Elias Neocleous & Co LLC

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC Overview

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC is a Cyprus, EU, and international law firm with offices in Limassol, Nicosia, and Paphos, Cyprus; Brussels, Belgium; Prague, Czech Republic; Budapest, Hungary; and Kyiv, Ukraine. Practice areas include admiralty and shipping, litigation and dispute resolution, financial services and regulation, real estate, banking and finance, EU and competition law, corporate and commercial law, employment law, energy, tax planning and business structuring, technology and cybersecurity, privacy, immigration, intellectual property, and private client legal matters.

Serving clients for more than 20 years, the legal team is comprised of many professionals with multidisciplinary backgrounds who have deep knowledge and extensive experience. The firm’s focus on specialization allows the lawyers to remain at the forefront of developments and enhance their depth of experience while using modern technology and work practices.

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC assists clients in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas with a broad range of legal concerns. With attention to client service and commitment to innovation the firm offers personalized advice and legal services designed to meet and exceed expectations.

Year this Office was Established: 2017

Languages: Greek, Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Ukrainian, English.

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC Areas of Law

Additional Areas of Law: Matrimonial Law; Debt Collection; Permanent Residence Permits; Aircraft Registration and Finance; Company Law; Asset Finance; Legal Due Diligence; Shareholder Agreements; Consumer Protection; Unfair Trade Practices; Confidentiality and Non-Compete Obligations; Public Procurement; European Union and Competition; Employment Permits; Immigration Permits; Employers’ Liability; International Tax Planning; Financial Services and Regulation; Energy; Data, Privacy and Cyber Security; Insolvency Law; Company and Partnership Disputes; Trusts; White Collar Litigation; Fraud; Asset Tracing; Breach of Business Contracts; International Trade and Business Disputes; Ex Parte Applications for Receivership and Anton Piller Orders; Freezing Injunctions; Norwich Pharmacal and Disclosure Orders; Shipping and Aviation Operations.

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC Areas of Law Description

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC is structured as 14 specialist departments, all of which are highly ranked by numerous independent ratings agencies including IFLR, Chambers, Legal 500, World Tax Review and Benchmark Litigation. Clients benefit from our detailed knowledge and experience, and our ability to provide multi-disciplinary teams as necessary. We provide representation and services in the following areas of law:

Admiralty and Shipping

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC is one of the best-known firms in the field of admiralty and shipping law. We advise owners, managers, charterers, freight forwarders and their respective insurers and help to resolve commercial and legal problems in Cyprus and abroad. Our overseas offices, and a network of contacts with leading maritime lawyers in several other countries, enable the firm to act as coordinator in concurrent litigation in different jurisdictions.

Our advice and assistance are sought on all types of maritime matters, including:
• Claims for loss or damage to cargo
• Freight and off-hire disputes
• General average
• Collisions
• Salvage claims
• Pollution
• Transshipment and towage agreements
• Disputes under shipbuilding and repairing contracts
• Financing, security and the enforcement of mortgages
• Problems relating to the employment of officers and crew
• Personal injury claims
• H&M and P&I policies and claims
• Acquisition of new tonnage
• Choice of flag and registration
• Aviation matters including aircraft registration and finance
• All related company law and tax matters

Banking and Finance

The team at Elias Neocleous & Co LLC represent lenders, arrangers and facility agents (on single-lender and syndicated, secured and unsecured loans) as well as borrowers, guarantors and security providers. All clients benefit from our world-class resources, the unrivaled breadth of expertise and experience of our lawyers and the international reputation of our firm. Our team is second to none in its ability to help clients navigate the Cyprus legal system across the whole spectrum of banking and finance transactions including:
• Domestic and cross-border loan and security transactions;
• Loan documentation for single-lender and syndicated loans;
• Security documentation including charges over assets and undertakings of companies, debentures, pledges of share certificates, security assignments of rights etc.;
• Restructuring of existing loans and collateral;
• Refinancing of existing debts;
• Project finance and asset finance;
• Financing of international trade, including letters of credit, negotiable instruments and related matters;
• Construction and project financing; finance leasing;
• Indemnities and guarantees;
• Aviation finance and aviation leasing;
• Securities law compliance;
• Compliance with perfection requirements and registrations of charges;
• Legal opinions and legal due diligence exercises.

