Maria Nefeli Bernitsa

Maria Nefeli is specialized in financial services, M&A and ESG law, with a focus on funds, capital markets transactions and corporate transactions for listed companies.

Her clients include leading funds, alternative investment managers, banks and a variety of entities from the broader financial services space. Maria Nefeli also has significant experience in leading on financial services matters arising from group restructures of global multi-strategy asset managers, new authorizations of regulated firms and regulatory issues in private placements and IPOs.

She is highly experienced in mergers and acquisitions of listed companies, private placements and IPOs and private equity transactions, advising international and Greek funds and financial institutions on the initial structuring and throughout the lifetime of their investment period. Maria Nefeli heads up the Firm’s Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) department and advises extensively on ESG legislation with a focus on the laws affecting firms in the financial services sector.

Prior to joining the Firm, Maria Nefeli was a senior associate in a tier 1 financial services and markets team in London and was seconded to a global investment firm to implement European ESG legislation. Maria Nefeli holds an LLB (Hons) from University College London (UCL) and an MBA from INSEAD. She is admitted to the Law Society of England & Wales (2015) and the Athens Bar (2019).

News
Ethniki Asfalistiki
Sep 2026

Bernitsas advises Ethniki Insurance on inaugural €100m Restricted Tier 1 and €100m Tier 2 issuances

Bernitsas acted as Greek law counsel to Ethniki Insurance in connection with the issuance and offering to international and domestic institutional investors through a bookbuilding process of its inaugural €100m Restricted Tier 1 and €100m Tier 2 notes (Notes), as well as the listing of the Notes on the Euro MTF market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (Transaction).     

DORA Briefing April 2026
Apr 2026

Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA): Where do we stand?

Following a two-year implementation period after entering into force, the Digital Operational Resilience Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 - DORA) became fully applicable in January 2025, setting a harmonized, directly applicable regulatory framework for digital operational resilience in the EU financial sector. A little over a year later, the focus is shifting from the definition of the regulatory framework to its implementation in practice.

ESG Briefing March 2026
Mar 2026

Amendments introduced by Article 57 of Law 5255/2025 to Greek sustainability reporting

Article 57 of Law 5255/2025 on the ‘Establishment and operation of the Independent Market Control and Consumer Protection Authority, provisions on the Competition Commission, and other provisions’ (Article 57) amends sustainability reporting obligations under Law 5164/2024, aligning Greek law with EU Directives 2022/2464/EU (the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive or CSRD) and 2025/794/EU (the ‘Stop the Clock’ Directive).

Recognitions