The New Greek Insolvency Code: A Unified Framework for Early Warning, Preventive Restructuring and Bankruptcy - Debt Release

Fotis Kourmousis is the Special Secretary for Private Debt Management at the Ministry of Finance. Member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Development Bank SA (former Hellenic Fund of Entrepreneurship and Development) and Deputy Head of the Council of EquiFund at the Ministry of Development and Investment.

He has coordinated the implementation of the institutional framework for reducing private debt, focusing on non-performing loans, as well as debts towards State (Tax Authority, Social Security Institutions).  The most important projects include the creation and implementation of debt restructuring schemes:

• Οut-of-court workout platform for settling debts of companies, their general partners, freelance professionals and farmers
• Primary residence protection platform for settling and subsidizing mortgage, consumer and business loans encumbered with primary residence of individuals

In order to tackle over-indebtedness and promote financial literacy, he has developed a nationwide network of 50 Debt Information and Support Centers and Offices, which provide advice to households as well as small and medium-sized enterprises for free.

In the past he has served as Special Advisor for Sustainable Development in International Organizations, such as the United Nations (2003-2009) and the European Commission (1999-2002).

He served as Special Advisor to the Ministries of:

• Finance for Tax and Customs Administration as well as Information Systems (2012-2015)
• Economy - Development for Investment Issues (2011-2012)
• Environment - Energy - Climate Change (2009-2011) for sustainability issues
• Agriculture for the Common Agricultural Policy / Greek Presidency of the EU (2003)

Postgraduate studies in Strategy and Leadership at Oxford SAID Business School as well as Executive Master’s in Business Administration at American College of Greece (ALBA). Deputy Lecturer of Laboratories of the National Technical University of Athens, where he also obtained a PhD in Engineering. He has published numerous scientific articles in international research journals and has participated as a speaker at national, European and international conferences. Graduate in Environmental Management at the Aegean University.

Stathis has a broadly based transactional practice. He has worked on legislative and regulatory issues of the capital and derivatives market, financing and banking issues, international arbitration and corporate transactions and restructurings, including the transfer of loan portfolios.

As member of the Hellenic Corporate Governance Council he contributed to the Hellenic Corporate Governance Code and the drafting of best practices for unlisted and family enterprises. In 2014 he contributed to the drafting of the Dendias Law, introducing expedited proceedings to assist financial institutions in dealing with non performing exposures, including the special administration proceeding.  He is currently engaged in the drafting of a new Bankruptcy Code.

Stathis is an INSOL International Fellow, a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and a member of the International Insolvency Institute. He was also a member of a group of experts formed by the European Commission for the preparation of the recently passed Preventive Restructuring and Second Chance Directive.  He is admitted to practice in Greece and in the State of New York.

Alexandros Rokas is specialized in the areas of insolvency and restructuring, as well as corporate law. He holds an LL.B. from the University of Athens, LL.M. & PhD from the Humboldt University of Berlin and LL.M. from Harvard Law School.

Ηe is admitted to practise law before the Greek Supreme Court. His practice focuses on restructuring law, both from debtor and creditor perspective. He also teaches Commercial Law at the Department of Accounting and Finance of the Athens University of Economics and Business, as a lecturer adjunct. Further, he was a member of the committee established by the Greek Ministry of Justice to amend the Greek Bankruptcy Code. Finally, he is a member of ECGI, CERIL, IEEI and other law associations.

Alexander Metallinos is a partner at Karatzas & Partners. He holds an LL.B. from the law school of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, an LL.M. and a doctorate in European Law from the Westfälische Universität Münster and an LL.M. from the Yale Law School.

He has extensive experience in banking, finance, energy and corporate law, as well as international arbitration.

He specializes in project financing and acquisition financing. In addition, he has done pioneering work in the fields of securitizations, structured finance and corporate financing transactions. He has acted in multiple securitization transactions since the enactment of the Greek Securitization Law (Law 3156/2003), including covered bond issuances and milestone NPL-portfolio related securitizations for the Greek market.

Alexander has participated in various committees for the reform of Greek corporate and insolvency law, including the committee that drafted law 4548/2018 on companies limited by shares (sociétés anonymes) and the committee to draft a new bankruptcy code.

He also provides the legal opinions on the enforceability in Greece of the netting provisions of the ISDA Master Agreement, of the ISDA collateral documents, of the Global Master Repurchase Agreement and of the European Federation of Electricity Traders Master Agreements.

Alexander has been named as a “Star Individual” from Chambers Europe 2020 and as a “Leading Individual” from The Legal500 EMEA.

He speaks Greek, English, German and French.

Mr. Portokallis serves as Judge in the Athens Court of Appeal for Civil and Criminal Cases, where he was appointed in May 2018. Previously, he served as President of the Court of First Instance in Athens, from 2011 to 2018, where he presided in the Commercial Law section. During his tenure he became an expert in insolvency law cases, and also dealt with all the spectrum of commercial law i.e intellectual property law, international transports, company law e.t.c. From 2001 to 2011, he was a first instance judge, dealing mostly with commercial law and insolvency cases.

He has participated in numerous seminars and conventions, on commercial law and especially insolvency issues, organized by EJTN (European Justice and Training Network) and other European and International organizations. He is also a member of the Judicial Wing of INSOL Europe and IEEI (International Exchange of Experience in Insolvency Law).

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Athens and an LLM in International and Commercial Law from the University of Kent at Canterbury. He is a fluent speaker of English, French and Italian language. He worked as a lawyer, member of the Athens Bar Association, between 1994 to 2001, also specializing in commercial law.