Christos O. Ioannides is an Advocate and Legal Consultant based in Nicosia, Cyprus and he is the co-Managing Partner at LLPO Law Firm. He is a member of the Cyprus Bar Association, an associate member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments and a registered mediator on the register of the Cyprus Ministry of Justice and Public Order. With over 17 years of experience practicing law in Cyprus, Christos has successfully safeguarded the interests of a significant number of corporate and private clients in banking, administrative, commercial, corporate, civil and criminal law cases. He is specialising in Corporate and Commercial law and his expertise lies in both litigation and transactional work.

Litigation Expertise

As a litigation lawyer he has experience both before both criminal and civil courts, particularly in cases connected to Commercial Law (both in the civil and criminal dimension), Financial Markets Litigation, Corporate Litigation and Intellectual Property cases.

He also specialises in resolving complex legal disputes involving shareholders’ rights, directors’ duties, minority protection claims, derivative actions and winding up applications. He has represented clients in claims for the liquidation of corporations, claims for the recovery of funds unlawfully obtained or paid to third parties, claims for damages by reason of civil wrongs (torts) or crimes committed against the company or against its shareholders, breach of Directors’ duties or other, claims for compensation for stock market and other regulated markets manipulation and claims for damages resulting from regulated investment firms.

He is regularly involved in cases which require the issuing of interim injunctions to safeguard the fruitful conclusion of litigation. Examples of such injunctive reliefs are Mareva injunctions, Norwich Pharmacal/discovery injunctions, Anton Piller injunctions and Quia Timet injunctions. These reliefs help offset the negative effects of delays in litigation and the risk of dissipation of assets and being able to invoke them is crucial in successful litigation.

He has also represented clients in criminal cases consisting of offenses related to financial crimes, fraud and misrepresentation, anti-money laundering proceedings, failure in executing directors’ duties, preparing and circulating forged documents offenses, forged accounts offenses, unlawful making of profit-related offenses, financial services and other regulatory and related offenses.

Transactions and Advisory Expertise

In addition to his litigation expertise, he is also a skilled transactions lawyer. He has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, shares purchase agreements, shareholders agreements and assists clients in identifying and mitigating risks while negotiating and closing deals successfully. He understands the complexities of these transactions and ensures that his clients’ interests are always protected. He is also specialising in Trusts and other corporate structures as vehicles of practical and cost-effective solutions to complex legal issues while always prioritising his clients’ interests.

He has also acted as the main consultant in the preparation of draft legislations, regulations and studies on behalf of national and international organisations such as the European Investment Bank, the European Commission, the Planning Bureau, the Ministry of Finance, the Privatisations Unit and the Office of the Commissioner of Companies and the Official Receiver. He has prepared studies in the areas of commercial law, European commercial regulation, European enterprises and financing regulation, competition, corporate law, gambling regulation and intellectual property protection procedures.

Compliance and Audit and Risk Management

As a legal advisor, he provides guidance to corporations on various regulatory matters and helps them stay compliant with relevant laws and regulations. His experience focuses on regulated entities such as banking institutions, investment firms, international investment schemes, alternative investment funds and their managers, insurance companies, firms offering systems and payment services, universities and colleges and betting companies. In addition he repeatedly undertook and successfully performed the duties of risk manager, AML officer and member of audit and risk committees in regulated entities. In constantly changing regulatory landscape, his knowledge and experience in the above areas enables him to take a proactive approach in assisting clients.

Directorship Experience and Corporate Administration Expertise

He has been responsible for advising the structuring and set-up of Cyprus Corporations thereby utilising the Cyprus Company either as a holding structure, a trading vehicle, Intellectual Property rights company or as a Tech development company, depending on which Government incentive international businesses and investors aimed benefit from. On many occasions, he has undertaken the management and administration of the Cyprus based corporate structures. With his extensive directorship experience extends also in regulated entities such as investment firms and credit acquiring companies, whereby he brings a unique perspective on the table. This experience has given him an in-depth understanding of the day-to-day operations of these entities, allowing him to provide pragmatic and commercially-focused advice to clients.

Additional Experience

In addition to his core areas of expertise, he has experience advising clients on a wide range of legal issues such as torts, criminal law, contract law, company law, employment law and intellectual property law. He has also represented clients in a variety of sectors, including banking services, financial services, education, energy, healthcare and technology. He has also worked as a special teaching associate at Frederick University and has authored several publications and articles.