Event Report

The Legal 500 partnered with Chrysostomides, Elias Neocleous & Co and Harris Kyriakides to host the inaugural GC Summit: Cyprus in Nicosia on 20^th February 2020.

As always, The Legal 500’s principal goal is to bring the legal community together to discuss burning issues, share experiences and learn from each other in order to push their own performance to the next level. The GC Summit event series builds upon The Legal 500’s unmatched network of in-house legal leaders in order to produce events which bring together the finest legal minds around the world to share experiences, insights and strategies with their contemporaries. It is in this spirit and in continuance of this tradition that the GC Summit: Cyprus was organised.

The challenges and opportunities facing the modern in-house legal practitioner in Cyprus – and further afield – were dissected and examined in detail in front of an audience of approximately 90 people over the course of four in-depth panel discussions followed by relaxed networking at Nicosia’s Landmark Hotel. The event proved a hit with contributors and guests alike, including Cyprus Mail which covered the day’s discussions, and was heavily over-subscribed as illustrated by attendance figures which smashed pre- event forecasts.

The first of the event’s panel discussions was hosted by Harris Kyriakides and saw the future of alternative dispute resolution discussed in light of the new civil procedure rules of Cyprus. The panel was moderated by Harris Kyriakides partner Nicolas Kyriakides who brought his long academic and professional experience to bear on a subject which he has written on in the past and knows intimately. He headed a well-balanced panel featuring contributors from the private practice, in-house legal and academic worlds: fellow partner Michael Kyriakides, Kendris’s Sara Gunnervik and the University of Nicosia’s Dr Anna Plevri respectively. The conversation compared the English experience with alternative dispute resolution following the introduction of civil procedure rules before moving on to discuss how dispute resolution clauses could be designed for use in Cyprus. From there, Dr Anna Plevri presented on alternative dispute resolution legislation frameworks in Cyprus and Greece before Sara Gunnervik spoke about arbitration in Cyprus from a business point of view.

Chrysostomides hosted the second panel, which was moderated by firm partners Anna Rossides and George Ioannou. They, along with Yiannis Gavrielides of Covve and Lior Oren of Israeli firm Ben-Nathan, Toledano & Co spoke on the topic of corporate restructuring and what these procedures mean for in-house lawyers and for the practice of law in Cyprus and beyond. Panellists exchanged their practical insights as to how to go about achieving a favourable result when tackling this detailed and challenging operation, giving audience members the benefit of their experience in order for them to fine-tune their own understanding of this complex procedure.

The third panel was hosted by Elias Neocleous & Co and moderated by firm legal counsel Michael Pelosi. Fellow firm partner Andrea Kallis Parparinou joined him on the stage to discuss how the new reality of negative interest rates will affect Cyprus’s business community. Providing their contributions to this engaging panel topic was a roster of contributors of unparalleled experience and insight; Leslie G Manison spent 19 years at the International Monetary Fund before working as an advisor to ministers in the Cyprus Ministry of Finance while Antonis Houry has been a key player at Eurobank Cyprus since 2011. As well as covering the subject from a number of intuitive angles, the panel used illustrative examples in order to bring the subject to light, including when warning against the unsustainable and illegal businesses that can become more prevalent in this investment environment.

Rounding off the day’s events was the fourth and final panel, hosted by Chrysostomides and moderated by the firm’s co-managing partner George Mountis. Hellenic Petroleum Group’s Dorina Papadimitriou was joined by One Essex Court barrister Marcos Dracos on the stage, while The 36 Group barrister John Yianni joined the group electronically via video link. The panel started by discussing jurisdictional clauses, providing the audience with an analytical discussion on how these may come into play for businesses exposed to the United Kingdom market given the current transitional period of negotiations relating to its exiting the European Union, before moving on to a more general discussion of the matter.

Each of the aforementioned panel discussions were supplemented by an engaged and involved audience, who sent through questions to our panellists making for healthy comment and debate on what was a lively and interactive morning that provided real, practical insights to attendees.

The Legal 500 would like to thank all those who attended as well as our partners for this event: Chrysostomides, Elias Neocleous & Co and Harris Kyriakides. A special thanks goes to the expert moderators and panellists, whose contributions and insights made the event a valuable experience for all attendees.

You read a write-up of the GC Summit Cyprus 2020 in an article published by Cyprus Mail here.

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