Category: Greece

Harry Karampelis has been promoted to partner at the Lambadarios Law Firm in Greece.

Karampelis, who joined Lambadarios last July after spending the previous seven years at the Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm, specializes in civil and white collar litigation, mediation, and arbitration. According to his profile on LinkedIn, he handles “significant criminal law cases related to all types of tax and customs fraud, financial fraud, medical malpractice, product criminal liability, environmental liability, intellectual property crime, money laundering, corruption, anti-competitive practices, market abuse, as well as international and European criminal law and extradition and mutual assistance.” In addition, he has “represented clients in a wide variety of commercial and civil disputes, including those arising from breach of the regulations governing a range of industries, and [has] represented clients before Greek courts on unfair competition, agency and distribution agreements, product liability, intellectual property and tort and debt collection cases.”

“I feel honored to being a member of such a historical and leading law firm and such a great team of recognized leaders and practitioners in the legal industry,” said Karampelis. “It is a wonderful challenge and opportunity to be working alongside highly esteemed colleagues in such a great working environment.”

Karampelis graduated from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and obtained a 2009 LL.M. from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

Koutalidis has advised Eurobank Ergasias S.A. on the sale of 80% stake of subsidiary Eurobank Financial Planning Services to DoValue S.p.A. DoValue was advised by Karatzas & Partners.

According to Koutalidis, “the transaction entailed the assignment of the exclusive 14-year servicing of Eurobank’s EUR 5.7 billion future early arrears and EUR 5.6 billion non-performing exposures, and the related shareholders’ arrangement governing the parties’ ongoing strategic relationship as shareholders of FPS.”

Zepos & Yannopoulos has advised arrangers Alantra Corporate Portfolio Advisors and Mediobanca – Banca di Credito Finanziario and security trustee, cash manager, and account bank Citibank London branch on the EUR 7.5 billion multi-asset NPE securitization of Eurobank Ergasias. Karatzas & Partners advised Eurobank Ergasias.

The transaction consists of three securitizations of a diversified multi-currency asset base and is the first to apply for a Greek state guarantee under the “Hercules” asset protection scheme.

The Zepos & Yannopoulos team was led by Partner Christina Papanikolopoulou and included Partner Kely Pesketzi, Senior Associate Mary Nigritinou, and Associates Alex Kontogiannis and Niki Ignatidi.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, CEE Legal Matters learned that Karatzas & Partners’ team was led by Partner Alexander Metallinos and included Associate Sonia Saranti.

Zepos & Yannopoulos has advised Bain Capital Credit LP on the acquisition of a portfolio of approximately 2,800 primarily secured non-performing corporate loans with a total outstanding principal amount of EUR 1.6 billion, originated or otherwise owned by National Bank of Greece S.A. Karatzas & Partners advised the NBG.

The Zepos & Yannopoulos team was led by Partner Christina Papanikolopoulou and Senior Associate Paris Tzoumas and included Associate Niki Ignatidi.

The White Paper on Artificial Intelligence published on February 19th by the European Commission presents some important building block policy options to enable the trustworthy and secure development of artificial intelligence in the EU, fully respecting the presiding values and the fundamental rights of its citizens. The enormous volume of data which has already been generated and that yet to be generated constitutes an opportunity for Europe to position itself at the forefront of global AI policy. The use of AI brings both fears and uncertainties: on the one hand, citizens fear they will be left powerless against the information asymmetries of algorithmic decision-making, while on the other, companies are truly concerned with legal uncertainty.

The aim of a clear European regulatory framework must be to build trust among consumers and AI businesses, and thereby accelerate the uptake of the technology. Developers of AI are already subject to European and national legislation on fundamental rights (such as data protection, privacy, and non-discrimination), consumer protection, and product safety and liability rules. Although consumers expect the same level of safety and respect for their rights whether or not a product or a system relies on AI, some specific, inherent features of AI (such as its lack of transparency) can make the application and enforcement of this legislation more difficult. Member States, according to the White Paper, are pointing to the current absence of a common European framework. AI – most specifically, machine learning models – reveal the ability to track and analyze the daily habits of people. AI can be used, in breach of EU data protection and other rules, by state authorities or other entities for mass surveillance and by employers to observe employee behavior. Analyzing large chunks of data and identifying relations among them, AI can also be used to retrace and de-anonymize data about persons, creating new personal data protection risks even for datasets that do not specifically include personal data. AI is also used by online intermediaries to prioritize information for their users and to perform content moderation. The processed data, the way applications are designed, and the possibility of human intervention can affect the rights to free expression, personal data protection, and privacy, as well as political freedoms.

