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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 months. Now, it is a catch-all risk management team with IT and audit personnel attached, to ‘create a first-class team responsible for protecting the company and promoting sustainable business practices’ as Kyriakou puts it. He also discussed some of the major projects he and the new risk management team have been involved with currently and in recent months: ‘The coming into force of the EU General Data Protection Regulation has been one of the most challenging cases for 2018. It required bringing together diverse teams from across the company; most importantly it involved transferring legal knowledge to non-legal staff who are also often required to act as compliance gatekeepers. For 2019 the most significant case will be the introduction of a series of corporate policies falling under the French Sapin 2 law, as our company is a member of the French Group Adeo. This is the French equivalent of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’. The team can rely on an extremely close working relationship with the company to aid it in this and other projects. ‘The team is fully integrated in the corporate culture or ethos. It is regarded as a valued business partner promoting business and not as a hindering factor’, Kyriakou explains.