Greece and Cyprus Teams 2019 – GC Powerlist
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Greece and Cyprus Teams 2019

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A.M. Nomikos Transworld Maritime Agencies

| A.M. Nomikos Transworld Maritime Agencies

A.M. Nomikos operates a commercial, corporate and ship management service for ship owning entities. The company employs approximately 1,000 staff worldwide on land and sea based operations. The head office...

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adidas

| adidas

A compact but highly skilled and motivated group, adidas’ Greece-based legal team is an integrated and highly successful component of the major sportswear group’s global legal and compliance function. Recently,...

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Aegean Airlines

| Aegean Airlines

Aegean Airlines is the flag carrier airline of Greece and the largest Greek airline by total number of passengers carried, by number of destinations served and by fleet size. Aegean...

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AIG

| AIG

American International Group, also known as AIG, is a multinational finance and insurance corporation with an expanding operation in Greece. The compact in-house legal team at AIG in Greece is...

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Air Liquide Hellas

| Air Liquide Hellas

Led by Lilian Kontou, who in her position as legal director for South East Europe oversees legal matters for the company in Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, the Air Liquide Hellas...

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Alpha Bank

| Alpha Bank

Financials

Alpha Bank is an institutional powerhouse within Hellenic banking, with a 140 year presence in the Greek banking market and a longstanding footprint in Cyprus. The bank offers a wide...

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APIVITA

| APIVITA

The recently established legal function of APIVITA has been entrusted with acting as the company’s primary legal advisor on a wide range of legal issues, with the lion’s share of...

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AstroBank

| AstroBank

Financials

AstroBank, formerly Piraeus Bank Cyprus, offers a full range of financial products and services to domestic and international clients, including retail, SME, corporate banking, private banking and IBU. Since helping...

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Athens International Airport

| Athens International Airport

Tasked with providing legal support for the myriad of operations that Athens International Airport is involved in provides a variety of work for the company’s legal team. Its consistent success...

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Atlantic Insurance

| Atlantic Insurance

Insurance

Since being established in 1983, Atlantic Insurance has grown into one of the largest insurance companies in Cyprus. The insurance provider’s legal department has contributed significantly to a highly successful...

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Attica Holdings (Attica Group)

| Attica Holdings (Attica Group)

The seven-person Attica Group legal team is led by general counsel and director of legal and corporate affairs Yiota Krassakopoulou, who prioritises a hierarchy that is ‘as flat as possible’...

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Bank of Cyprus

| Bank of Cyprus

Financials

Chief legal officer Katia Santis leads Bank of Cyprus’s 23-strong and highly capable in-house legal team spread across three working teams headed by dedicated managers: Vasiliki Kammitsi Michaelidou heads the...

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Bank of Greece

| Bank of Greece

Financials

The in-house legal team at the Bank of Greece, Greece’s central bank, is a highly talented group of lawyers spread around the country delivering top quality legal service, analysis and...

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Brink’s Hellas

| Brink's Hellas

The highly capable legal team at Brink’s Hellas, the Greek outfit of the global security firm, handles all transactional and litigation matters for the company including in the areas of...

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Central Bank of Cyprus

| Central Bank of Cyprus

Financials

Established in 1963, the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC)’s is today mainly responsible for implementing the European Central Bank’s monetary policy decisions, supervising Cypriot banks, safeguarding the stability of the...

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Centrofin Management

| Centrofin Management

Centrofin Management’s legal function has been headed by its now general counsel Sophia Tsami since 1996, during which she has amassed an extremely detailed knowledge of legal requirements including, but...

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Citi Greece

| Citi Greece

Citi’s Greek legal team is made of industry professionals highly skilled in institutional banking, particularly within the global shipping industry, private banking, global markets and corporate investment banking. Citi Greece...

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Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company

| Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company

Food, beverages and tobacco

Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCHBC) has a legal function of approximately 100 in-house lawyers operating across 28 countries. The group in-house legal team consists of ten lawyers that are located...

