Team size: Six

What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

The major challenge we faced and reacted to over the past year was the Russia-Ukraine war, which brought about a wave of sanctions and challenges to the legal function.

Metalor is a precious metal company with a strong international presence, having manufacturing facilities in 15 countries around the world. A key area of its business is the provision of refining and trading services of all kinds of precious metals. Because of this activity, we are regarded as a financial intermediary, subject to the Swiss supervisory authority of the financial market. Metalor also has a very close relationship with the banking and financial markets, on the basis of gold and Platinum Group Metals (PGM)

In this context, the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022, and the response of western countries and industry associations – namely the LBMA and LPPM – culminated in a tide of increasing sanctions, export controls, trade restrictions and prohibitions against the sourcing of precious metals from Russia as well as the provision of certain corporate services. This situation that still prevails today, has required unprecedented effort by legal and compliance functions to provide guidance and advice to the organisation about unclear rules and regulations.

However, some of these restrictive measures were as a result of negotiated political positions, and instead of a comprehensive ban on dealings with Russia, its government, and residents, the measures took a fragmented approach to target some sectors of the Russian economy and spare others. Consequently, they were complex to implement.

Furthermore, precious metals always find their way to the markets, either directly or indirectly. Hence, the legal team had to be alert to the new presence of presumably laundered precious metals- which have been appearing at an unprecedented pace, with the clear goal of circumventing the new legal framework.

This challenge required several quick actions and processes to tackle the situation. Firstly, we established a very close follow-up system on the latest regulatory developments that was carried out daily by the legal team. We also stayed in close contact with the business and treasury function to share information and provide guidance. Finally, the legal team gave clear instructions to the organisation regarding the prior validation by the management of any business that could potentially impacted by the new rules, either directly or indirectly. Most importantly, we operated with the primary aim of ensuring Metalor’s values remained uncompromised.

All the above was mostly accomplished by working remotely with an extensive use of the available technology – primarily video conference tools – and the same legal and compliance resources, without using external assistance.

What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry?

I would say that in-depth knowledge of the business is an indisputable requirement, particularly because it is a regulated industry with strong ties to the financial market. It is necessary to be business-oriented, with the ability to detect and prevent risk. This industry is constantly exposed to stakeholder scrutiny and reputational risk. These qualities are of utmost importance.