Team size: Seven

First, can you please give us an idea of the sort of work your team has done recently?

2021 provided an even more challenging and changing world for the team even when compared to the one created by the crises of 2020. This is because the legal team experienced another fundamental change over the last year.

AgeSA is a joint venture company; two strong groups, Sabanci Holding and Aviva, established the company in 2007. However, Aviva changed their strategy in continental Europe, and decided to focus on the markets of the UK, Ireland and Canada. Therefore, Aviva sold AgeSA shares (previously called AvivaSA) to Ageas Insurance International, a Belgian insurance group.

Ownership transfer requires vast legal work, including due diligence, transitions, structural changes, public announcements, multiple of regulatory approvals and other complex consideration. The legal team is ideally placed to complete all these bureaucratic procedures in a timely and accurate manner. In addition to that, we provided legal support and consultancy to both previous and current shareholders regarding insurance and private pension law.

The second leg of the share transfer was brand migration; from AvivaSA to AgeSA. Brand migration is quite a complex and detailed project. The company’s name written almost everywhere, and millions of customers know the company by the AvivaSA name. We therefore followed a very carefully planned and considered project plan to change the name. Thankfully, this project is now almost completed as well.

Which recent political, economic or regulatory changes have impacted the company and the team the most?

Uncertainties in the Turkish economy, and concerns regarding the practices of the Central Bank caused an unprecedented rise in exchange rates from  September. The United States Dollar went up 100 per cent against the Turkish Lira and reached 18 Lira to one US Dollar, and finally it levelled off in the second half of December and stood around 11-13 band for one US Dollar.

The legal team was very busy with the foreign exchange related contracts; this sudden and catastrophic jump could create great risks for the company and the supply chains. Although there was an increase in demand from our customers who bought foreign currency-based insurance products, the contentment of both our customers and business units was ensured by providing detailed and rapid legal opinions related to these demands.

Inflation was another problem,  both for employees and the company. The cost of living is getting higher, which affected the motivation of the employees. Thanks to AgeSA, we enjoyed a salary rise, which was quite above the inflation rates.

This year, the interest of regulatory authority in the insurance and private pension sector also intensified. With this interest, the settlement of the organisational structure of the regulatory authority led to intense legal regulations in this sector.