1. There is a strange paradox associated with Middle Eastern businesses. On the one hand, family businesses are the real strength and spine of the GCC economies. Alongside sovereign enterprises, family businesses dominate the business landscape. On the other hand, close examination of particular GCC family businesses, even very large ones, frequently reveals frailties and fault lines which expose them to external business risks; and to far less visible threats from the inside.

2. In many cases these weaknesses will not be obvious to the outside observer, or even to the families themselves. Lawyers can help family businesses counter these threats, but often the very first order of business is to educate and alert families to the risks, as it can be truly disastrous if the risks crystallise.

External Business and Legal Risks

1. Typically, GCC family businesses are highly diversified and have many compartments. Unfortunately, the famous 1912 shipwreck the RMS Titanic also had many compartments - but because those compartments were not totally sealed and separated the Titanic sank to the bottom of the ocean when the ship tilted and the rushing waters flooded over the dividing walls into every compartment.