Team size: Six

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Throughout 2023, legal was involved in several cases where the team’s business-oriented advice was appreciated and valued. The Euronext group strategy 2022-2024 “Growth for Impact 2024” contains an ambition of “Pan-Europeanizing the Euronext CSDs”. As part of this ambition, various “must do initiatives” related to harmonisation have been rolled out. Quite a few of the initiatives have been difficult both from a commercial and legal perspective.

In a busy year, it has been important to utilise our various competences within the team in an optimal manner. In this context, I have taken on a leadership role, which has not been easy; I have not always been able to evenly distribute praise, recognition and involvement in high priority cases. However, I have transparently addressed it and have succeeded in turning it into something positive. I believe each team member feels to have contributed and played an important role. We have worked together and performed as a team. This was evident in one specific project – we were not performing and were behind schedule, but we worked together as a team and sacrificed everything for a week. Hereafter, the project was on track again.

We have worked on admitting mistakes and learning from them. This was also evident in the project mentioned above. We were not sufficiently proactive in drafting the rule book. We acknowledged the error and got back on track. We succeeded and received great praise from internal stakeholders.

In a busy time, I have made an effort to ensure that all team members feel empowered and use the empowerment, and today, I believe that everyone in the team feels they are allowed to act without consulting me. This does not mean that we do not exercise prudence. On the contrary, during 2023 I have experienced that empowerment and trust in each other make us willing to reach out to one another within the team, resulting in some very creative and useful solutions for the business.

What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry?

To be successful as an in-house lawyer within the banking sector, it is imperative to deliver added value to projects while ensuring legal compliance. Regulations frequently lack clarity, and therefore you must, through your understanding of the intentions behind the regulation, be able to distinguish permissible actions from those that are not. Merely endorsing or dismissing service offerings is insufficient. Active involvement in ongoing activities and pro-active contribution in shaping the service offerings is essential. This can only be achieved through a profound understanding of the products, market dynamics, and regulatory framework.

How have you fostered a closer collaboration between the legal department and your business counterparts?

I have a constant awareness of how the legal department is perceived by our stakeholders. I ask for feedback from stakeholders and consequently, act upon it, if required. I am not afraid of admitting if in hindsight, legal could have performed better, and based upon this adjust the way we work. This, combined with a focus on delivering business-oriented solutions, foster a very close collaboration between the legal department and our stakeholders.

Do you have a cause, business-related or otherwise, that you are passionate about?

I am striving to be the “in-house legal department of tomorrow.” This translates into the vision, assistance from legal shall go beyond the expected making legal the preferred business partner.

The advice from legal shall contribute to bring the business solution to a higher level. This happens when the legal adviser is able to combine business understanding, strategic thinking, and regulatory expertise. Additionally, legal must contribute to enhancing execution power. The traditional perception is that legal is a delaying element; we shall not embody that perception.