Corporate and Commercial

Our firm’s corporate team offers clients extensive international corporate and commercial experience. The favorable Cypriot tax régime and the extensive network of double-taxation treaties have created an ideal base for non-European Union companies seeking to exploit the EU market, as well as for EU companies seeking to expand their global horizons especially with regard to the CIS. Our network of overseas offices play a key role in this respect.

The work undertaken by this department includes:

Company:
• Formation and acquisition of companies in Cyprus and abroad;
• Corporate reorganization and reconstruction;
• Shareholder agreements and corporate governance issues;
• Capital-raising transactions;
• Venture-capital financing;
• Public and private offerings of securities and securities law compliance;
• Mergers and acquisitions;
• Management buy-outs and earn-outs;
• Corporate management and domiciliation services.

Commercial:
• Cross-border transactions and joint ventures;
• Partnership formation and dissolution;
• Insolvency and restructurings;
• Agency and distributorship agreements;
• Information technology;
• Technology transfers and intellectual property rights;
• Formation and use of trusts;
• International tax planning.

Employment

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC has the largest and most experienced team of employment law specialists in Cyprus, with an excellent reputation for high quality, sound legal and practical advice. We are the designated Cyprus member of the Employment Law Alliance. Our client base consists of employees and employers, including domestic and multinational businesses and organizations and the diplomatic missions of overseas countries to Cyprus. We have far- reaching experience in providing legal advice and assistance with the full range of employment-related topics, including drafting contracts and other documentation, dispute resolution, provident fund registration and liaising and negotiating with government bodies, trade unions and the like. The specialist services we offer include:
• Advice on employment issues;
• Drafting of employment-related documents;
• Support in liaising with authorities and employee representatives;
• Employment dispute resolution and representation including;
o negotiations with trade unions
o mediation conducted by the Ministry of Labour
o litigation in the Industrial Disputes Court or the district courts

Energy

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC has more than 20 years of experience in advising potential investors in a wide range of energy projects ranging from onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration operations to renewable energy projects. We have up-to-date knowledge and practical experience of the relevant national, EU and international legal and regulatory environment applying to all types of energy projects. Our specialists in public procurement have a successful record of assisting clients in the preparation and submission of tenders to the relevant government authorities and, in the subsequent negotiations and finalization of contracts.

Our legal advice and assistance to individuals, businesses and state authorities cover all aspects of energy operations and activities including:
• Oil and gas law;
• National and EU energy law;
• Public procurement procedures;
• Negotiation with state authorities, operating agreements and resolution of disputes;
• EU funding opportunities;
• Taxation;
• Securities law;
• Creation of corporate structures;
• Regulation of business transactions.

European Union and Competition

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC has a dedicated EU law and competition law department with an established record of successfully dealing with complex national and transnational projects and providing timely, relevant advice to clients. The department’s clients include national government departments, European Commission Directorates, prestigious international law firms and their clients and domestic businesses.
Our team of specialists assists with all their needs, including aspects of harmonization of Cyprus laws with the EU acquis communautaire, advising on concentrations and anti-trust matters, or assisting in the obtainment of grants from EU social, cohesion or structural funds. Through the constant monitoring of developments in EU law and competition law at the national and Community levels, we are in a position to offer leading-edge advice and services in the following areas:
• European business grant schemes;
• European Territorial Cooperation Programmes;
• EU funding programmes and submission of project ideas related to research and innovation;
• Proposal writing and project management;
• Rationale and flagship initiatives of Europe 2020;
• Coordination, design and analysis of the development strategy for the establishment of national programming documents of the EU;
• Assisting with the implementation of the institutional framework of the EU into national law;
• Monitoring and advising on the harmonization of EU law into national law;
• Preparing, drafting and filing notifications of proposed concentrations of major importance with the Cyprus Commission for the Protection of Competition in order to secure the requisite approvals, and representing clients before the Commission and any other relevant bodies, including the Supreme Court of Cyprus;
• Dealing with complaints regarding anti-trust behaviour and representing clients before the Cyprus Commission for the Protection of Competition and any other relevant bodies, including the Supreme Court of Cyprus;
• Advising on merger control matters, on issues concerning potential abuse of dominant market positions and other restrictive practices, and regulatory and trade issues;
• Reviewing and advising on horizontal or vertical commercial agreements;
• Representing litigants in related damages claims.

