Nilay Acar is an experienced corporate lawyer specializing in foreign investment, international business law and commercial agreements, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance and insurance law. Nilay has been advising to international commercial and financial organizations for over 25 years.

She began her legal career working in international law firms that specialized in maritime, banking and finance areas. Subsequently, she joined the legal team at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she gained tremendously useful experience in advising to international and multinational companies in due diligence, M&A transactions and advisory services.

After leaving PwC, she joined the banking industry as the Legal and Compliance Head of Millennium Bank Bcp Portugal’s Istanbul subsidiary. She continued in her position after the Bank was acquired by Fiba Group which is one of the leading holding companies within Turkey. She aided during the acquisition of the Bank before the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency. In Fibabanka, she was responsible for the consultancy, FI, Treasury, Project Finance, individual and commercial products, banking cards and card-related products, loan structuring, encumbrances and litigation.

Following that she continued her career in one of the leading health-care companies within the USA; Cigna Corporation. She first acted as the Assistant General Manager and an Executive Committee Member, responsible for the Legal & Compliance of Cigna Turkey, where she was responsible for individual pension, life insurance, bank assurance and insurance brokerage businesses. Then being assigned to the Senior Legal Counsel role, she moved to Antwerp, Belgium where she was also a member of the Senior Leadership Team. In this post, she was responsible for the Intergovernmental Organizations (IGO), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) and Africa businesses of Cigna Belgium. She reviewed and commented on many tender specifications and international agreements on health and life insurance matters, also drafting insurance policies and other related documents for the company.

Having left Cigna to move back to Istanbul, she has formed her private practice ACAR LAW FIRM and has been advising to local and international corporates on various subjects.

She has had articles published in the Capital Magazine and Hurriyet Newspaper. She also acted as a member of the editorial and advisory board of the Banking and Finance Magazine as well as doing work with legal translations.