Areas of Practice
Ioanna Sapidou is a Senior Associate practising in the corporate and commercial department of the firm, which she joined in 2010. Her principal areas of practice comprise corporate and commercial law, data protection and competition law, as well as European Union law in general.
Ioanna has also built experience advising clients on matters pertaining to consumer protection law, as well as on the law of telecommunications, media and technology, where she frequently advises electronic communications service providers and Over-The-Top providers on the roll-out of their services in Cyprus.
Admitted
- Cyprus Bar Association (2011)
Education
- PGD in Economics of Competition Law, King’s College London
- LPC, College of Law
- LLM in Competition Law, King’s College London
- LLB in Law & European Studies, University of Surrey
Languages
- Greek
- English
Areas of Practice
Ioanna provides legal advice on data protection and privacy regulation at both national and EU level, including compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation. She is regularly involved in the drafting and/or reviewing of privacy policies and consent forms and also assists clients with obtaining from the Cyprus Data Protection Commissioner the necessary licences for cross-border data transfers.
Examples of recent work include advising a company operating in the financial services sector on, inter alia, data protection law implications regarding the preparation of creditworthiness profiles of consumers via a mobile app and the sharing of such profiles with consumers and/or credit institutions; advising a multinational technology company on Cyprus data protection law matters pertaining to the performance of background checks to prospective and current employees; advising various automotive companies on data protection and consumer protection matters with regard to the launching of connected car solutions.
Ioanna deals with Cyprus and EU competition law, where she advises on various aspects of merger control, state aid and antitrust investigations. She has previous competition law experience at DG Competition of the European Commission where she has undertaken a professional placement in 2012.
Examples of work in this area of law include the preparation and filing of notifications of concentrations of major importance to the Cyprus Commission for the Protection of Competition on behalf of clients in diverse industries, and advising on the competition law aspects of vertical agreements, to include distribution and/or franchise agreements.
Telecommunications, Media & Technology Law
Ioanna advises domestic and multinational clients in a number of sectors on technology related legal matters, including e-commerce, data protection, digital marketing and content, cybersecurity as well as consumer protection issues.
She also advises on the regulatory framework governing the provision of electronic communications in Cyprus and assists with the necessary licensing procedures vis a vis the National Regulatory Authority, along with compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.
Ioanna is a member of the International Technology Law Association.
Ioanna regularly advises international clients from a wide range of industries on e-commerce related issues with regard to the provision of online services and products. Within this context, she frequently reviews general terms and conditions and provides advice on commercial agreements, to include customer and supplier agreements and distribution agreements.
In the field of corporate law, Ioanna assists clients with the incorporation and management of Cyprus companies and provides general corporate law advice, including compliance with anti-money laundering laws. She is regularly required to draft legal capacity opinions, intra-group agreements, as well as due diligence reports in the context of M&A transactions. Ioanna also advises on the dissolution process of Cyprus companies.
A notable recent example of her expertise in this area, is Ioanna’s work as part of the legal team that provided, inter alia, commercial law advice to the successful consortium that was awarded a concession for the container terminal at the Limassol Port.
Ioanna assists clients from various sectors with EU regulatory issues and on how these may affect their specific business operations in Cyprus and to this end, she advises on the national implementation of EU directives and the interpretation of EU regulations.
Ioanna in particular advises on various aspects of compliance with Cyprus and EU consumer protection laws, to include unfair commercial practices, product liability issues and labelling and packaging requirements, as well as on all aspects of EU competition law.
Examples of her recent work in this area of law include advising leading global technology companies on general EU and Cyprus consumer law issues and financial services regulation with regard to the launching of various products and services via their online stores and on content filtering obligations and advertising restrictions. She has also advised a major car manufacturer on the compliance of a proposed in-car connectivity service with all relevant Cyprus laws.
Ioanna Sapidou advises local and international clients in the interdisciplinary areas of media, IP and technology.
She has particular experience in intermediary liability issues and content regulation in the context of services provided by online social platforms. She regularly advises on copyright, moral rights and related rights matters associated with product design and content production and distribution.
Ioanna also acts for clients in the life sciences sector with regard to the legal issues arising from the interface between competition law and intellectual property law, to include responsibilities affecting dominant companies, particularly where access to, or the exercise of, IP is concerned.
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