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Columbia Shipmanagement

| Columbia Shipmanagement

In-house legal advisor Mirka Efthymiadou explains that the Columbia Shipmanagement legal team has expanded and grown with the business and is now four strong. As well as herself, Efthymiadou is...

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Copelouzos Group and Prometheus Gas

| Copelouzos Group and Prometheus Gas

A fully integrated business development organisation which services key industrial and technological sectors in Greece and abroad, focusing on the energy, construction and infrastructure sectors, Copelouzos Group provides a particularly...

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Cyprus Airways

| Cyprus Airways

Cyprus Airways was the flag carrier airline of Cyprus. It was established in September 1947 and ceased operations in January 2015. In July 2016, Charlie Airlines acquired the rights to...

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Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC)

| Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC)

The in-house legal team at CySEC is highly adept at translating EU financial regulatory frameworks into a Cyprus context and other financial oversight activities, including anti-money laundering. It is involved...

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Cyprus Trading Corporation (CTC)

| Cyprus Trading Corporation (CTC)

Cyprus Trading Corporation’s lean in-house legal team achieves fantastic results by leveraging the impressive talents of its lawyers through the adoption of a horizontal organisation, which allows a degree of...

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Deloitte Greece

| Deloitte Greece

Usually comprising five individuals – four lawyers, including general counsel, Emmanouil Asikis, and a legal intern – the Deloitte Greece in-house legal team has been extremely busy over the past...

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Deutsche Bank

| Deutsche Bank

Financials

Deutsche Bank (DB)’s Greek in-house legal contingent is an extremely important component of its cross-border team. Katerina Papageorgiou is the head of legal and compliance for Greece and also compliance...

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Dixons South East Europe (Kotsovolos)

| Dixons South East Europe (Kotsovolos)

Dixons Group, which is one of the leading European groups regarding the sale of electric appliances, operates Kotsovolos – the number one electronic and electric goods chain in Greece, with...

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Dodoni Ice Cream

| Dodoni Ice Cream

The leading purveyor of ice cream in Greece, Dodoni Ice Cream maintains a highly competent three-person in-house legal department led by general counsel Christina Karakosta. The team is regarded as...

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Easybrain

| Easybrain

Easybrain is an exciting new mobile game developer responsible for App Store and Google Play chart-topping games including Sudoku.com and Pixel Art. It has offices in both Belarus and Cyprus....

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ELPEDISON

| ELPEDISON

Responsible for managing all legal affairs including the company’s representation before courts and arbitral panels, reviewing the company’s contractual engagements, handling issues related to its customers, and managing external law...

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ELTA (Hellenic Post)

| ELTA (Hellenic Post)

ELTA (Hellenic Post) is the state-owned provider of postal services in Greece. It succeeded the former government postal service, that was founded in 1828. ELTA provides a universal postal service...

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ERGO Hellas

| ERGO Hellas

Anastasios Tamamidis, director of legal services, leads the in-house legal team at ERGO, one of Greece’s most important insurance companies. He is a strong legal professional with a PhD focused...

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Eurobank Capital markets, investment banking, wealth management and strategic and international activities legal division

| Eurobank Capital markets, investment banking, wealth management and strategic and international activities legal division

Financials

Eurobank has one of the largest and most highly specialised in-house legal departments in Greece and Cyprus, and includes the capital markets, investment banking, wealth management and strategic and international...

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Eurobank Corporate banking legal support division (performing loans)

| Eurobank Corporate banking legal support division (performing loans)

Financials

Eurobank is one of the largest and most important banks in Greece and across the Balkans and South Eastern Europe, and the individuals operating in its multiple legal divisions make...

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Eurobank Cyprus

| Eurobank Cyprus

Financials

To achieve a competitive advantage in the fast-growing banking and financial services sector, Eurobank Cyprus has made great efforts to recruit a legal team consisting of highly specialised professionals. The...