Article 6 of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation outlines the conditions under which personal data can be legally processed, with one such requirement being that the data subject has given their explicit consent. However, there are exemptions to the rule for public security issues, for which AI recognition technologies should be allowed to automatically identify persons legally.

When the Covid-19 pandemic began to spread, systems for temperature detection at work and even in airports with the use of AI technology proliferated, allowing for the monitoring of numerous cameras at once, and automatically sending alerts to data controllers. Moreover, a thermal camera, which must not pick up skin color, can record the face image of anyone who registers a fever. 

To this end, Recital 46 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation specifically mentions epidemics: “The processing of personal data should also be regarded to be lawful where it is necessary to protect an interest which is essential for the life of the data subject or that of another natural person. Processing of personal data based on the vital interest of another natural person should in principle take place only where the processing cannot be manifestly based on another legal basis. Some types of processing may serve both important grounds of public interest … for instance when processing is necessary for … for monitoring epidemics and their spread.” For EU companies, data processing must always be compliant with Articles 6 and 9 of the GDPR. In Greece, on March 18th the Data Protection Authority published guidelines for the processing of personal data in the context of Covid-19 protection measures. The guidelines state that protecting personal data is not absolute; fundamental rights and the proportionality principle should be taken into account in favor of the society’s public good and interest.

In addition, earlier this month the European Data Protection Board emphasized that a legal condition may legitimize restrictions of freedoms provided the restrictions are proportionate and limited to the emergency period. When processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest in the area of public health, there is no need to rely on individual consent.

The balance between the public benefit and individual privacy concerns must be reconsidered in the absence of a common European framework. Defending data protection rights during this pandemic has to take into account the length of the emergency period and the proportional actions of the authorities. The latter and their clear and updated definition and public communication must be the benchmarks for drafting secure legal frameworks on these issues in the coming months.

By Ioanna Michalopoulou, Managing Partner, Michalopoulou & Associates Lawgroup

This Article was originally published in Issue 7.3 of the CEE Legal Matters Magazine. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the magazine, you can subscribe here.

Dracopoulos & Vassalakis, Your Legal Partners, and Alexiou-Kosmopoulos have been appointed as legal advisors to the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund on the privatization of regional ports of Alexandroupolis, Heraklion, Igoumenitsa, and Volos through the sale of majority stakes in the state-owned port operating companies.

According to Dracopoulos & Vassalakis, “the transactions will also involve the amendment of the existing concession agreements between such operating companies and the Greek State and the conclusion of shareholders’ agreements with the respective investors, with the view to maximizing revenues for the benefit of the Greek Privatisation Programme and at the same time achieving a combination of high-quality operation, maintenance, and exploitation of the ports to the benefit of the national economy.”

Dracopoulos & Vassalakis and Your Legal Partners also advised the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund on the Alimos Marina Concession project (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on May 25, 2020). 

Koutalidis has advised Aktor Concessions S.A. on its successful bid to own, use, administer, operate, and exploit the Marina of Alimos. The concession, which is good for 40 years, was granted by the Hellenic Asset Development Fund. The HADF was advised by Dracopoulos & Vassalakis and Your Legal Partners.

Aktor Concessions will put forward a total of EUR 57.5 million euros, with the value of the agreement coming to a total consideration of at least EUR 177 million, including an annual concession fee and a share of revenues as a percentage of the marina’s annual turnover.

The bidding process was carried out via e-auction and included bids by Lamda-Dogus Marina Investments SA and Aviareps-Cosmos Consortium, among others.

As part of the agreement, Aktor Concessions will implement EUR 50 million worth of investments over the next five years to upgrade infrastructure in order to establish the marina into a top tourist port destination.

The Marina of Alimos is one of the largest in the Eastern Mediterranean, covering an area of almost 428,000 square meters and approximately 210,000 square meters of upland area. According to Koutalidis, the tender process was the first to be conducted through an electronic auction in Greece.

Koutalidis’ team included Partners Katia Protopapa and Ioannis Kaptanis, Senior Associates Yiannis Kantas, Theodora Karagiorgou, and Dimitris Kalyvas, and Associates Fani Chlampoutaki and Ioanna Sereti.

