Karen Babalyan

Location: Republic of Armenia

Key Qualifications: The main areas of Mr. Babalyan’s practice include banking and finance, insurance, corporate matters, regulatory in certain sectors such as financial regulation (including banking, insurance, securities market, and funds), mining, energy and telecom, M&A and commercial/ business transactions. He has an excellent understanding of the intricacies of the Armenian civil, corporate, and law.

Year Joined: 2008

Education: Diploma in Jurisprudence (2004) - Slavonic State University, Ph.D. in Law, Yerevan State University

Spoken Languages: Armenian (mother tongue), Russian (fluent), English (fluent), French (fluent), German (fluent)

Experience:

Mr. Karén Babalyan joined Ameria Legal Advisors in 2008 and is now one of the lead lawyers of the firm heading finance and M&A practices. He is a very commercially minded lawyer with a deep understanding of the business of the client especially concentrating on financial services, mining, energy, technology and IT, telecom sectors. Karén has vast experience unique to Armenia and is highly valued by the clients especially for his work in cross-border transactions.
From the very beginning of his 15 years career, Karén has been serving as counsel and represented banks and other financial institutions in secured and unsecured credit facilities of various types, including domestic and cross-border multimillion syndicated loans, export, CAPEX and project financings, leveraged acquisition financings, refinancing and exit facilities, project and infrastructure finance. Karén is well experienced in corporate finance, structured finance, receivables finance, debt restructuring, capital markets, and derivatives transactions.
Having rather deep knowledge of Armenian corporate law Karén has served as a key adviser for the largest M&A projects taking place in Armenia during the last 10 years mainly focusing on such sectors as mining, energy, telecom, banks and credit institution covering among other issues all required regulatory consents and negotiations.
Having such a background Mr. Babalyan provides its prospective clients with added value in every legal matter of debt financing and M&A processes, including regulatory approvals.
Being a former legislation developer and transactional lawyer at the Central Bank of Armenia (universal regulator of the financial sector), Karén also specializes in financial services regulation, with a special focus on the regulation investment services provides and asset managers. His unique experience provides him with the capacity to not only analyze and advise based on the wording of the law but to bring to the clients the real-life of regulatory treatment and policies. Other regulatory specializations of Mr. Babalyan include mining, energy, telecommunications, and competition and antitrust sectors.

Since 2007 Mr. Babalyan has been lecturing on various commercial and financial law subjects and disciplines in leading universities of Armenia.