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Eurolife ERB

| Eurolife ERB

Konstantinos Antonakis, general counsel, leads the legal team at Eurolife ERB Group, in Greece which is made up of the life insurance and general insurance divisions. Antonakis is a capable...

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EYDAP

| EYDAP

EYDAP is the publicly listed but state-owned municipal water and sewage company of the city of Athens and the largest company of its kind in Greece serving over 4.3 million...

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Fraport Greece

| Fraport Greece

Led by head of legal and compliance Periklis Stroumpos and ably supported by a team of senior individuals, the Fraport Greece in-house legal team is home to a great deal...

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FxPro Financial Services

| FxPro Financial Services

Operating as a subsidiary of FxPro Group, leading online broker FxPro Financial Services was founded in 2006 and is based in Cyprus. The company’s in-house legal team has earned significant...

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General Insurance of Cyprus

| General Insurance of Cyprus

Insurance

Formed in 1951 by Bank of Cyprus, General Insurance of Cyprus was the first domestic insurance provider in Cyprus and has been a leading provider ever since. The company maintains...

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Global Maritime Group

| Global Maritime Group

Responsible for a full range of ship maritime services for virtually any type of ship afloat, Global Maritime Group has programmes devoted to technical services, hotel operations, crewing, entertainment and...

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Hellas Gold

| Hellas Gold

Hellas Gold, the Greek subsidiary of the listed Canadian mining company Eldorado Gold Corporation, is active in exploration and exploitation of gold, copper and other minerals, implementing one of the...

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Hellenic Bank

| Hellenic Bank

Financials

Chief legal officer Calliopi Nicolaidou is clear that each of the 19 members of the Hellenic Bank in-house legal team ‘have added substantial value to the work of the team’....

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Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (HEDNO)

| Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (HEDNO)

HEDNO is the operator of the Greek national energy grid network and possesses a set of talented in-house lawyers. The team has worked on a number of major transactions including...

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Hellenic Petroleum

| Hellenic Petroleum

One of the larger in-house teams in the region at 34-strong, Hellenic Petroleum’s legal team brings real internal clout to bear on the myriad issues it undertakes on behalf of...

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Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF)

| Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF)

HRADF‘s establishment in 2011 in order to manage a large number of state assets has been successful in creating public wealth through privatisation of government assets. ‘Acting with a high...

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Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE Group)

| Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE Group)

OTE Group is the largest telecommunications provider in the Greek market, offering a full range of telecommunications services. These include fixed-line and mobile telephony, broadband services, to pay television and...

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Heracles Group

| Heracles Group

Heracles Group Composed of six lawyers, HERACLES Group’s legal team ensures that the company’s extensive business operations in Greece – where it is regarded as the go-to name in cement...

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Hermes Airports

| Hermes Airports

Hermes Airports is the operator of the two major airports in Cyprus, Larnaka International Airport and Pafos International Airport since May 2006, under a 25 year build-operate-transfer concession. Its in-house...

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Huawei Technologies

| Huawei Technologies

Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology infrastructure and smart devices, employing around 180,000 people in more than 170 countries. The Greece-based legal team takes charge...

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ICAP Group

| ICAP Group

As the largest business services group in Greece, ICAP Group provides a range of services through its subsidiaries. These include credit risk services, marketing solutions, management consulting, and people and...

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Independent Power Transmission Operator

| Independent Power Transmission Operator

Energy and utilities

Independent Power Transmission Operator (also known as IPTO or ADMIE) is the transmission system operator for the Hellenic Electricity Transmission System. The mission of the company is the operation, control,...

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Intership Navigation Company

| Intership Navigation Company

Legal manager Eliana Charalambous leads the highly regarded Intership Navigation Company legal team and has been a key factor in its successes over recent years. She explained the team’s role...

