Bio
Sharmilla Bhima is a partner in the Corporate department in Mauritius. Prior to joining the firm in August 2007, she was a practising barrister in general private practice with exposure to both offshore commercial and litigation.
She is an independent director on the board of directors of the Bank of Mauritius.
Sharmilla has specialised in international arbitration. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK and the International Council for Commercial Arbitration. She has an interest in Blockchain and FinTech and the emerging technologies.
She is an arbitrator on the (i) Mauritius International Arbitration Centre (‘MIAC’) (ii) MARC Panel of Arbitrators of the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry (‘MARC’) and (iii) World Intellectual Property Organisation (‘WIPO’)
She regularly intervenes in webinars organised by the MARC to promote international arbitration. She formed part of the team that was responsible for opening the former LCIA chapter in Mauritius on international arbitration when the LCIA set up the LCIA-MIAC international arbitration centre jointly with the Government of Mauritius in 2011, from which it officially withdrew as from 27 July 2018.
She is one of the contributing authors for Lexis Nexis, representing Appleby, on International Arbitration for Mauritius and remains active on matters relating to international arbitration. Sharmilla gained significant experience on arbitration in relation to insurance claims linked with road-accidents as a Vice-Chairman of the Motor Vehicle Insurance Arbitration Committee.
She has acquired expertise on intellectual property law and regularly advises on the protection of intellectual property. As Chairperson of the Industrial Property Tribunal she helped the Government of Mauritius adopt the Copyright Act 2014 and the Industrial Property Act 2019.
She has been actively involved in community service and (i) helped with the launch of the Appleby Legal Education Scholarship in Mauritius (ii) served as the President of The English-Speaking Union (Mauritius) from 2009 to 2011 and contributes to CPD courses in her areas of specialism to the Institute of Judicial Legal Studies (IJLS) of Mauritius and made presentations on these areas.
She is fluent in English and French and has a working knowledge of Hindi.
Bio
Sharmilla Bhima is a partner in the Corporate department in Mauritius. Prior to joining the firm in August 2007, she was a practising barrister in general private practice with exposure to both offshore commercial and litigation.
She is an independent director on the board of directors of the Bank of Mauritius.
Sharmilla has specialised in international arbitration. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK and the International Council for Commercial Arbitration. She has an interest in Blockchain and FinTech and the emerging technologies.
She is an arbitrator on the (i) Mauritius International Arbitration Centre (‘MIAC’) (ii) MARC Panel of Arbitrators of the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry (‘MARC’) and (iii) World Intellectual Property Organisation (‘WIPO’)
She regularly intervenes in webinars organised by the MARC to promote international arbitration. She formed part of the team that was responsible for opening the former LCIA chapter in Mauritius on international arbitration when the LCIA set up the LCIA-MIAC international arbitration centre jointly with the Government of Mauritius in 2011, from which it officially withdrew as from 27 July 2018.
She is one of the contributing authors for Lexis Nexis, representing Appleby, on International Arbitration for Mauritius and remains active on matters relating to international arbitration. Sharmilla gained significant experience on arbitration in relation to insurance claims linked with road-accidents as a Vice-Chairman of the Motor Vehicle Insurance Arbitration Committee.
She has acquired expertise on intellectual property law and regularly advises on the protection of intellectual property. As Chairperson of the Industrial Property Tribunal she helped the Government of Mauritius adopt the Copyright Act 2014 and the Industrial Property Act 2019.
She has been actively involved in community service and (i) helped with the launch of the Appleby Legal Education Scholarship in Mauritius (ii) served as the President of The English-Speaking Union (Mauritius) from 2009 to 2011 and contributes to CPD courses in her areas of specialism to the Institute of Judicial Legal Studies (IJLS) of Mauritius and made presentations on these areas.
She is fluent in English and French and has a working knowledge of Hindi.
Work Highlights
Sharmilla is involved in transactional and undertook some non-transactional matters.
