Team size: 27

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

Being in the employment of an institution that has had its share of crises in the near past, it has been a priority to capitalise on lessons learned and establish a structured approach to managing legal aspects during such periods. Firstly, legal risks are assessed, then a response plan addressing such risks is formulated and implemented by the legal team in collaboration with the management team. The plan includes regulatory and legislative compliance, engagement with stakeholders, communication strategy, accurate record keeping of all decisions and actions taken both for defending potential litigation and for the lessons learned exercise. Engagement with Management and participation of general counsel in strategy meetings throughout the process is essential, not only in terms of alerting and protecting Management against legal risks, but also in terms of ensuring that business continuity plans are legally robust and at the same time adaptable to evolving regulatory requirements or anticipated legal risks.

What measures has your company taken to embed sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how does the role of the general counsel contribute to driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the company?

The company has in place an ESG strategy aimed at leading to a sustainable future. Measures that have been taken include, not exhaustively, incorporation of ESG and climate factors into the company’s loan pricing framework and corporate bond investment strategy, ongoing staff training and internal communication campaigns to enhance risk control culture, increase environmental awareness, improve efficiency and performance and reduce resource consumption, formulation and implementation of a digital transformation policy, setting up of an ESG working group to support the ESG plan implementation and a sustainability committee to oversee this. The board of directors carries out the ultimate oversight of the institution’s ESG agenda – the recent appointment of an ESG champion on the board is evidence of the focus placed in this respect. Furthermore, the institution adopts targeted development actions and programs to prepare the next generation of leaders and executives.

The role of the general counsel in driving and ensuring sustainable practices within the institution comprises of legal advice and guidance to ensure compliance with environmental laws and regulations, amendment of documentation to include sustainability clauses and support the offering of green lending, the updating of internal policies and procedures to incorporate environmental criteria, and the extension of legal support for the promotion of sustainability initiatives across the board.

In your opinion, what are the main trends that are salient in your country currently?

The local geopolitical risk remains heightened as the Israel-Gaza war continues, with the potential of further escalation following the involvement of Yemen and Lebanon. Despite this, Cyprus economy has proven to be resilient especially in the tourism sector with tourist arrivals in 2024 exceeding in numbers the corresponding period of 2023. Digital and green transitions remain key challenges in the medium term. Surging energy costs have been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine impacting both consumers and businesses, with the government taking measures to mitigate the consequences. In the banking sector, significant restructurings are taking place with banks reducing their foreign exposures and balance sheets substantially, raising their capital buffers, and restructuring and focusing their operations domestically. The new legal framework for private debt, including the sale of loans, has also helped reduce non-performing loans.