About

The eBay legal team is divided into a number of different legal functions based in either the company’s Bern or Zurich offices, covering support for individual markets and also functional teams with global or European responsibilities. Vice president for markets legal Ken Ebanks is based in Bern and leads the global markets legal team which is made up of 72 lawyers and support staff covering EMEA, the Americas and Asia Pacific. He describes the legal function as ‘one team – inventive, courageous, driven, inclusive and business focused in everything we do’. The most important recent change for the legal team has been the creation of a new global markets business unit, which led to the creation of a new global markets legal team focused on supporting eBay’s marketplaces businesses worldwide. Another important development in the legal team has been the creation of a new payments team within legal, focusing on payment-related regulatory work, as eBay rolls out its new intermediated payments platform and winds down its operating agreements with PayPal over the coming years. ‘We have also materially expanded our privacy team in the past two years, to better address the requirements of GDPR and the upcoming e-privacy rules and to reflect our focus on the ever-increasing importance of data security’, adds Ebanks. Over the past two years, the legal team has undertaken a major internal restructuring of eBay’s international subsidiaries to enhance the continued global growth while maintaining the base of operations in Bern. The legal team takes pride in driving business results by taking smart risks, preventing harm to the company and promoting the brand. ‘This contributed to the eBay legal team’s overall ambition to shape and leverage the legal and policy environment to drive eBay’s goal to be a world leader in value and selection’, says Ebanks. The legal team is a driving force in helping eBay is commitment to operating ethically, supporting the eBay communities and living that ethos. ‘As a company, eBay actively works to empower our small and mid-sized business customers, allowing tens of thousands of people and businesses across Europe to make their living off eBay. Unlike some competitors, eBay works to support our sellers, rather than compete with them; we are committed to empowering small business, not putting them out of business’, explains Ebanks.