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INTRALOT

| INTRALOT

Intralot is a Greek company that supplies integrated gambling, transaction processing systems, game content, sports betting management and interactive gambling services, to state-licensed gaming organisations worldwide. The company acts both...

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INTRASOFT International

| INTRASOFT International

Based across Athens and Brussels, the Intrasoft International legal team is six-strong and will be expanding further shortly to keep up with favourable business conditions. Tzina Prokopidou is group legal...

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IronFX Global

| IronFX Global

IronFX is a global leader in online trading with 10 trading platforms and over 200 tradable instruments in forex, spot metals, futures, shares, spot indices and commodities. In addition to...

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Jumbo

| Jumbo

Jumbo is the largest retailer in the markets of toys, baby items, stationery, seasonal products and home items in Greece with 52 stores in the country and a further 33...

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LAMDA Development

| LAMDA Development

LAMDA Development is a key player in the development, investment and management of real estate in the Greek market. Listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, LAMDA is currently in the...

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Leroy Merlin (Greece and Cyprus)

| Leroy Merlin (Greece and Cyprus)

Responsible for supporting the company’s extensive operations in both Greece and Cyprus, the Leroy Merlin legal function, headed by general counsel Vassilis Kyriakou, has undergone a radical refocusing in recent...

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LG Electronics Hellas

| LG Electronics Hellas

LG Electronics Hellas was established as the Greek subsidiary of the multinational electronics company in 2002, as part of an international strategy for even faster and more efficient growth. The...

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Lidl Hellas

| Lidl Hellas

A subsidiary of the multinational German supermarket chain, Lidl Hellas opened its first store in Greece in 1999 and today it operates over 220 stores and four distribution centres across...

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Marfin Investment Group Holdings

| Marfin Investment Group Holdings

Listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, Marfin Investment Group Holdings maintains a highly respected and effective legal department consisting of seven individuals, with a further 30 attached to subsidiary companies....

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Medtronic Hellas

| Medtronic Hellas

Medtronic’s Greece-based legal and compliance team directly reports to the company’s senior legal director for the region in Germany and has consistently proved the wisdom of the company’s decision to...

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Melco Resorts & Entertainment

| Melco Resorts & Entertainment

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (Melco), formerly known as Melco Crown Entertainment, is a developer, owner and operator of casino gaming and entertainment casino resort facilities in Asia. In December 2006,...

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Metro

| Metro

Founded in 1976, Metro is a Greek company that employs over 10,000 people, making it one of the largest employers in the nation. The company’s income is derived from two...

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Microsoft Hellas

| Microsoft Hellas

The Microsoft Greece, Cyprus and Malta legal team comprises of a multi-skilled function, containing not just legal personnel but also government affairs personnel, and it collaborates closely with the philanthropies...

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Nea Odos and Odos Kentrikis Elladas

| Nea Odos and Odos Kentrikis Elladas

Accounting for 48% (537 km) of Greek motorways that are currently under private management, Nea Odos and Odos Kentrikis Elladas are separate motorways with a combined in-house legal department led...

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Nic. J. Theocarakis

| Nic. J. Theocarakis

Nic. J. Theocarakis’ in-house legal team supports the overall Theocarakis Group operations which include the importation and distribution of Nissan Motor vehicles and a vast array of related aftermarket consumer...

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NN Hellas

| NN Hellas

Vassilis Giannakopoulos is head of legal and member of the executive committee of NN Hellas, also reporting functionally to NN Group legal. The legal department consists of another five lawyers,...

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‎O1 Advisory

| ‎O1 Advisory

Dual-based in Cyprus and Russia, the O1 Advisory legal team is part of the Russian O1 Properties Group, and as such deals with cross-border projects as a matter of course....

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Olympia Group

| Olympia Group

Olympia Group, through its eight subsidiaries, engages in retail, telecommunications, distribution of technology products, and manufacturing businesses in Greece and internationally. Founded by Panos Germanos, it is now an international...

