and panelled at FATF.

Speaking Topics

The Geopolitics of Digital Capital
Cryptocurrency and digital assets are instruments of economic statecraft, not merely technology plays. MiCA, VARA, and the GENIUS Act are geopolitical battlegrounds. The Travel Rule is a jurisdictional power grab dressed as compliance. BRICS payment alternatives raise serious questions about dollar dominance that no regulator wants to answer in public. This session addresses what is actually happening, stripped of the consensus language.
Cross-Border Digital Asset Regulation — MENA, Brazil, and China Simultaneously
Most regulatory panels discuss one jurisdiction. This session addresses three active, fast-moving frameworks at the same time — and what it means in practice to structure a transaction that must satisfy all of them. Based on live mandates across all three corridors.
China's Infrastructure Architecture — Reading the Contracts
What BRI projects actually look like from the inside: the mandate structures, the enforcement clauses, where the leverage sits, and what Western practitioners consistently miss when reading Chinese infrastructure agreements. Drawing on direct experience leading the RUDA project, holding Chinese Embassy mandates, and delivering invited addresses on this subject to civil service and policy officers.
Illicit Capital in the Digital Age — From the NRO to Crypto-Asset Tracing
The legal architecture for recovering laundered proceeds — built from LLM research cited in Pakistan's NRO judgement — now applies directly to the most active frontier of financial crime. Crypto has become the primary instrument for the movement of illicit capital across borders. This session addresses what recovery looks like in practice, across jurisdictions, and what institutional capacity is required to make it work.
Brazil as a Global Capital Hub — What the MENA World Has Not Yet Noticed
Chinese FDI into Brazilian agriculture, infrastructure, and energy is accelerating. The MENA-to-Brazil corridor is equally underserved by legal and advisory infrastructure. Delivered from inside the opportunity — by a practitioner who is registered, present, and actively advising on the transactions connecting these flows.

For broadcast commentary, speaking invitations, panel bookings, and media enquiries:

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