​About Sheikh Najam TEP

Sheikh Najam TEP is a City of London Notary, advising private clients, corporates, and family offices on international tax, cross-border succession, and corporate legal structuring.

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He is a specialist regulated lawyer of England and Wales, appointed under the Faculty of the Court of Faculties and regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Notaries form a separate branch of the legal profession — with their own qualification route, governing body, and lineage dating to the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 — and notarial practice is a reserved legal activity under the Legal Services Act 2007, meaning it may only be carried out by qualified notaries, of whom there are fewer than 800 across the whole of England and Wales. It is this independent qualification and reserved status, rather than any additional certification within the solicitor or barrister professions, that makes a notary a specialist lawyer in their own right. As a Notary, he is authorised to practise law throughout England and Wales, providing legal advisory services across private client and corporate law — including tax structuring, private wealth, probate, and succession planning; family law; corporate and commercial matters; property law; and dispute prevention and resolution through negotiation, mediation, and arbitration.

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Notarial training also differs in substance: alongside English law, notaries are required to study Roman Law and Private International Law, giving them a grounding in the civil law systems that govern most of Continental Europe and much of the rest of the world, and in the principles that determine how legal matters are handled across multiple jurisdictions. This equips Sheikh to advise with genuine fluency on cross-border matters, understanding not only English law but how it interacts with the legal systems his clients' assets, structures, and transactions touch.

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In addition, Sheikh holds a reserved authority unique to notaries: the power to notarise documents for use internationally, enabling him to advise, structure, and execute cross-border legal and tax matters in-house, without instructing a second professional.

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He holds a two-year M.A. in Tax Law from the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London (UK, EU and international tax), studied under Professor Philip Baker KC — widely regarded as one of the leading international tax barristers in the field — and Dr Tom O'Shea, a leading authority on European tax law. He also holds the STEP Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Private Wealth Advice, completed through CLTI at the University of Oxford — the highest level qualification offered by STEP — which underpins his TEP membership and over ten years' experience advising on private wealth and international tax matters.

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Sheikh is further deepening his specialisation in cross-border corporate and tax structuring through the LL.M. in European and International Business Law at the Universität Wien (University of Vienna), reinforcing his focus on the legal frameworks governing multinational transactions, corporate structuring, and international business across European and global markets.

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Sheikh also holds the title of European Attorney, connecting him to a wider network of lawyers across Europe and supporting cross-border collaboration on international tax and private wealth matters.

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He advises high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individuals, families, entrepreneurs, and family offices, as well as UK companies and corporate groups, on complex domestic and cross-border legal and tax matters.

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International Corporate Tax & Structuring

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Advising UK companies on reducing tax exposure through compliant, treaty-based international corporate structuring, applying the laws of jurisdictions including the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Ireland. This includes:

• Cross-border holding company structures

• Group reorganisations and re-domiciliation

• Treaty-based tax planning

• Substance-driven international structuring aligned with UK, EU, and OECD requirements

• Notarisation and legalisation of the resulting corporate instruments for use abroad

 

Private Wealth & Succession

 

Advising private clients on cross-border wealth structuring, including the use of jurisdictions such as Switzerland for asset protection, succession planning, and international tax positioning. This includes:

• Cross-border trusts and estate planning

• Inheritance tax structuring for business owners and property portfolios

• Family investment companies and holding structures

• Wills and succession planning involving international assets

• Probate and multi-jurisdictional estate administration, as authorised by the Faculty Office

• Digital asset structuring and succession

 

Notarial & Cross-Border Legal Services

• Notarisation and legalisation of documents for international use

• Apostilles and embassy legalisation

• Powers of attorney

• Corporate and personal document authentication for use abroad

 

Dispute Prevention & Resolution

 

Strategic advice on avoiding and resolving high-value disputes involving trusts, estates, and corporate structures, through negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and adjudication.

• Trust and estate disputes

• Shareholder and corporate conflicts

• Cross-border asset disputes

• Negotiation and mediation

• Arbitration and adjudication

(RICS Accredited Mediator, CIArb Member)

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Why Clients Instruct Sheikh

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• Notary Public, authorised to practise law throughout England and Wales

• Trained in Roman Law and Private International Law, providing genuine fluency in cross-border and civil law matters

• European Attorney, with access to a network of lawyers across Europe

• Vice President for Notarial Affairs at Justinian Lawyers, an international network of independent law firms

• Authority to notarise documents for international use

• M.A. in Tax Law (UK, EU & International Tax)

• STEP Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Private Wealth Advice (CLTI/Oxford) — STEP's highest qualification

• Authorised through the Faculty Office to practise probate law

• Advises both private wealth and corporate clients on cross-border structuring

• Able to advise, structure, and execute matters in-house, without instructing a second professional