Legal Practice

Digital Assets & Crypto Regulation

MiCA compliance · VARA licensing · VASP registration across jurisdictions

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From MiCA compliance in the EU to VARA licensing in Dubai to VASP registration in Brazil, Safi has built regulatory pathways across more jurisdictions than most specialists encounter in a career. He secured a full-scope VARA licence in Dubai, advised on Pakistan's first BNPL licence, and has handled crypto licensing across multiple jurisdictions and activity types.

His work in this area has been cited in peer-reviewed academic research ranging from PhD theses of Tsinghua University in 2024 to blockchain arbitration, published through China's arbitration research community in 2025. He participated in the European Commission and UNIDROIT's DARTE expert series on the implementation of MiCA and the Travel Rule across Latin America — working at the level where the frameworks are being constructed, not merely interpreted.

He is the practitioner other practitioners come to when the problem crosses more than one jurisdiction simultaneously.

Fintech Regulatory Licensing

Establishing frameworks, not just navigating them

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Licensing in emerging markets requires more than knowledge of the relevant statute. It requires relationships, an understanding of where the regulator is trying to go, and the credibility to make the case in a room the regulator respects.

Esquare Legal established the fintech lending sector in Pakistan and holds more NBFC licences than any other legal practice in the country. The firm was present in every state-level crypto policy conversation in Pakistan before the regulatory bodies that would govern the industry were formally constituted.

The QisstPay BNPL — Pakistan's first-ever licence of its kind from the SECP — is the most documented example of a pattern that has repeated itself across multiple jurisdictions and product categories. He has advised the companies seeking licences. He has also presented directly to the regulators issuing them. That dual perspective is not common.

Cross-Border Corporate & Transactions

China–Pakistan · MENA–Brazil · EU–UAE · multi-jurisdictional structuring

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China-to-Pakistan infrastructure. MENA-to-Brazil capital deployment. EU-to-UAE digital asset structuring. These are not transactions most firms can handle across all relevant jurisdictions simultaneously.

Through the Tahota partnership and direct regional presence across four jurisdictions, Esquare structures cross-border transactions that require legal architecture across multiple regulatory regimes at once. The firm held the official law firm mandate for the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan and was involved in multi-billion dollar CPEC projects.

The firm also led the RUDA project, one of the largest Chinese infrastructure investments outside China at the time of execution. When a transaction requires São Paulo, Dubai, Karachi, and Chengdu to agree simultaneously, this is the practice that handles it.

High-Stakes Dispute Resolution

Supreme Court litigation · landmark awards · appellate strategy

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His litigation record includes securing Pakistan's largest-ever defamation award for the Jang/Geo Group, representing all associations of Pakistan International Airlines (300,000+ employees) in the PIA privatisation challenge, and initiating the Panama Leaks Election Commission proceedings that became the template for the most consequential political litigation in Pakistan's modern history.

His LLM thesis was cited in the NRO judgement on the recovery of illegal proceeds — a body of work that now directly informs his practice in crypto-asset tracing and the recovery of digitally laundered capital.

He has also managed complex appellate strategy before the Supreme Court of India in a successful cryptocurrency matter before three of the court's senior-most judges. Dispute resolution at this level requires understanding not just the applicable law but the institutional context, the political landscape, and what winning actually means for the client beyond the judgement itself.

Blockchain Architecture & Smart Contract Law

Enforceability · RWA tokenisation · institutional infrastructure

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Smart contracts are not self-enforcing in any jurisdiction that matters commercially. The code executes. The legal effect of that execution is a different question entirely.

Safi has been involved directly with major blockchains including Ethereum, Stellar, Canton, and Hedera, and has advised major institutional investors and infrastructure protocols on blockchain architecture. He has been cited in peer-reviewed academic publications on the enforceability of blockchain-based dispute resolution, the Kleros mechanism, and what legal infrastructure foundations are required before institutional capital will follow tokenisation infrastructure into new jurisdictions.

His practical advice shapes how companies design smart contract systems for RWA tokenisation that hold up under enforcement scrutiny across multiple legal regimes — not just in the jurisdiction where they are deployed, but in every jurisdiction where their counterparties operate.

Fractional General Counsel

Embedded GC-level strategy · board-level advisory · retainer-plus-equity

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For founders and institutions that need GC-level strategic thinking embedded in their operations — not transactional outside counsel engaged per matter — Safi takes on Fractional General Counsel engagements. He attends board meetings. He advises on commercial decisions, not just legal ones.

He has served as embedded legal and strategic counsel across Web3 companies, financial institutions, and cross-border ventures at critical stages of their development. He operates on a retainer-plus-equity model.

Current capacity is limited.

Field	Details
Jurisdictions	UAE · Brazil · Pakistan · China · EU · India · USA · Canada · Japan · Malaysia · UK · KSA · Qatar
Firm	Esquare Legal — esquarelegal.com
Partnership	Tahota Law Firm — top-100 global · 4,000+ practitioners · Chengdu-headquartered
Enquiries	safighauri@esquarelegal.com

Pakistan — PVARA licensing deadline 5 September 2026