Piotr Bielarczyk – GC Powerlist
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Central and Eastern Europe 2019

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Piotr Bielarczyk

Managing director of legal and operational division, general counsel | Bank Ochrony Srodowiska

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Central and Eastern Europe 2019

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Piotr Bielarczyk

Managing director of legal and operational division, general counsel | Bank Ochrony Srodowiska

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About

What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years?

Three significant transactions include successfully renegotiating the leasing agreement for the Bank’s head office building, which resulted in a significant improvement of the agreement terms and conditions. Effectively implemented within a
brief timespan, the following significant regulations on the functioning of banks: MIFID II, PSD2, GDPR, NPLs, STIR, PAD, Split Payment, EBA guidelines, AML IV. I also represented the Bank in proceedings before the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, Personal Data Protection Office and the General Inspector of Financial Information.

What changes have you made to the workings of the legal department during your time in your current role? How has that affected the wider company?

Selected changes to the functioning of the legal department including the department’s recognition of cases shorter by 70%, overheads lower by 40% year on year and the introduction of an electronic case management system, boosting the effectiveness of case management and enabling effective (time and cost) supervision of each case. We have also introduced KPIs for legal counsels, effectively managed litigations regarding CHF loans, and prepared the concept and implemented a fast track for issuing opinions on loan applications by the Bank’s legal counsels. As a result, the opinion issuing time dropped from five to two working days on average.

These actions resulted in a significant change in the perception of the legal department. Before the department was seen solely as a reviewer of other units’ concepts, pointing to risks but not promoting solutions. Now, as reflected in internal surveys, the legal department is perceived as
a partner to business units, jointly seeking
solutions.

What do you do personally to promote diversity and inclusion in your company? In your team?

I care for balance between women and men taking up managerial positions. I have introduced a principle that any of my subordinate employees (120 people) who feels discriminated against, for any reason, may contact me personally, skipping their direct superiors.

If you had to give advice to an aspiring in-house lawyer or GC what would it be and why?

I advise them to remember three principles from the very first day at work. First, the role of a lawyer, though very significant, involves serving the business and the organisation, so one must remember we work for our internal clients, they do not work for us.

Second, know the expectations of your internal client, particularly, of the president and of the management board members – make sure you comply with them, obviously within the boundaries of the law.

Last but not least, the internal client expects solutions, pragmaticism, and expects the lawyer to be co-responsible for the business. Here, being an observer is not a desired approach. The desired one is to be involved.

What do you feel are the pros and cons of an in-house legal role compared to a private practice
one?

An outstanding advantage of being an in-house lawyer is to be able to directly contribute to corporate operations and see, from the inside, how the lawyer’s work translates into the company’s functioning. Here you may understand company needs much better than in a private practice.

The downside is a potential lack of independence, though mature corporations do make sure their in-house counsels’ independence is guaranteed.


FOCUS ON… EVOLUTION OF THE GC

Recent times in the banking sector and legal
service market in Poland have been very interesting. Banks needed to implement major regulations time and time again – within two years MIFID II, PSD2, GDPR, NPLs, STIR, PAD, Split Payment, EBA guidelines and AML IV have all been implemented. Now, after the ECJ’s ruling on Swiss franc loans, we are facing new challenges carrying the risk of multiple litigations from our customers. The in-house legal profession is now undergoing a faster evolution and we must look at the big picture. Today, the lawyer’s job is not just to read contracts and handle ad-hoc legal issues. In the past, all you needed to do was to pull the handbrake at the right moment, when the legal risk grew too high. Today, a legal counsel must have knowledge of economics, must look far ahead, have a long-term perspective, and like never before, must continuously track EU regulations – in order to give the organisation enough time to prepare for the new regulations. All of this is the responsibility of the head of legal.

The role today embraces being a manager, working close to the management board and involvement in key corporate processes. Though usually you have an entire team of people at your disposal, personal responsibility is enormous, both for supporting the board, but also for the entire organisation.

The market of legal services is evolving as well. With the number of regulations growing fast, specialisation becomes more and more vital. Although the market is still dominated by big international brands, specialised boutique law firms are becoming stronger players. You need to know the market well to choose a lawyer wisely, both in terms of expertise and costs. Some time ago, all you needed to do was to select a panel of several firms. Today, for an individual case you might want to hire a specific counsel, as he or she may boast greater expertise than an international legal corporation. As for fees, hourly rates are frequently replaced with caps or microbudgets, though internally they are still rate-based.

Also, in a relationship between a bank and a law firm, cooperation is expected to mutually support the other partner’s business. The firm recommends the bank’s financial services to its clients and also handles the transaction. In this way, everyone wins; the bank, the client and the law firm. This is why, when I meet representatives of a law firm that wants to cooperate with my bank, I explain that I see our potential cooperation as a partnership and ask the firm’s representatives what clients they can bring to our bank. Regrettably, some firms are still focused only on taking, not giving, but more and more others understand that the philosophy of operations needs to be changed.

Summing up, Poland is still learning the new perception of the head of legal – who is a manager, a strategist and a visionary. This role is becoming more executive now. In the time of changing and accelerating economy, we – in-house lawyers, together with our management boards, are starting a new, fascinating adventure.

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