Chrysses Demetriades & Co Law Office

Chrysses Demetriades & Co. LLC is one of the leading law firms in Cyprus and enjoys a very high reputation both locally and internationally. It is classified as a top tier firm by various international journals.

It is incorporated as a Cypriot Legal Services Company with Limited Liability (DEPE) and is wholly owned by the Chrysses Demetriades & Co. Partnership that comprises of 20 partners. The firm has been in operation since founded by the late Chrysses Demetriades in 1948, however it has in its course incorporated firms such as MM Houri and PL Cacoyiannis, spanning back to 1918. It operates from its headquarters in Limassol and a fully functional office in Nicosia. The firm employs approximately 50 lawyers. It is not an exaggeration to say that the firm is in one way or the other, involved in the vast majority of major projects taking place on the island.

We have further advised public bodies such as the Water Board of Limassol and various Cypriot Municipalities on various administrative and Labour law matters as well as offering the services of our partners in bodies such as CIPA and the Board of a Public University.

Areas of practice: The three main areas in which the firm operates are generally corporate and banking, litigation and shipping.

Within this scope we offer a full range of services to the Cypriot government, large local and foreign banks and corporations and high-net-worth individuals. Recently the firm was hired by the government to help draft the Insolvency and Examinership legislation as well as the Casino Legal Framework.

We have further advised public bodies such as the Water Board of Limassol and various Cypriot municipalities on various administrative and labour law matters as well as offering the services of our partners in bodies such as CIPA and the Board of a Public University.

Corporate and commercial: The firm has a large corporate, tax and commercial department.  It deals with a full range of complex company and corporate matters and provides integrated solutions for its clients, which are some of the largest public companies on the island, as well as many large multinational groups operating in or out of Cyprus. The unit provides advice and complete and integrated solutions to its entire client base (in Cyprus and abroad) on a wide range of complex corporate and commercial matters

Banking and corporate finance: Chrysses Demetriades & Co LLC has an exceptional track record in assisting clients in all aspects of finance work and guiding them through the industry’s ever-changing legal landscape. Our specialist banking lawyers are able to advise on the structuring, documentation and negotiation of all aspects of transactional work (including the taking and enforcement of security and the regulation of financial services).

The work undertaken by our banking and finance practice includes: acquisition finance, corporate restructuring and insolvency, general banking, project finance and trade finance

EU and competition: Our EU and competition team handles contentious and non-contentious competition law and EU law matters. The team includes specialised and experienced lawyers who have previously worked either as officials or have gained experience with DG Competition of the European Commission and other EU Commission DGs.

We have significant experience in dealing with all aspects of Cyprus and EU competition law across all industries and sectors including in relation to:

• Advice and advocacy in relation to investigations and hearings before the Cypriot Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) and European competition authorities on all aspects of anti-competitive behavior
• Preparing and handling merger control notifications before the CPC and the European Commission
• Preparation and handling of complaints before the CPC and the EU Commission for potential violations of EU and national Competition Law
• Appearing as advocates in proceedings before the Cypriot and EU courts against decisions of competition authorities and in actions for damages for competition violations.
• Providing advice in order to ensure effective compliance with national and European competition rules or other sectorial regulations
• Advice and assistance with state aid matters and complaints representation before the competition authorities in Cyprus (for both complainants and investigated entities)

Our EU and competition team also advises and acts in other specialist areas affected by EU law such as:

• Consumer protection and unfair commercial practices legislation through the provision of advice and defence in investigations and hearings before the Cypriot Consumer Protection Service
• Advising on EU internal market issues
• EU Russia Sanctions legislation through provision of advice and the handling of applications for licenses to the competent authorities
• Handling of infringement proceedings for violations of EU law before the European Commission for complainants or third parties
• Advocacy in proceedings before the Court of justice of the European Union including in actions for damages against the EU institutions
• Data protection through the provision of compliance advice and handling of investigations before the Cypriot Data Protection Commissioner
• European Environmental legislation such in relation to the Habitats Directive and related infringement proceedings before the EU Commission

Shipping and ship finance:  Chrysses Demetriades & Co. LLC. has a long and committed presence in the shipping industry. With an experienced team of lawyers and paralegal staff, and a long-term exposure to shipping, the firm provides comprehensive legal services on shipping, in a professional, reliable and cost-effective manner. The shipping department is committed to providing high standards of legal services to the firm’s global shipping clientele. It is committed to keeping pace with the constant changes in the shipping industry, while investing in highly qualified manpower. The location of the firm’s headquarters in Limassol, Cyprus, provides the firm with easy access to the country’s main port, and to the Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Shipping (the Cyprus Flag Administration) which is based in Limassol. This enables the Shipping Department to respond promptly to emergencies, and facilitates in the completion of shipping transactions and related closings.