Financial Services and Regulation
Elias Neocleous & Co LLC’s financial services team has unrivalled experience in helping its clients, including domestic, EU- and non-EU credit and financial institutions, investment firms, collective investment vehicles, corporations and high net worth individuals, to navigate the increasingly complex Cyprus and EU legal and regulatory framework governing the financial services sector. Our dedicated financial services team of experienced legal and business professionals can assist you with all legal and regulatory matters in banking, investment services and capital markets regulation and the funds sector.
Services include:
• Legal advice and support to achieve compliance with all legislation applicable to banks and other financial institutions, including:
o the Cyprus Banking Law, the Payment Services Law, the E-money Institutions Law, the Transfer of Banking Loans Law and the Financial Leasing Law
o the directives, regulations and guidelines issued by the Central Bank of Cyprus
o the EU legislative framework on regulatory capital
o the Banking Recovery and Resolution Directive, as implemented in Cyprus

• Compliance advice, support and document drafting in the areas of investment services and capital markets regulation.
• Funds and collective investment advisory work including advisory, establishment and maintenance services.

Immigration
The Elias Neocleous & Co LLC immigration team has a long record of successfully dealing with all matters relating to immigration law, applications for immigration permits, permanent residence permits, employment permits and visas.
The department advises both individual and corporate clients. We provide an integrated service, optimizing tax and other benefits in conjunction with the client’s advisers, in his or her country of origin, and anywhere else they may have financial interests.
Services provided include:
• Citizenship applications;
• Employment permits;
• Permanent residence permits;
• Immigration permits;
• Visas.

Intellectual Property

Our highly regarded intellectual property team deals with all aspects of patent and trademark protection, design registration, copyright and the licensing of technology. Our close association with lawyers and trademark agents in all major industrial countries enables us to meet our clients' worldwide requirements. We advise clients not only on intellectual property protection, but also on tax aspects, including Cyprus’s beneficial intellectual property box regime. Our expertise covers the following areas:
• Advice on the acquisition, registration and protection of all intellectual property;
• Franchising and licensing;
• Restrictive trade practices;
• Competition and agency law;
• Patent, trademark, copyright proceedings and passing-off actions;
• Advice on all related tax aspects;

Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC’s litigation and dispute resolution practice is the largest in Cyprus and has an unmatched record of success in helping clients of all kinds to assert and defend their legal rights in a timely manner, at least possible risk.
Our clients range from global businesses and organizations to private individuals, and we provide them all with top quality service and advice.
Our highly qualified and experienced specialists focus on giving clear, effective support and guidance to our clients, however complex and difficult the dispute may appear. They have the expertise and experience to advise on and deal with the largest and most complex issues, and the resources, knowledge and strategic thinking to help clients advance their interests in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. We have been involved in most of the largest and highest-profile disputes heard by the Cyprus courts in recent years. We are also experienced in both domestic and international arbitration, and we choose the most appropriate method of resolution for every dispute we are involved in. Recognizing the protracted timescales for actions in the Cyprus courts, we focus on putting in place effective interim measures to safeguard our clients’ interests.
Our dispute resolution department is divided into four specialist teams as follows, each headed by a highly experienced partner:
• Team 1 deals with traffic accidents, torts, employers’ liability, personal injury claims, medical negligence claims, insurance claims and disputes, debt collection and criminal matters.
• Team 2 deals with banking and finance disputes, bankruptcy and insolvency law. The team also deals with family law issues including divorce, separation agreements, custody disputes, maintenance and lump sum settlements, property provisions and other ancillary matters.
• Team 3 deals with cross-border litigation and in particular with company and partnership disputes, trusts, white collar litigation, fraud, asset tracing, breach of business contracts, marine and admiralty claims and in general with all international trade and business disputes. This team also handles all types of urgent injunctive relief cases such as ex parte applications for receivership and Anton Piller orders, freezing injunctions, Norwich Pharmacal and disclosure orders.
• Team 4 deals with defamation cases, intellectual property matters, immovable property and construction disputes and all matters of constitutional and administrative law.