On the transactional side, she has worked on a number of transactions for financial institutions, private equity and hedge fund clients, credit restructuring, derivatives transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate, insolvency, fund and trust formation and disputes as well as employment law matters (both contentious and non-contentious), including Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Axis Bank Ltd, Bank of America, Banque Cantonale de Geneve, Barclays Bank PLC, BMCE Bank International, Citibank N.A., Citigroup, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Coutts & Co., Credit Suisse AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Electro Banque, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, ICICI, JP Morgan, Lloyds TSB Bank, Macquarie Bank Ltd, Morgan Stanley, National Australia Bank Limited, Royal Bank of Scotland, Société Générale, Stanbic Bank Ghana Ltd, Standard Chartered Bank, UBS AG, AlcatelLucent, The Daiichi Mutual Life Insurance Company, DAMAC Holdings Co, LLC, Dallah Albaraka (Ireland) Ltd, Gateway Telecommunications, Kerzner International Group, Interswitch, Johnson & Johnson and SAB Miller Plc.
Some recent examples of work include:
Corporate:
- “The Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF) on a USD 294 million debt raise to further develop the African infrastructure, representing one of the largest blended capital raises emanating from a consortium of prominent financial institutions, comprising the Allianz Group, Standard Bank Group and KfW.”
- “The Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund on a USD as a follow-up on the USD 294 million debt raise in connection with its EURO 40 million borrowing from Swedfund International AB to support climate finance and digital infrastructure projects in Africa and SouthAsia. The financing formed part of the EAAIF’s ambition to raise USD 500 million by 2025 to further develop infrastructure in Africa and, and EAAIF’s now larger vision to capture the Asian continent and thereby invest above USD 1 billion in African and Asian economies. The Swedfund financing took the project further as it extended the reach of the EAAIF to Asia in relation to climate-resilient projects “that transform economies and improve lives in Africa and Asia” including digital connectivity.”
- “A consortium of lenders comprising Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, Absa Bank, ING Bank N.V., the Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd, Trafigura PTE Ltd on a USD 360 million reserves-backed term facility provided to Trident Energy Production Ltd (a Mauritian borrower) to acquire Chevron Overseas (Congo) Limited, a Bermuda incorporated company and a member of the Chevron group of companies. The deal formed part of the wider project of Trident Energy to hold an 85% working interest in the Nkossa and Nsolo II fields through simultaneous agreements which it entered into with TotalEnergies (ENXPTA:TTTE) to acquire 53.6% working interest in the Nkossa and Ksoko II fields from TotalEnergies and divest a 10% working interest in the Moho-Bilondo foeld to TotalEnergies. The completion of these transactions enabled Trident Energy hold the aforesaid 85% working interest.”
- “M2P Solutions Private Limited, an Indian Fintech operating company, on the outsourcing of data under the Data Protection Act.”
- “Selfkey in relation to its revolutionary digital identity token sale of USD 22 million. Selfkey is a blockchain-based digital identity solution that allows individuals and companies to own, control and manage their digital identity.”
On the non-transactional matters, Sharmilla appears in proceedings before the Supreme Court for clients which have ranged from leading financial institutions of which an Australian bank to leading foreign insurance companies. Her practice includes applications to enforce foreign judgments, derivative actions by minority shareholders and ship arrest, all of which are now leading authorities
Dispute Resolution:
Industrial law disputes – security for costs
Alexander Van Hoeken v Africa Technical Services Ltd: Appeared for Africa Technical Services Ltd before the Industrial Court of Mauritius in which the Industrial Court awarded an historic amount of MUR 100,000 [± USD 2,800] as security of costs for a labour law dispute.
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments
Dallah Albaraka (Ireland) Ltd v Pentasoft & anor: Appeared for Dallah Albaraka (Ireland) Ltd, the investment arm of the Dubai-based Dallah Albaraka Group, to successfully enforce a judgement obtained against the parent company of a Mauritian company before the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice for breach of guarantee. This case is now a leading authority on the procedure to follow to enforce a judgment delivered by a superior court of England and Wales. It also addressed important issues such as, the legal significance of a party labelled as ‘CoRespondent’ in proceedings and, the status of legal practitioners employed by law firms registered under the Law Practitioner’s Act1984.
BayerHealthcare LLC v Suvaman: Appeared for BayerHealthcare LLC to successfully enforce a judgment that it obtained in the USA against a Mauritius company for breach of a federally protected trademark.
Applications for Derivative actions
- Appearing before the Court of Appeal for the majority shareholder of a Mauritian company, which challenged the decision of the Bankruptcy Division of the Supreme Court to grant leave to the minority shareholder to enter proceedings in the name of the company for alleged prejudice to it as a result of wrongdoings by the directors. The Court of Appeal upheld Appleby’s interpretation of legislation on the concurrence of two pieces of legislation dealing with the jurisdiction of the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
Sharmilla is involved in transactional and undertook some non-transactional matters.