The firm holds a wealth of information and know-how on shipping legislation and ship registration of different countries, which proves useful when advising on cross-border transactions. The firm has been highly active in shipping since 1963, and has been involved with the drafting and revising of all of Cyprus shipping laws since then, and most recently Cyprus’ tonnage tax and piracy laws. It is often called upon to provide advice to foreign maritime authorities and professional bodies.

The ship finance section of the shipping and ship finance department of the firm represents most of the world’s largest banks, and other financial institutions, which are involved in the financing of ships, and multi-jurisdiction fleet of ships, advising them on the intricacies of finance transactions where Cyprus law, or a Cyprus flag vessel is involved. On a regular basis, it acts on behalf of a number of leading financing banks and financial institutions and major shipowners and ship managers world-wide.

Litigation and dispute resolution: Chrysses Demetriades & Co. LLC has the leading commercial litigation practice in Cyprus, representing clients involved in a wide range of complex national and international commercial disputes.

The firm has a distinguished alternative dispute resolution and international arbitration practice. In all matters, the firm’s practice is committed to providing clients with a swift and practical service that is focused on achieving our client’s objective in a cost-effective manner.

The department acts for a number of public authorities advising them on the extent of their powers and judicial review. Lawyers of the litigation department appear regularly before the Cyprus Supreme Court on behalf of applicants and respondents in judicial review actions.

Company formation and administration: The firm offers, through an affiliate, licensed by the Cyprus Bar Association, administrative and corporate services, such as company formation, secretarial, book keeping and relevant services, as well as immigration and naturalization services. The services are offered with the highest standards of compliance with the relevant legislation and international transparency standards. The unit registers companies in Cyprus and foreign jurisdictions. The unit is sufficiently manned by experienced lawyers, accountants and professional support staff which allows all corporate management and administration needs to be taken care of.

Corporate and commercial
Tier 1: Our firm has vast experience in the field of corporate acquisitions, re-organizations and mergers with a strong presence in the local market. Some of the notable projects that we have recently worked on include the deal regarding the previous privatization of the Cyprus Development Bank and the commercialisation of Limassol Port and the sale and purchase of a number of major corporations/ businesses located in Cyprus or abroad (but with a Cyprus element), including but not limited to, the sale of a interests in several hotels in Cyprus and Greece, the sale of a large property fund with assets in Cyprus, the sale of a major insurance company, the joint venture between two leading consumer electronics retailers etc. Moreover, we have advised various players in reorganization and restructurings relevant to the shipping industry, with our most noteworthy project being the successful merger of Columbia Shipmanagement Limited and Marlow Navigation Company Limited which resulted in the creation of one of the world’s largest shipmanagement companies whereby we were the legal advisors of both parties. In addition to that we have advised on the merger of Deep Sea Supply with Solstad Offshore and Farstad Shipping, becoming Solstad Farstad.

The department constantly caters to the commercial needs of our clients in tailor made day to day advice related to each client’s business. This includes drafting of contracts such as hotel management contracts, complex trading agreements, shareholder’s agreements, online trading terms and conditions, contracts for the acquisition of loan portfolios, establishment of investment structures and vehicles etc. In this part of our commercial practice we have recently advised a fund manager in setting us an investment structure in Cyprus under which it has raised in excess of €150m to invest in various real estate project in Europe. In addition, we have assisted a promising start-up company in creating the documentation required for its online trading/ marketing platform. Most recently we have advised a London based fund in connection with the acquisition of an on-shore wind farm facility in Cyprus.

In addition, the department offers a wide range of legal advice to our retained clients operating in the fields of banking, insurance, investment holdings and advisory, trading, renewable energy, and manufacturing. Such advice ranges from regulatory, compliance to industry specific legal matters.

Finally, this department would take over any legal matter that relates to the inception of a business project to its realization and would also cater to our high-net-worth individual client needs.
Leading individuals
Chris Georghiades: [email protected]
Agis Agapiou: [email protected]
Demosthenes Mavrellis:  [email protected]
Michaela Hadjihambi: [email protected]

Banking and finance: Our banking and finance practice has consistently been hired by the leading local bank (Bank of Cyprus) and other financial institutions to advise on restructuring (Limassol Marina Limited), acquisition finance, debt for asset swaps (Lanitis Group) and other more complex financial transactions. It has been engaged in the most high profile Cypriot restructuring transactions following the 2013 banking crisis, advising banks and very large corporates (Leptos Group).