Dracopoulos & Vassalakis’ team included Partner Yiannis Palassakis and Senior Associate Irene Anyfanti.

Your Legal Partners’ team included Partner Katerina Christodoulou and Senior Associate Prokopis Linardos.

Editor’s Note: On December 31, 2020, the Koutalidis Law Firm announced that “the 40-year Alimos Marina concession project” had closed.

“I believe that Greece has become an example of how early response to COVID-19 works,“ says Yanos Gramatidis, Partner at Bahas, Gramatidis & Partners. “In particular, Greece’s response helped to stem the crisis of public health and has allowed the Government to undertake a minor digital revolution.”

Gramatidis says that “in order to minimize the risk of spreading the disease via human contact, the Greek government has digitized most administrative and regulatory services. Everybody has access now from their home to any sector of the administration – documents, certificates, registries – all just a click away.”

According to Gramatidis, most of the measures were implemented “without any political opposition or battle in the parliament – and the current government has an approval rating of around 60% which is unprecedented in Greece!“

“Most of the legislative changes recently have been related to the crisis and mitigating its negative effects,” Gramatidis says, “by dealing primarily with the social security system, tax system, and public administration among other sectors of the economy as well. Further, some preparatory work has been done by drafting legislation aimed at incentivizing various projects in development, like privatization projects, and increasing public investments to have them be the locomotive of growth.” In addition, he says. “the government is making a strong effort to help the legal market deal with the “interpretation of force majeure cases,” noting that, “as you can imagine there is a long discussion as to the application of force majeure in the contractual realities right now.“

Gramatidis is optimistic about the Greek economy. “I do not expect the 2020 deficit to be more than 10% – as does our government, the Bank of Greece, and MF. Honestly, I think it will more likely be around 8%.” His optimism is fueled by what he says is “a strong production sector which has not been impacted by the crisis, much unlike our services sector.” He believes that “this could prove to be the key when it comes to bouncing back from the crisis and going for strong growth of about 5% or 5.5% after Q1 2021.”

Gramatidis believes that the good tackling of the crisis “has made Greece one of the safest places in the world when it comes to FDI and tourism, which, at the same time, should spur a strong effect on the tourism sector in 2021.” Finally, he says, “privatization endeavors in the areas of infrastructure and energy shall help the Greek economy to increase its liquidity and achieve significant growth.”

Former Reed Smith Partner George Panagopoulos has joined Waterson Hicks, where he will manage the firm’s Piraeus office.

Panagopoulos spent 17 years at Reed Smith, making partner in 2010. He graduated from Monash University and holds a Ph.D from the University of Oxford.

“We are delighted to have George Panagopoulos joining us.” said John Hicks, Senior Partner at Waterson Hicks. “He is a major player in the Greek maritime law sector to whose shipowners and clubs this firm is very strongly committed. His arrival adds great strength to the firm.”

Orestis Omran, Head of DLA Piper’s EU-Greek practice, has been promoted to partner in the firm’s Belgium office.

According to DLA Piper, “Orestis joined DLA Piper’s Litigation and Regulatory practice in 2017. Qualified in New York and Greece, his practice focuses on EU regulatory matters in the energy, banking, and infrastructure sectors. He has very broad experience in contentious and non-contentious matters including in formal and informal state aid and other investigations before the European Commission, national regulatory authorities, and subsequent proceedings before the EU Courts. Orestis has also built a track record of successful client representations in the broader South Eastern European area and particularly in Greece where he has been leading significant projects during the past years. His clients include major international corporates, financial institutions, governments, and public authorities.“

Omran has an LL.B. from the University of Athens and an LL.M. from the University of Chicago Law School, and he is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Amsterdam. Prior to joining DLA Piper, he spent six months with the European Commission, almost three and a half years with McKenna Long & Aldrige, and two years with Dentons.

“Orestis is a very talented and hardworking lawyer,” commented DLA Piper’s Co-Country Managing Partners in Belgium, Annelies Verlinden and Kristof De Vulder. “His deep knowledge of EU law, analytical thinking, and entrepreneurial mentality along with his sector expertise and consistently excellent client service make him a key team member. His promotion demonstrates our commitment to further strengthening our highly-regarded EU law team in Brussels and we are delighted to welcome him to the partnership.”