Djokić + Partners boasts nearly two full decades of successful operations, number of satisfied clients, over 60,000 cases handled, and projects valued at up to a billion euros – and the best is yet to come
We spoke with Đorđe Đokić, one of Serbia’s most prominent lawyers, about innovations in the banking and financial sectors, technological advancement, the link between regulation and new technologies, and the issue of digital assets.
The pace of business is accelerating. How can we keep up with the changes?
— All industries are striving to make their services more efficient, faster and of higher quality through the use of new technologies. What I particularly notice, both in the local market and the region, is significant progress in payment systems and the collaboration between traditional banks and the fintech industry.
The same trend is evident in the way legal services are delivered. An increasing number of law firms are aiming to make their services more efficient, faster and of higher quality. We are identifying the most advanced tools and integrating them into our day-to-day operations – precisely to meet the demands of clients for rapid and accurate legal advice.
The goal is not to replace human resources, but to automate as many repetitive processes as possible, thereby enabling lawyers to truly focus on delivering high-quality, strategic legal services. In the long term, such innovations may also help reduce working hours and extend the time available for private life and family.
Your firm is known for its strong expertise in banking and finance, with a special focus on the IT sector. How important is it to keep up with developments in the IT sector?
— In our practice, this is not a matter of choice – it is a necessity. The tech companies we work with are advancing rapidly, while regulation is, as a rule, lagging behind. In this context, we are compelled to think creatively, sometimes outside established frameworks, in order to devise sustainable solutions that are not only legally grounded but also technologically viable.
This process is where trust is built – if you succeed in enabling your client to operate in compliance with the law, without stifling their innovative potential, you become far more than a legal adviser – you become a development partner.
Thanks to technological progress, the potential of the banking and financial sectors continues to grow year by year. It’s not easy to list all the new developments…
— I would first highlight the most topical development, which is Serbia’s entry into SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area), meaning we can soon expect significantly faster transactions with the EU and the region, as well as reduced payment transaction costs. In this regard, harmonisation of regulation is expected over the next year, and I personally see our entry into SEPA as a strategic lever for economic growth.
In addition, a topic I believe will gain increasingly relevance – despite the existing regulatory framework established by the Digital Asset Law of 2020 – is that of digital tokens and the conditions they create for alternative project financing. It is vital to demystify this subject through investment education, as this relatively new instrument opens up considerable possibilities for alternative funding.
A digital token, as a form of digital asset, grants certain rights to its holder – the investor – in relation to the token issuer (e.g. entitlement to interest, etc.), with the ownership right existing solely over the digital token, not over the issuer or their assets. In this way, the issuer is able to raise significant funds from various investors to finance projects, without having to sell any part of their own assets. Meanwhile, investors gain the opportunity to allocate funds to projects they deem promising, and which have been vetted by the Securities Commission.