About

Markus Ratz proved his organisational and leadership skills with his construction of UBS’s multi-national legal transactions EMEA and CH legal team which is based across Germany, Switzerland and – temporarily – the UK. The aligned approach he took to this and the success he had with this counts as among his major career highlights, as does his ‘being instrumental in the financial crisis to help the business ensuring compliance with its regulatory duties’. More recently, he has continued to evolve the way legal matters are internally handled both in his team and in the wider bank. ‘By empowering the business to take over certain tasks with low legal risk independently by providing templates, check-lists and other resources, we have freed up resources in the legal function for use on high-profile tasks. In addition, we have been supporting flexible working arrangements in the team as one increasingly important aspect of being an attractive employer’. Going forward, Ratz sees a continuation of the cost pressures on in-house legal teams and an ever-expanding regulatory environment. ‘In-house counsel will also need to ensure that the function is continued to be seen as a trusted and respected advisor to the business’, he concludes.