Private Client

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC has an established track record in providing high quality services to private clients and high net worth individuals. Clients derive significant benefit from the fact that our dedicated team forms part of the largest international law firm in Cyprus. This allows the team to draw specialist expertise from several departments and offices, in Cyprus and across Europe, to provide a ‘one-stop’ service which is specifically tailored to the clients’ needs. Importantly, in the modern and increasingly regulated world, our lawyers can boast significant experience in cross-border transactions, in corporate and asset holding frameworks and, in working with professional advisers across a range of international jurisdictions. Whatever our clients’ objectives are, be they tax minimization, estate planning, philanthropy, or any other goal, our team has the skill set and the experience to allow them to achieve it in a tax efficient and legally compliant manner.
Services include:
• Trust establishment, management, and administration;
• Wills and estate planning;
• Probate and administration of estate;
• Long term tax planning and tax compliance;
• Wealth management allowing for the movement of funds, assets, and business across the globe in a tax effective manner;
• Structuring of assets, including acquisitions, disposals, and advanced cross border tax planning, to ensure wealth preservation;
• Creating and advising family offices;
• Advising on wealth extraction from family businesses.

Real Estate

Our firm's property department deals with all matters relating to freehold and leasehold property, including transactions and disputes involving commercial and residential property. The department advises both individual and corporate clients.

Areas of work include:

Sale agreements
• Acquisition of property by foreigners;
• Property management for non-residents;
• Estate planning and administration;
• Wills, probate and re-sealings and estate administration.

Tax Planning and Advanced Business Structuring

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC has the largest and most experienced tax department of all Cyprus law firms, with an excellent reputation for high quality, sound tax advice and innovative tax planning, as well as considerable experience in negotiating and handling tax disputes.
Our clients are involved in a wide range of business activities, including property, finance, shipping, industrial, trading and energy. We assist them with all aspects of cross-border development, from establishing their initial representative office to joint venture agreements and full-scale mergers and acquisitions.
Our tax specialists have widespread experience covering projects worldwide, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia and the Americas. Through close co-operation with internal and external specialists in international tax law, we are able to assist our clients in structuring their international cross-border activities in the most tax-efficient manner.
We offer specialist services in the following areas:
• Corporate tax advisory;
• Private wealth planning;
• International tax planning;
• Advanced business structuring;
• Transfer pricing.

Technology, Privacy and Cybersecurity

The Elias Neocleous & Co LLC team consists of professionals from a range of disciplines marrying strong technical and legal skills with heightened business acumen and extensive ‘hands on’ experience. Staff are qualified in Cybersecurity, ethical hacking, digital forensics, GDPR compliance and Cypriot, EU and international law. We work directly with the firm’s clients but also regularly alongside other practice departments to provide comprehensive solutions for the numerous issues that may arise during business transactions.
Data privacy and cybersecurity services that we provide include:
• Implementing appropriate measures, policies, and procedures to ensure the protection of your data.
• Implementing the appropriate procedures to ensure the compliance with all relevant regulations (such as GDPR) and national and cross-border legislation.
• Developing the appropriate action plans to respond to and deal with cybersecurity issues that may arise.
• Preparing for cyber breaches, including designing tailored cyber response plans.
• Responding post breach, including advising the board on internal and external actions, coordinating investigation of the breach, and liaising with regulators and third parties.
• The exercise of individuals’ rights, including customer and employee subject access requests.
• The privacy implications for tech, such as AI and blockchain, and the impact of future digital regulation on data risk.
• Data sharing agreements, from simple process agreements to more complex data pooling arrangements and large strategic sourcing arrangements.

We also advise on the full range of technology, e-commerce, digital and data related matters, including:
• Commercial technology arrangements from global technology outsourcings, strategic IT procurement programs and cloud solutions to traditional software, development, licensing, and maintenance agreements
• E-commerce strategies, law, and regulation
• IP related technology issues
• Data analytics and data monetization
• Competition issues arising in the technology sector
• Corporate mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions which require specialist IT input or have significant risk or value drivers associated with technology
• Technology, IP and data issues arising in the Fintech sector
• Legal issues surrounding Cryptocurrencies
• Compliance with Crypto-Asset Regulation

Partners

Elias Neocleous & Co LLC Affiliations

More Information on Elias Neocleous & Co LLC

European Union & Competition Law Firm in Cyprus
Cyprus Intellectual Property Lawyers
Corporate and Commercial Law Firm in Cyprus
Cyprus Real Estate Lawyers
Admiralty and Shipping Law Firm in Cyprus
Cyprus Litigation & Dispute Resolution Lawyer
Tax Planning Law Firm in Cyprus
Elias Neocleous & Co LLC News and Publications