OREANDA-NEWS. As part of the efforts to alter the organizational structure of the National Bank of Ukraine, the National Bank of Ukraine Board has adopted a decision to set up the Registration and Licensing Department, which has taken over the functions of the Department for Registration, Licensing and Reorganization of Banks and licensing functions of the Foreign Exchange Operations Control, Methodology and Licensing Department.

On January, 15, 2015, Leonid Antonenko was appointed Director of the newly-established Department.

"While moving ahead with plans to implement NBU transformation project, the National Bank of Ukraine continues to engage best-in-class banking industry experts to its team. We are determined to make bank ownership structures more transparent and to strengthen responsibility of the bank's ultimate beneficial owners. Bringing Ukrainian banking legislation and regulatory practices in line with the international standards in this area requires considerable effort. That is why a highly experienced manager and legal expert in corporate law and financial markets took charge of the Registration and Licensing Department," said Oleskandr Pysaruk, the Bank's First Deputy Governor.

Leonid Antonenko holds an LL.M. degree (2009) in European Union law from the University of Reading (the UK) and the degree in Jurisprudence (2000) from the Odesa National Academy of Law. His master's thesis was titled "The Myth of the Transformation Through EU Law: A Case Study of the Company Law Reform in Ukraine".

Throughout his professional carrier, Leonid Antonenko has held various positions with the leading law firms in Ukraine and in the UK, including Sayenko Kharenko, Asters, Shevchenko Didkovsky & Partners, Odessa based ANK and the London office of Linklaters.

Leonid Antonenko is a member of the Working Group set up at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine to elaborate a draft Law On Protection of Investors' Rights. In 2014, he chaired the Ukrainian Bar Association's working group involved in devising the strategy for reforming corporate law and anti-corruption laws.

Best Lawyers International, a legal ranking, calls Leonid Antonenko among the top experts in capital markets and corporate law.