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

One of the biggest challenges that has impacted me over the past year was economic and financial regulations subject to economic policies and inflation in Turkey and all around the world. Foreign exchange regulations and regulatory compliance to protect value of the Turkish currency and restrict utilising foreign currency loans made a big impact on the foreign exchange market which my company also takes part in, therefore such legislative changes required the extensive involvement of the legal department to interpret, evaluate and find solutions to nearly all cases. Being part of a legal team of an international organisation, and especially as I also focus on financial law, changes in financial or economic regulations played an important role in our action plan last year. In this respect, legal team members have worked to formulate effective monitoring and control systems to mitigate the challenges on commercial matters, which may be arisen from Turkish foreign exchange legislation, as well as global economic challenges.

In your opinion, what areas should in-house lawyers focus on over the next few years to prove value to their organisations in Türkiye?

Interest in ESG factors and sustainability performance have grown exponentially and this is an opportunity for both business and in-house lawyers to prove their value. On the other hand, inclusion and diversity has become one the fastest growing areas of focus for organisations. Green finance is another area where lawyers can add value by structuring green funds and sustainability-linked loans to create new forms of impact in finance industry. Therefore, in-house lawyers may also give priority finding effective solutions for sustainable and green finance implementations by considering regulatory needs on over the next few years.

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?

As SOCAR Turkey group, it is part of our culture to support innovations and practical implementations to cultivate the innovative mindset including legal innovation which is often associated with technology. In this respect, we have activated an online program of automation of the litigation and enforcement follow-up application to facilitate the follow-up of litigation and enforcement proceedings for whole group. The purpose of this automation program is to carry out all legal actions related to litigation and enforcement proceedings through the program, to ensure healthy communication with outsource legal consultants and to make a successful archiving. While these efforts have provided efficiency in terms of team works, they enabled the development of corporate memory and simplification of processes.