On the transactional side, she has worked on a number of transactions for financial institutions, private equity and hedge fund clients, credit restructuring, derivatives transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate, insolvency, fund and trust formation and disputes as well as employment law matters (both contentious and non-contentious), including Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Axis Bank Ltd, Bank of America, Banque Cantonale de Geneve, Barclays Bank PLC, BMCE Bank International, Citibank N.A., Citigroup, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Coutts & Co., Credit Suisse AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Electro Banque, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, ICICI, JP Morgan, Lloyds TSB Bank, Macquarie Bank Ltd, Morgan Stanley, National Australia Bank Limited, Royal Bank of Scotland, Société Générale, Stanbic Bank Ghana Ltd, Standard Chartered Bank, UBS AG, AlcatelLucent, The Daiichi Mutual Life Insurance Company, DAMAC Holdings Co, LLC, Dallah Albaraka (Ireland) Ltd, Gateway Telecommunications, Kerzner International Group, Interswitch, Johnson & Johnson and SAB Miller Plc.
Some recent examples of work include:
Corporate:
- “The Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF) on a USD 294 million debt raise to further develop the African infrastructure, representing one of the largest blended capital raises emanating from a consortium of prominent financial institutions, comprising the Allianz Group, Standard Bank Group and KfW.”
- “The Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund on a USD as a follow-up on the USD 294 million debt raise in connection with its EURO 40 million borrowing from Swedfund International AB to support climate finance and digital infrastructure projects in Africa and SouthAsia. The financing formed part of the EAAIF’s ambition to raise USD 500 million by 2025 to further develop infrastructure in Africa and, and EAAIF’s now larger vision to capture the Asian continent and thereby invest above USD 1 billion in African and Asian economies. The Swedfund financing took the project further as it extended the reach of the EAAIF to Asia in relation to climate-resilient projects “that transform economies and improve lives in Africa and Asia” including digital connectivity.”
- “A consortium of lenders comprising Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, Absa Bank, ING Bank N.V., the Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd, Trafigura PTE Ltd on a USD 360 million reserves-backed term facility provided to Trident Energy Production Ltd (a Mauritian borrower) to acquire Chevron Overseas (Congo) Limited, a Bermuda incorporated company and a member of the Chevron group of companies. The deal formed part of the wider project of Trident Energy to hold an 85% working interest in the Nkossa and Nsolo II fields through simultaneous agreements which it entered into with TotalEnergies (ENXPTA:TTTE) to acquire 53.6% working interest in the Nkossa and Ksoko II fields from TotalEnergies and divest a 10% working interest in the Moho-Bilondo foeld to TotalEnergies. The completion of these transactions enabled Trident Energy hold the aforesaid 85% working interest.”
- “M2P Solutions Private Limited, an Indian Fintech operating company, on the outsourcing of data under the Data Protection Act.”
- “Selfkey in relation to its revolutionary digital identity token sale of USD 22 million. Selfkey is a blockchain-based digital identity solution that allows individuals and companies to own, control and manage their digital identity.”
On the non-transactional matters, Sharmilla appears in proceedings before the Supreme Court for clients which have ranged from leading financial institutions of which an Australian bank to leading foreign insurance companies. Her practice includes applications to enforce foreign judgments, derivative actions by minority shareholders and ship arrest, all of which are now leading authorities
Dispute Resolution:
Industrial law disputes – security for costs
Alexander Van Hoeken v Africa Technical Services Ltd: Appeared for Africa Technical Services Ltd before the Industrial Court of Mauritius in which the Industrial Court awarded an historic amount of MUR 100,000 [± USD 2,800] as security of costs for a labour law dispute.
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments
Dallah Albaraka (Ireland) Ltd v Pentasoft & anor: Appeared for Dallah Albaraka (Ireland) Ltd, the investment arm of the Dubai-based Dallah Albaraka Group, to successfully enforce a judgement obtained against the parent company of a Mauritian company before the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice for breach of guarantee. This case is now a leading authority on the procedure to follow to enforce a judgment delivered by a superior court of England and Wales. It also addressed important issues such as, the legal significance of a party labelled as ‘CoRespondent’ in proceedings and, the status of legal practitioners employed by law firms registered under the Law Practitioner’s Act1984.
BayerHealthcare LLC v Suvaman: Appeared for BayerHealthcare LLC to successfully enforce a judgment that it obtained in the USA against a Mauritius company for breach of a federally protected trademark.
