Global Co-Counsel · Cross-Border Law · Capital Markets
The law stops at the border. Your counsel shouldn't.
Andy Altahawi is an international attorney with four decades across cross-border law and the U.S. capital markets. His practice runs matters that live in several legal systems at once — co-counseling with U.S.-admitted, European, and other international attorneys on capital markets and legal matters — and advises companies entering the American public markets through direct exchange listings on NASDAQ and NYSE.
NASDAQ Direct Listing ▲NYSE Direct Listing ▲REG A+ Tier 2 · up to $75MGoing public without an IPOS-1 · Reg D · Reg SCo-counsel · U.S. · Europe · MENA · Asia-PacificCross-border legal matters ▲Since 1988 · International practiceNASDAQ Direct Listing ▲NYSE Direct Listing ▲REG A+ Tier 2 · up to $75MGoing public without an IPOS-1 · Reg D · Reg SCo-counsel · U.S. · Europe · MENA · Asia-PacificCross-border legal matters ▲Since 1988 · International practice
Since 1988International legal practice across jurisdictions
Co-CounselU.S.-admitted, European & international attorneys
NASDAQ + NYSEDirect exchange listing advisory
Full DisclosureComplete regulatory record, published
The Premise
One matter. Several legal systems. One team.
No lawyer on earth is admitted everywhere a modern transaction reaches. The discipline that works is coordinated co-counsel: one counsel who holds the whole matter in view, alongside admitted attorneys in each jurisdiction it touches. Mr. Altahawi has practiced this way since 1988 — as coordinating counsel for companies whose matters cross borders, and as co-counsel to U.S., European, Middle Eastern, and Asian law firms whose clients cross into markets he knows.
United States
Securities offerings, exchange listings, and U.S. corporate matters — always in co-counsel with U.S.-admitted securities attorneys, who provide the U.S. legal advice and opinions.
United Kingdom & Europe
Co-counsel relationships with European capital markets and corporate firms — cross-listings, holding structures, market entry, and European issuers approaching the U.S. exchanges.
Middle East & North Africa
A legal practice rooted in the region since 1988 — corporate structuring, commercial arbitration, and governance counsel for family groups and companies expanding westward.
Asia-Pacific & Beyond
Coordination with local counsel for Asian and other international issuers seeking U.S. market access — one team, one timetable, admitted advice in every seat.
The Practice
What the practice covers
§ 1
Cross-Border Capital Markets
Foreign issuers entering the U.S. public markets, and companies raising across borders — structure, disclosure coordination, and admitted co-counsel in every jurisdiction the offering touches.
NASDAQ and NYSE listings without a traditional underwritten IPO — market-set pricing, no lock-up, no underwriting discount. Listing readiness through the first day of trading.
Tier 2 Regulation A+ "mini-IPO" offerings up to $75 million, S-1 registrations, Regulation D private placements, and Regulation S offshore tracks — fitted to the capital plan.
Holding companies, redomiciliations, and governance alignment for groups operating across borders — built so the structure survives regulators, auditors, and exchanges.
U.S., European, and international firms engage Mr. Altahawi for the slice of a matter that crosses into markets he knows — conflicts-checked, discreet, and scoped in writing.
A direct exchange listing takes a company onto a national exchange by registering existing shares for public trading — the market sets the price, existing shareholders gain liquidity, and the company avoids underwriting discounts and dilution. For cross-border issuers, it is frequently the decisive path into the U.S. markets, and it follows three disciplined phases.
Phase i
Prepare
Corporate housekeeping, audited financials, governance build-out, and the disclosure document — a Regulation A+ Form 1-A or an S-1 registration statement — prepared and filed with the SEC.
Phase ii
Qualify
Meeting the exchange's quantitative and governance standards: shareholder counts, public float, market value, and share price, coordinated with the SEC review process through qualification or effectiveness.
Phase iii
List
Exchange application, listing approval, and the first day of trading — with the opening price discovered by the market itself, not fixed by an underwriting syndicate the night before.
“Anyone evaluating an advisor should be able to see the complete record, from the primary sources, in one place.”
Throughout its operation as a FINRA-registered broker-dealer, Adamson Brothers was never the subject of a customer complaint or a regulatory citation from FINRA or the NASD — a clean record across a decade of multi-office trading, market making, and corporate finance. Mr. Altahawi's own registered career from 1994 was likewise free of customer complaints.
His full regulatory history — including the 2018–2019 SEC Longfin matter, resolved by consent without admitting or denying the allegations — is published in full, from the primary sources, together with his own statement on it.
