Eleana Xenophontos

General Counsel and senior legal leader with 14+ years' PQE, admitted as a Solicitor of England & Wales, with a proven record of building, scaling, restructuring and leading in-house legal and compliance functions across PE-backed technology, SaaS and financial services businesses. Trusted, commercially pragmatic adviser to CEOs, CFOs, COOs and Boards, balancing legal risk with commercial growth and taking ownership of business-critical matters, including beyond strictly legal issues. My practice spans commercial and SaaS contracting, multi-jurisdictional legal operations and team restructuring, financial services and capital markets, AI governance (including the EU AI Act), GDPR and data protection, intellectual property (trademark and copyright), and PE-backed M&A transactions.

Hands-on experience managing outside counsel, standing up legal functions, and leading teams across the UK, EU, Asia and the Middle East. London-based; available internationally.

Interim General Counsel at Keyloop (via Axiom Group Ltd) (2026-05 – Present)

PE-backed global automotive technology and SaaS (DMS) business, operating in 90+ countries.

• Appointed to stabilise, optimise and restructure the legal and compliance function during a transition, ahead of a permanent GC; senior adviser to the executive team and close partner to the CFO/COO.
• Lead a 12-person legal and compliance team across the UK, Prague and India; restructuring the function, clarifying roles and ownership across the three locations, and leading recruitment of new hires across the team.
• Oversee legal support across Sales, Procurement, Finance, HR and Employment, Aftersales (disputes and litigation), Product, M&A and Alliances, and Company Secretarial and Governance.
• Lead complex commercial and SaaS contracting: enterprise agreements, OEM integration and certification frameworks, partner/API terms, and data access and portability.
• Own data protection and AI governance oversight, supported by a Data Protection Counsel and an external (fractional) DPO; aligning product and marketing claims with GDPR and the EU AI Act.
• Introduced operating discipline (single intake, service-tier triage, matter ownership, escalation rules and a balanced KPI framework) and improved cross-border UK/Prague/India ways of working.
• Lead cross-functional matters, including audit and internal process reform, driving ownership and accountability beyond strictly legal issues.

Acting Head of Corporate & Commercial Legal, Europe & Asia at Cantor Fitzgerald (via Axiom Group Ltd) (2024-10 – 2026-01)

Global financial services and investment banking firm.

• Led and restructured the Corporate & Commercial Legal function for Europe and Asia, reporting to the Group GC and working with the CEO, COO and CFO of Cantor Europe and Germany; managed a team of 3+ lawyers.
• Established new offices and legal entities across Germany, Switzerland, Poland and Abu Dhabi, acting as Head of Legal for each jurisdiction; supported a new Investment Banking team in Germany.
• Lead Legal Counsel on multiple multi-million-dollar ECM transactions across London, Germany and Continental Europe; built Cantor's ECM legal capability from the ground up.
• Following the acquisition of UBS O'Connor Asset Management, appointed Lead Legal Counsel for Funds and UCITS across the UK, Ireland and Europe (restructuring, regulatory, mandates and governance).
• Broad corporate and commercial portfolio (research and brokerage agreements, terms of business, NDAs, IT/vendor, real estate, audit and insurance, cross-border debt recovery); lead counsel for Cantor Ireland; active on the Operations and Risk Committee, OPCO and CEC.

Senior Legal Counsel at Tobii (via Axiom Group Ltd) (2024-06 – 2024-10)

Complex software, hardware, licensing, SaaS, outsourcing, procurement and data protection agreements for global business units.

Senior Legal Counsel at Citigroup, UK (via Axiom Group Ltd) (2023-08 – 2024-01)

Treasury and Trade Solutions: commercial cards contracts, government bids and payments-related commercial frameworks with major institutional clients.

Sole Legal Counsel (UK & Europe) at Climate Impact Partners (via Axiom Group Ltd) (2022-10 – 2023-06)

Environmental attribute purchase agreements, global commercial contracts and complex emerging-market project development documentation; corporate, compliance and privacy support.

Senior Legal Counsel at Belmond Ltd (LVMH Group) (via Axiom Group Ltd) (2020-03 – 2020-12)

Global commercial legal support across luxury hotels, rail and cruises; commercial templates overhaul, litigation management and team training.

In-House Legal Counsel at Cirium (RBI/LexisNexis), Aviva PLC, Paysafe Group PLC (2014 – 2019)

Broad commercial, regulatory, IP, payments, data licensing, insurance and procurement experience supporting large multinational organisations.

Corporate & Commercial Solicitor / Trainee Solicitor / Paralegal at Healys LLP (2011 – 2014)

Qualified into corporate and commercial practice.

Executive MBA – London Business School (2022 – 2023)

LLM in Professional Legal Practice – BPP Law School (2010 – 2010)

Legal Practice Course – BPP Law School (2009 – 2009)

LLB – University of Birmingham (2008 – 2008)