About

Only incorporated in 2012, Odeabank has had a meteoric rise and is now ranked eighth amongst the private banks in Turkey in terms of deposit size and ninth in terms of total assets. This rapid growth meant that the legal department, led by team director Elif Şen, has had to evolve and adjust to the changes in the business environment on a constant basis. The expanding field of activities of Odeabank further pushed the legal team of 18 members to improve and develop legal expertise in new areas, whilst maintaining the integrity and cohesion within the department. Through a combination of creative legal thinking, deep analysis and pushing the boundaries of the existing regulations the team supports the other internal departments of the bank while they develop and pioneer innovative banking and finance products. As the bank’s branch portfolio has increased from five to 55 in just four years, Şen says ‘in order to serve the needs of the branches and our broad range of customers, we had to develop an internal system which we built upon the legal documents and procedures we prepared from point zero, consistently evolving internal know-how, creating networks with local and internationally leading law firms as well as efficient team work’. Providing innovative, fast, accurate advice and solutions involving multiple jurisdictions is a hallmark of the team as it has earned the respect of the business. ‘Our legal department advises the branches, the departments at the general headquarters as well as the high level management on various legal issues, including corporate governance matters as applicable to our bank that has a 100% percent foreign owned capital’, explains Şen.