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OPAP

| OPAP

Formerly a state-owned enterprise before being fully privatized in 2013, OPAP retains exclusive rights to organise lotteries and betting endeavours in Greece and Cyprus. This highly lucrative operation netted the...

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Oracle

| Oracle

Oracle is at the forefront of the world’s technological development with over 18,000 registered patents and employing 38,000 developers and engineers globally. Its legal team is equally high-profile, aiming to...

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OSM Maritime Group

| OSM Maritime Group

Operating in over 30 locations and jurisdictions means that OSM Maritime Group’s legal function is required to keep track of a highly complex workload in support of a truly global...

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Papastratos Cigarette Manufacturing Company

| Papastratos Cigarette Manufacturing Company

Leonidas Tolis leads Philip Morris International (PMI) affiliate Papastratos Cigarette Manufacturing Company’s EU South East cluster legal team, which boasts 12 lawyers across Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta....

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Pernod Ricard Hellas

| Pernod Ricard Hellas

Global wine and spirits behemoth Pernod Ricard operates an integrated and highly capable subsidiary in Greece under the name of Pernod Ricard Hellas. Its legal team continues the fantastic reputation...

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Pharmathen

| Pharmathen

Healthcare

Pharmathen was founded in 1969 as a private pharmaceutical company. In the past 50 years, the company has reached significant milestones and has emerged as one of the leading in-house...

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Piraeus Bank

| Piraeus Bank

Financials

Listed on the Athens Exchange, Piraeus Bank is one of the four systemic banks of Greece and subject to the supervision of the Single Supervisory Mechanism of the European Central...

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Public Power Corporation

| Public Power Corporation

Energy and utilities

Public Power Corporation (PPC) is the biggest power producer and electricity supply company in Greece with approximately 7.4 million customers. PPC currently holds assets in lignite mines, power generation, transmission...

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Public Properties Company (ETAD)

| Public Properties Company (ETAD)

Public Properties Company (ETAD) is a state-controlled corporate entity entrusted with the task of the management and exploitation of a large real estate portfolio which comprises more than 71,500 property...

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RCB Bank

| RCB Bank

Financials

Petr Zaytsev is the general counsel and corporate secretary of RCB Bank, having joined originally in October 2005. He has successfully built an in-house team of eight lawyers with diverse...

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Seanergy Maritime Holdings

| Seanergy Maritime Holdings

Seanergy Maritime Holdings is a Marshall Islands corporation with its executive offices located in Athens. The company is engaged in the transportation of dry bulk cargoes through the ownership and...

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Skywind Group

| Skywind Group

Skywind Group, founded in 2012, is a well-established global pioneer of cutting-edge games content and white label support and infrastructure. Skywind is made up of three main divisions; management systems,...

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Space Hellas

| Space Hellas

Founded in 1985, Space Hellas is a leading system integrator that offers a comprehensive range of integrated ICT and security solutions and services complemented by after-sales support. Headquartered in Athens,...

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STASY (Urban Rail Transport)

| STASY (Urban Rail Transport)

Urban Rail Transport was founded in June 2011, and incorporated three rail companies that had existed up to that point: AMEL (a metro system operator), ISAP (an urban railway), and...

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Systems Sunlight

| Systems Sunlight

Tania Chadouli leads the compact but highly capable in-house legal function of advanced battery and energy storage technology company Systems Sunlight, a company at the forefront of a complex and...

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Tek Experts Global

| Tek Experts Global

‘We are responsible both for the legal work undertaken at a global level as corporate lawyers and representing Tek Experts as a whole’, senior legal officer Evyenia Kelly Epaminondou says...

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Terna Energy

| Terna Energy

The Terna Energy legal team consists of four lawyers, the most senior of whom is Dimitra Hatziarseniou who heads the legal department. In chronological order of joining the group, the...

