Team size:  15  

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense? 

The YNV Group is a group of companies with over 75 legal entities across the globe consisting of five different business lines, spanning from specialised technical services and support to digital skilling, cybersecurity, microlending and real estate and hospitality, each with a separate corporate structure. 

From monitoring corporate compliance to contract drafting, negotiation and contract compliance, and monitoring the performance of the legal team, we have set up a legal operations department which through automation solutions, have the ability to provide real time reporting to the legal team and various stakeholders around each area of interest and enable course corrective actions without resorting to the deployment of external technical solutions. 

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in? 

Innovation and entrepreneurship lie at the heart of everything we do, as a core element to our DNA and philosophy. Every six months, the YNV global legal team as a business enablement function, partners with our business leaders across our brands to enable the launch of completely new business lines or expand our existing business in completely new jurisdictions. 

From assisting our Elev8 brand to launch the first Center of Excellence in Qatar for mass digital skilling with the appropriate contractual and legal framework, to setting up the corporate and legal framework for two new brands and business lines (Cytek and Smart Factoring) which are all now live services, to acquiring premium real estate properties and hotels in Costa Rica, Greece and Bulgaria, the YNV legal team, which I have the pleasure of running as a group chief legal officer is providing top notch legal support to ensure our business leaders achieve their growth goals in a legally risk averse and safe manner.   

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this? 

The YNV Group has three core value that run deep in each brand within the group and in all business enablement functions, such as the legal team. We consistently apply these values in all interactions with our employees, clients, and suppliers alike to ensure we all share the same northern star when working together. 

We have a rigorous procurement process which scrutinises any supplier – including our external counsel, for their compliance with our policies and values, and do annual checks to ensure that our suppliers continue to live our values for as long as we do work together. Thus, external counsel sharing our values, and continuing to share them is a basic criterion for our choice to work with them.