| RSA
RSA
Lead counsel | BC Energy
Legal manager | Reckitt Hygiene Comercial
Lead legal counsel | Pegasus Airlines
| RSA Insurance Ireland DAC (RSA)
General counsel | Woolworths Group
Legal counsel | Pegasus Airlines
Country head of legal | Amgen
How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners? An in-house lawyer who adds real value to the business is one who is not only a legal...
| Citibank Europe – Sucursal em Portugal
Citibank in Portugal has been established for over 33 years, hosting corporate and investment banking, a markets business and Sagres, a special purpose entity that undertakes securitisation transactions, in particular...
| Yörsan
With a long history in the production of pasteurised milk, yoghurt, and a variety of cheeses including regional, international and spreadable varieties and Ayran drinks, Yörsan is a major dairy...
| CarrefourSA
Since being featured in the inaugural GC Powerlist: Turkey Teams in 2016, the in-house legal team at CarrefourSA has continued to excel in providing business-critical legal advice. CarrefourSA is a...
| Borsa İstanbul
Borsa İstanbul is the sole exchange entity of Turkey, combining the former Istanbul Stock Exchange, the Istanbul Gold Exchange and the Derivatives Exchange of Turkey. The legal team at Borsa...
| Yörsan
The legal function at market leading Turkish manufacturer and distributor of high quality dairy products Yörsan was established in 1964 and was acquired by Abraaj Group in 2014. Led by...
| CarrefourSA
Led by head of legal, Tugce Karagozlu, the legal team at CarrefourSA, a Turkish joint venture between Europe’s largest retailer, Carrefour, and Turkey’s largest industrial and financial conglomerate, Sabancı Holding,...
| Grupo Financiero Inbursa
Owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, Grupo Financiero Inbursa is a Mexican financial company that has over $1bn in annual revenue. Raúl Zepeda Ruiz, general director of legal and institutional...
| Marsa Maroc
Marsa Maroc is the top Moroccan logistics company operating port terminals in North Africa. It operates nine terminals and oversaw the passage of 36.6 million tonnes of freight in 2016....
| NBCUniversal China
NBCUniversal is a world leading media and entertainment company involved in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. Lee-Peng Chow serves as the...
| Borsa Italiana
Based in Milan, Borsa Italiana is Italy’s only stock exchange. Following a merger in October 2007, it is currently a subsidiary of London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). Formed by talented...
| Versace
Premium Italian fashion brand Versace has been a staple part of the industry since its formation in 1978. Versace’s legal team has built their reputation as a strong department, integral...
| Inversiones y Representaciones (IRSA)
Inversiones y Representaciones (IRSA) is Argentina’s largest real estate developer, and the only company in its class that trades on the Buenos Aires Stock Market. It relies on a top-quality...
| ENARSA
State-owned firm ENARSA Argentina is engaged in the exploitation, production, industrialisation, transport and trade of petroleum, natural gas and electricity. The company’s legal team is led by legal manager Julia...
Charlotte Heiss, GC of insurance giant RSA, is no stranger to the GC Powerlist, having been named as a Rising Star in the 2014 edition. This year her legal team is highlighted after a standout performance. The function consists of a small head-office team of two lawyers, both of whom have an ‘incredibly broad role’. There is a five-strong team of company secretary staff, in addition to regional GCs in Canada, Scandinavia, the UK and the Middle East, all of whom have a team underneath them. Despite the small size of the head office team, it played a significant part in one of RSA’s most important pieces of work in 2017. Senior legal counsel Yvonne Lee, who has since left to join Slaughter and May as senior counsel, supported Heiss on the issue of two floatingrate restricted tier-one notes of around £300m in aggregate size. Slaughters capital markets partner Guy O’Keefe advised RSA on the mandate. He comments: ‘Charlotte Heiss is a very impressive GC and very good to work with. I have been involved in several transactions where her advice has been much needed. She is a very good advisory GC to the board too.’ O’Keefe also praised RSA’s head of legal for the UK and international business, Jonathan Cope, describing him as ‘a very good transactional lawyer’. Of the team as a whole, O’Keefe says: ‘It might be a small team, but it rightfully has a strong reputation.’ This supports Heiss’s assessment of her own group: ‘It’s a conscious decision to have such a small team. We are a business that is undergoing transformation and my team is regarded as best in class. People have fewer roles but are focused on what’s important for the business. We can attract and retain really high-quality people.’ Another major transaction for RSA came at the beginning of 2017, when it disposed of £834m of UK legacy liabilities to the Enstar Group. Heiss led on that deal again, supported by Cope. She regards this work as some of the most substantial handled last year, describing it as ‘an ongoing process.’ While not a dedicated head of legal operations, Peter Townsend, RSA’s head of financial crime, deals with a lot of that type of work. Reporting on a dottedline basis to Heiss, Townsend is spending half his time making sure RSA will be GDPR-compliant. ‘GDPR is taking a lot of work, but we are confident we will get there before May,’ Heiss says.