Over the years it has been known for developing quasi security structures through the use of corporate law techniques, tailor made for client needs, where simple enforcement of share pledges and share charges would not be desirable for various considerations. This innovative structure sets the firm apart and makes it popular with clients. Such structures were especially introduced in instances where the underlying assets were Indian shares, subject to various restrictions. (Advising the lenders of Advent International plc, as financial sponsor, on India’s first synthetic INR-denominated margin loan).

Most recently we have seen great activity in the Greek debt market, signifying the re-emergence of foreign direct investment into Greece following the protracted crisis. Following successful structures where Cypriot companies were used as holding vehicles for Greek debt issuers, we are seeing more and more interest for these cross border structures and would like to focus our practice to better serve Greek banks (Piraeus, Alfa Bank) and funds (Fortress) investing in Greece.

Moreover, we have advised Morgan Stanley as underwriters to the Headhunter Group Plc, which successfully floated in Nasdaq this year.

The office has recently advised a Steering Committee of Lenders on the $1.2bn debt restructuring of the leading producer of steel pipes in Europe.

Our firm prides itself in finding solutions to complex situations, due to the in depth understanding of Cypriot and international corporate law, resulting from the collective experience of the partners, who are very driven and focused.
Leading individuals
Demosthenes Mavrellis: [email protected]
Chrysses Demetriades:  [email protected]
Michaela Hadjihambi:  [email protected]
Constantinos Mavrellis:  [email protected]
Charis Agapiou: [email protected]

Dispute resolution: The dispute resolution practice of Chrysses Demetriades & Co.LLC is one of the largest in Cyprus and our members represent parties in a large number of high profile and complex court and arbitration cases spanning from high value corporate and commercial litigation to criminal and regulatory investigations.

We have notable expertise in corporate and commercial disputes, often with an international dimension, where we have achieved some of the highest value judgments ever awarded by the Cypriot courts. In international disputes we regularly cooperate with leading international law firms and London based barristers.  Our relevant experience covers civil fraud cases, disputes involving HNWI, obtaining and resisting freezing and disclosure orders, jurisdictional challenges and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards.

We have amongst others recently been involved in several high profile civil and criminal cases relating to the Cypriot Banking crisis and in several commercial and shareholders’ disputes concerning Cypriot companies holding valuable assets. We are also regularly involved in high value divorce and family law disputes.

We also handle administrative recourses concerning, amongst others, the tax treatment of several contracting and developing companies, town planning issues, licensing and subsidizing of renewable energy projects and public procurement, as well as civil cases against public authorities with respect to compulsory acquisitions, damage caused by town planning decisions, damage caused by administrative decisions that have been successfully challenged and more.

Our firm is also continuously instructed by some of the largest Cypriot banks in debt recovery cases in particular relating to corporate high value loans.
Leading individuals
Demetris Araouzos: [email protected]
Katia Kakoulli: [email protected]
Yiannis Christodoulou: [email protected]
Thomas Christodoulou: [email protected]
Polyvios Panayides: [email protected]
Charis Agapiou: [email protected]

EU and competition: Our EU and competition team has significant experience in handling contentious and non-contentious competition law and EU law matters. The team includes specialised and experienced lawyers who have previously worked either as officials or have gained experience with DG Competition of the European Commission and other EU Commission DGs.

Most notably we have experience in dealing with all aspects of Cyprus and EU competition law across all industries and sectors including in relation to:

• Advice and advocacy in relation to investigations and hearings before the Cypriot Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) and European competition authorities on all aspects of anti-competitive behavior
• Preparing and handling merger control notifications before the CPC and the European Commission
• Preparation and handling of complaints before the CPC and the EU Commission for potential violations of EU and national competition law
• Appearing as advocates in proceedings before the Cypriot and EU courts against decisions of competition authorities and in actions for damages for competition violations.
• Advice and assistance with state aid matters and complaints representation before the competition authorities in Cyprus (for both complainants and investigated entities)

Our EU and competition team also advises and acts in other specialist areas affected by EU law such as:

• Consumer protection and unfair commercial practices legislation
• Advising on EU Internal market issues
• EU Russia Sanctions legislation
• Handling of Infringement Proceedings for violations of EU law before the European Commission
• Data Protection through the provision of compliance advice and handling of investigations before the Cypriot Data Protection Commissioner
• European Environmental legislation

Leading individuals
Polyvios Panayides: [email protected]

Shipping and ship finance: Our clientele comprises of some of the world’s largest ship owning and ship management companies, advising them on a wide range of issues. The firm currently represents ship owners who control, approximately, 60% of the Cyprus merchant fleet.

It also represents most of the world’s largest banks, and other financial institutions, which are involved in the financing of ships, and multi-jurisdiction fleet of ships, advising them on the intricacies of finance transactions where Cyprus law, or a Cyprus flag vessel is involved.
Leading individuals
Michael McBride: [email protected]
Marion Madella: [email protected]