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The Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator (DESFA)

| The Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator (DESFA)

Organised across three departments devoted to property law and land acquisition, contracts and labour law and legislative and regulatory affairs teams, all sections being manned with both senior and junior...

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Titan Cement Company

| Titan Cement Company

Prioritising a decentralised structure attached directly to business units, the TITAN Cement Company legal team’s focus is on business support above all else; as such, it is thoroughly embedded with...

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Tototheo Maritime

| Tototheo Maritime

Legal officer Petros Papaevagorou describes how the Tototheo Maritime legal function is heavily influenced by its governance professionals, highlighting its business-focused approach: ‘The current legal function of the organisation is...

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Toyota Hellas

| Toyota Hellas

Founded in 1986, Toyota Hellas is a member of Inchcape, the global industry leader in the premium automotive distribution and retail sectors, and represents Toyota Motor Corporation products in Greece...

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TrainOSE

| TrainOSE

TrainOSE is a Greek railway company which currently operates all passenger and freight trains on OSE lines in the country. TrainOSE was acquired in September 2017 by the Italian national...

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Unilever

| Unilever

Unilever’s legal department is a small and agile team, comprising of three lawyers, Christina Vasilopoulou, who is general counsel, Kalliopi Georganda and Alexandra Moussatou. The territorial responsibility of the legal...

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Upstream

| Upstream

‘I like to think we are a small but mighty team’, says Upstream’s head of legal Eleni Stathaki, when discussing what makes the company’s three-person legal team worthy of recognition....

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Vassiliko Cement Works Public Company

| Vassiliko Cement Works Public Company

Vassiliko Cement Works Public Company offers port services and operates its own integrated clinker and cement plant and four quarries in Cyprus. The company runs a complex and well-established business...

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Velti

| Velti

Velti was founded in 2000 and is a leading provider of innovative mobile-centric marketing, customer retention and content based solutions trusted globally by hundreds of mobile operators, brands and media...

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VICTUS Networks

| VICTUS Networks

Led by head of legal Konstantina Schiza, who is capably supported by senior lawyer Stella Analyti, VICTUS Networks’ legal team oversees company litigation, compliance, risk management and corporate governance matters...

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Vivartia Food Services Group

| Vivartia Food Services Group

Vivartia’s Food Services Group legal team is led by head of legal Katerina Sefteli and also comprises of five other lawyers in Eleni Karveli, Georgia Adamopoulou, Eftyhia Mpri, Mania Shoina...

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Vodafone

| Vodafone

Telecommunication services

Vodafone Greece is a member of the Vodafone Group, one of the largest telecommunications groups in the world. Among mobile operator groups globally, Vodafone ranked fourth (behind China Mobile, Bharti...

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WIND Hellas Telecommunications (WIND Hellas)

| WIND Hellas Telecommunications (WIND Hellas)

‘WIND Hellas’ legal services function is considered nationwide as truly innovative in doing legal work and I’m personally proud that our work in WIND Hellas is being acknowledged as such’,...

The GC Powerlist series continues to grow around the world and the Greece and Cyprus edition is no exception – competition for places in the list was even fiercer than last year, and the quality of legal teams we interviewed was extremely high indeed. While choosing the in-house teams to be featured in The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist: Greece and Cyprus Teams 2019 has undoubtedly been a challenge, it has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience to discuss just some of the myriad challenges faced by Greek and Cypriot in-house legal teams with the people most qualified to comment on these – the lawyers themselves.

During conversations with our in-house contacts during the research of this list we covered a wide range of topics that reflect the high standard of the teams featured, ranging from GDPR implementation, to coping with the effects of new team budget constraints, to new and novel approaches to age-old business and commercial issues. The in-house teams featured within these pages are undoubtedly among the very best and brightest in the region, and have successfully incorporated the individual legal talent and business sense of their team members to create a unified entity which serve as true business partners to the companies in which they operate.

