The role of Internal investigations in an effective compliance program remains critical despite the significant impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and resulting work-from-home set-ups. Altug Ozgun, Ethics & Compliance Director, explains how he runs them for Astellas Pharma.

John Giannakakis, General Counsel of the Andromeda Group, shares his insights on data protection and cybersecurity compliance issues – made all the more pressing in a COVID-19 context – and the best practices he has developed for assessing risks and nurturing a compliance culture.

Marianna Erdei, Country Legal Director at EY Hungary, shares the unique challenges of managing the legal matters of a professional services company – with a legal services arm.

The MET Group is targeting EUR 1 billion in M&A deals over the next few years. Dora Szebeni, Group Head of Legal M&A, explains what it means to oversee a series of high-value transactions.

Crenguta Catanea, Head of Legal at Romprest, draws from her in-house and consultancy experience to emphasize how important it is for GCs to train themselves to be taxation/fiscal-literate – and how they should develop that capability.

Christian Blatchford, General Counsel at Energo-Pro, explains how he goes about selecting external advisors – and what he wishes private practice lawyers would do differently.

How do you go about building an in-house legal team that you can be proud of – one that addresses all the needs of a publicly-traded company, and does so with minimal external advisory assistance? Marian Radu, Group Legal & Public Affairs Manager at Vrancart Group, explains.

On July 2, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Herbst Kinsky had advised Viennese start-up GoStudent GmbH on its EUR 8.3 million Series A financing round, which was led by VC fund Left Lane Capital. We spoke with Felix Ohswald, CEO of GoStudent, to learn more.

On May 26, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that NKO Partners had advised Dr.Max, the largest pharmacy network in Central Europe, on a public-private partnership project involving the concession of 27 state-owned pharmacies in the City of Krusevac and the Rasina District of Serbia. We reached out to Daniel Shull, CEO of Asterfarm (Dr.Max Serbia), for more information about the project. 

On June 10, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Allen & Overy and Gedik & Eraksoy had advised on an ESG-linked syndicated loan facility for Turkey’s Garanti BBVA. We spoke to Ebru Dildar Edin, Executive Vice-President at Garanti BBVA, to learn more about the facility.

On May 7, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Sorainen had represented Tallinna Linnatranspordi Aktsiaselts, a company fully owned by the City of Tallinn, in its purchase of compressed gas for natural gas-powered buses. We spoke with Deniss Borodits, Chairman of the Board at Tallinna Linnatranspordi, to learn more about the deal.

On April 17, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Linklaters had advised Penta Real Estate on the sale of the D48 office building in Warsaw to IAD Investments. We reached out to Damian Grzywacz, Managing Director in Penta Real Estate Poland, to learn more about the deal.

On May 27, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Dentons had advised CPI Property Group on a successful tender offer of bonds and the issue of EUR 750 million 2.75% notes due 2026 under CPI's EUR 8 billion Medium Term Note Program. We spoke with Martin Matula, General Counsel at CPI, to learn more. 

On May 28, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Cobalt had advised Lithuania's AB Lietuvos Radijo ir Televizijos Centras - Telecentras on the sale of its data transmission and digital television business developed under the Mezon brand to the Bite Group. We spoke Aida Raziulyte, General Counsel of Telecentras, to learn more about the deal.

CEE Legal Matters first interviewed Ingo Steinwender in 2014, near the end of his first year as Group Head of Legal at CA Immobilien Anlagen AG, one of the largest real estate companies in Austria. Six years later, we check in.

On January 18, 2017, CEELM reported that CPI Property Group had acquired a high quality retail portfolio, including 11 shopping centers across CEE, from CBRE Global Investors. As soon as the transaction was closed on March 29, 2017, Martin Matula, the General Counsel at CPI Property Group, agreed to share his thoughts on the deal with us.*