Applications for Derivative actions
- Appearing before the Court of Appeal for the majority shareholder of a Mauritian company, which challenged the decision of the Bankruptcy Division of the Supreme Court to grant leave to the minority shareholder to enter proceedings in the name of the company for alleged prejudice to it as a result of wrongdoings by the directors. The Court of Appeal upheld Appleby’s interpretation of legislation on the concurrence of two pieces of legislation dealing with the jurisdiction of the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
Recognition
Business Leaders (Business Magazine) : Business Leader in Mauritius in the 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 editions.
Legal 500 (2025) (Europe, Middle East & Africa):
Sharmilla is a key team member and ‘brings a wealth of knowledge in insolvency and finance law.’
‘Sharmilla‘s approach is highly client-centric, with a focus on understanding the broader business implications of every legal matter. She is known for her strategic thinking and practical solutions, which have been key to securing successful outcomes for our clients.’
IFLR 1000 (2024): Notable Practitioner
The Legal 500 (Legalese) (2021) & (2022) : ‘Sharmilla Bhima is Excellent’
Sharmilla Bhima has been excellent in her service delivery. She impressed me with her ability to appreciate both the legal and commercial aims of the client. She was proactive in guiding on aspects that we had not thought of, but which would have an impact on our transaction and timeline to closing. She was available to discuss and her turnaround time was commendable.’
Business Leaders (Business Magazine) : Business Leader in Mauritius in the 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 editions.
Legal 500 (2025) (Europe, Middle East & Africa):
Sharmilla is a key team member and ‘brings a wealth of knowledge in insolvency and finance law.’
‘Sharmilla‘s approach is highly client-centric, with a focus on understanding the broader business implications of every legal matter. She is known for her strategic thinking and practical solutions, which have been key to securing successful outcomes for our clients.’
IFLR 1000 (2024): Notable Practitioner
The Legal 500 (Legalese) (2021) & (2022) : ‘Sharmilla Bhima is Excellent’
Sharmilla Bhima has been excellent in her service delivery. She impressed me with her ability to appreciate both the legal and commercial aims of the client. She was proactive in guiding on aspects that we had not thought of, but which would have an impact on our transaction and timeline to closing. She was available to discuss and her turnaround time was commendable.’
Coverage & Insights
- “Investing in Mauritius – Ocean of Opportunities”: contributed to a chapter on the protection of intellectual property law.
- “Doing Business in Mauritius – A Practical Guide” : contributed to a chapter on the protection of intellectual property law.
- “Doing Business in Mauritius – A Practical Guide” (3rd edition 2020): she provided a testimonial.
- “Investing in Mauritius – Ocean of Opportunities”: contributed to a chapter on the protection of intellectual property law.
- “Doing Business in Mauritius – A Practical Guide” : contributed to a chapter on the protection of intellectual property law.
- “Doing Business in Mauritius – A Practical Guide” (3rd edition 2020): she provided a testimonial.
Qualifications & Education
- “Pupillage: Thomas More Chambers, London (England)”
- “Called to the English Bar: Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn (July 1998).”
- “Called to the Mauritian Bar: (September 1999)”
- King’s College London, (England)
- Said Business School, University of Oxford (England)
- Queen Mary University of London (England)
- World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) (Switzerland)
- BPP Law School, London (England)
- The University of Reading (England)
- “Pupillage: Thomas More Chambers, London (England)”
- “Called to the English Bar: Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn (July 1998).”
- “Called to the Mauritian Bar: (September 1999)”
- King’s College London, (England)
- Said Business School, University of Oxford (England)
- Queen Mary University of London (England)
- World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) (Switzerland)
- BPP Law School, London (England)
- The University of Reading (England)
Memberships & Associations
Sharmilla is a member of the following institutions:
- The American Chamber of Commerce, Mauritius;
- The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, UK and currently serves as the Vice-President of the Alumni branch of Lincoln’s Inn in Mauritius; and
- The Mauritius Bar Association for which she also served as a co-opted member of the Mauritius Bar Council 2007-2008.
Sharmilla is a member of the following institutions:
- The American Chamber of Commerce, Mauritius;
- The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, UK and currently serves as the Vice-President of the Alumni branch of Lincoln’s Inn in Mauritius; and
- The Mauritius Bar Association for which she also served as a co-opted member of the Mauritius Bar Council 2007-2008.