A huge thank you to everyone who spoke to me and my colleagues at The Legal 500 during the research, and congratulations to all the excellent in-house teams featured within. We look forward to many more successful editions in the future!

Joe Boswell
Senior research analyst, GC Powerlist series

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC i

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC i logo

Dear Friends, Colleagues and Partners,

It is a great pleasure and honour to sponsor The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist: Greece and Cyprus Teams in conjunction with our esteemed friends and colleagues at KLC Law Firm in Athens.

I seize the opportunity to congratulate everybody who made the list and to wish you all a great event!

The global economic uncertainty I spoke of at last year’s event shows scant signs of the ‘green shoots of recovery’, a phrase which the former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont is credited with coining during his country’s deep recession in 1991.

However, tens of millions of people in the USA, Europe and Latin America feel disenfranchised and adversely affected by the consequences of the 2008 financial crash, the worst social and economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930’s.

The current constitutional turmoil in the UK Parliament also adds to the economic tensions and polarisation of different interest groups in Britain and throughout Europe and no one can accurately predict the financial consequences for their citizens or international trading partners.

Excessive risk taking, lack of effective forensic auditing, poor corporate governance and, in some cases, outright fraud have all contributed to the general public’s widespread distrust of the corporate world and banks.

‘The profits are privatised whilst the losses are socialised’ as many pundits commented.

It is against this background that the pivotal role of general counsel and in-house legal teams is ever more paramount towards safeguarding the probity and ethical business conduct of the organisation, both in the letter and in the spirit of the law for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Technology, however advanced, must never be held up as an excuse for or substitute of trustworthiness, fairness and ethical behaviour.

Although a relatively young firm, Elias Neocleous & Co LLC has a prominent history, steeped in expertise built up over half a century from modest beginnings by our legacy firm with a distinguished client list.

Though not without challenges, we are today proud that we have successfully completed the transition to the new firm with no service interruptions or loss of clients who all enthusiastically embraced the change.

Our strategy now is to build upon the principles and traditional work ethics of our old firm whilst simultaneously utilising the latest technologies and management procedures to deliver our clients high quality legal advice at ‘cheetah fast’ speed.

Our entire team has adopted this new dynamic culture recognising that it is a ‘win-win-win’ approach for our clients, ourselves and, most importantly, for the community.

Our clients value our ‘hands on’ results-based advice for which we stand fully accountable at every level in the firm.

It is this ‘peer group pressure’ within our firm which brings out the best in our people who are our major asset.

Through my experience I have recognised that the famous four P’s of any business marketing namely product, price, place and promotion are incomplete without the addition of a 5th P which is people.

We seek to attract, retain, develop and reward the best minds and talent so that together as one collaborative team working in a genuinely meritocratic environment we can deliver the best service possible to our clients in every practise area.

In previous decades, Cyprus was perceived as a ‘soft touch’ from a regulatory perspective whereby legal practitioners often felt pressurised by unscrupulous investors seeking to exploit the island’s status as a respected and well-governed financial centre.

Today, and especially since Cyprus’ full membership of the EU, the regulatory environment in general and the financial services industry in particular is far more robust so that dishonest actors are being removed from the stage, a trend which we greatly welcome.

With this new dynamic ‘Blue Sky’ thinking, we look forward to working closely with all clients who share our ethos and value system in order to deliver mutual prosperity and success driven by the highest standards of integrity and ethical legal services.

Sincerely Yours

Elias Neocleous
Managing Partner

KLC Law Firm

 KLC Law Firm logo

Strong relationships, forward legal thinking, united team: from our perspective, these are the essential ingredients for efficient, high-performance organisations, for efficient, high-performance teams.

This year’s GC Powerlist for Greece and Cyprus, which KLC has the honour to sponsor for a second time in a row, fully supports and reflects the above statement. Legal teams featured in this year’s list have demonstrated the capacity and focus to add true value to their businesses. This is happening against a background of urgent challenges that Greece has to face in an ever-changing economic, political and social environment combined with landmark changes to certain material fields of legislation.

