About

With ultimate responsibility for a large legal team worldwide, chief legal officer of a global consumer finance institution Home Credit Group, Pavel Rozehnal is one of the most high-profile lawyers in the Czech Republic and across Central Eastern Europe. As such, he has a long list of successes when choosing particular career highlights. However, he picks out the following: ‘I would say the acquisition of a bank in Kazakhstan in the second year of my career was very important, as I learned the difference between external and in-house counsel; money really matters and you have to take financial aspects of the deal into account when in-house. Also, in 2010- 11 I did a complete divestment sale in Ukraine of two banks which was a huge task that resulted in a lot of sleepless nights. Finally, in 2017 I was involved in the establishment and negotiation of a strategic partnership with PAG Asia Capital, one of Asia’s largest private equity firms, with the aim of supporting the long-term development of Home Credit’s business, especially in China, which was believed to be almost impossible given the complexity of deal structure’. As for what general rules he has learned for practicing as a senior in-house counsel effectively, given his immense experience at such a high profile organisation, Rozehnal believes one should be in control at all times. ‘If I was to give advice to an up-and-coming in-house lawyer’, he outlines, ‘I would tell them that they must understand numbers. It really matters to understand the economics of the business, as without this you cannot be a good lawyer. On top of this: please listen and don’t overreact. All matters that end up on the table have solutions, so you can’t afford to panic. Take a deep breath and consider your options in order to find a solution’.