Just to mention a few:

• In the field of corporate law, recently adopted Law 4548/2018, which came into effect as of 01.01.2019, reformed Greek legislation regarding Greek Societes Anonymes and also incorporated the provisions regarding issue of bond loans previously included in Law 3156/2003; moreover, Law 4601/2019 introduced an integrated regulatory framework on companies’ transformations from a corporate law perspective;

• in the area of capital markets law, amendments have been introduced and will be further established by new Prospectus Regulation (EU) 2017/1129; in addition Law 4514/2018 incorporated MiFID IΙ Directive into the Greek legislation in January 2018 and also introduced certain amendments to Law 3461/2006 relating to takeover bids;
• the civil procedural landscape in Greece was drastically altered by Law 4335/2015, which introduced various amendments to the Greek Code of Civil Procedure enacted on 01 January 2016;

• the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR – 2016/679) directly applicable in all EU member-states since May 2018 poses additional challenges to in-house legal teams of companies that have to establish efficient mechanisms to ensure compliance with the new data protection framework.

Last but not least, significant changes throughout the regulatory framework of taxation continue – often unexpectedly and extraordinarily – due to the fiscal crisis which the country faces in recent years as well as the obligations undertaken as part of the bail out schemes and agreements signed with Greece’s creditors. Despite all such changes, tax legislation still remains largely fragmented and therefore expertise in tax law is still highly appreciated by owners and managers of all types of businesses.

Within the above changing legal framework, organisations do not only require their legal teams to have deep knowledge of legal provisions as in force from time-to-time, but they urge them to deliver solutions, simply and effectively. This presupposes that in-house legal teams understand the business, understand the risks, understand the objectives and visions and stay committed to them.

Moreover, at a time when boards are increasingly focused on managing legal spending, it is vital that in-house lawyers can identify the most cost-effective way to engage their external lawyers and establish strong, long-term relationships with them so as to consistently provide the business with the best commercially-aware legal advice.

In such a challenging environment KLC has been able to maintain and further develop existing, but also establish new, strong and long-lasting relationships with corporate clients and their legal teams. KLC continues to consistently support its corporate clients in all practice areas by providing commercially astute advice on contentious and non-contentious matters and contributing to the development of strategic decisions within the relative legal and regulatory frameworks. KLC’s competitive advantage is the specialisation of our highly qualified and experienced lawyers in various legal areas and at the same time the ability to combine our expertise from various fields and practices in order to provide comprehensive and business oriented legal services. Our devotion to client service by a well-bonded team of specialised professionals aim at meeting the expectations of our clientele and building a trusting and successful relationship.

Experience has taught us that delivering high quality services requires close collaboration with the colleagues who know our clients best, being a vital part of their organisation. Looking through this year’s Powerlist and reading – and in certain cases having first-hand knowledge – about the astonishing work done and excellent results achieved by those highly skilled and efficient colleagues, tells me we can continue to learn a lot from the modus operandi of the in-house legal teams.

Having said that, congratulations to all legal teams featured in this year’s list!

Jones Day Hong Kong Roundtable 2024

The Legal 500 was thrilled to join a selection of top Jones Day partners and a hand-picked group of 15 the most prominent GCs in Hong Kong for a freewheeling and no-holds-barred discussion on geopolitical risk management at a time of global transition. Steve Brogan, managing partner of Jones Day from 2002-2022 flew over to lend his considerable expertise to the discussion, as did Partner-in-Charge Hong Kong Joelle Lau. Joining them to give expert briefings on the topics of the day were partners Peter Wang, Dr Qiang Xue, James Fidler, Samuel Ngo and Charles Chau. The conversation moved from sanctions and counter sanctions, to the increasing pre-eminence of the Asian economy, to the philosophy of the rule of law in times of crisis.