About

The strength of Germany’s banking and financial services sector is well-known, and Frankfurt headquartered KfW (also known under the previous name of KfW Bankengruppe) operates within this sector having developed a reputation as one of the safest banks in the world based on data from credit rating agencies. Publically-owned, the bank is reliant on sterling legal support given by general counsel Dr Karsten Hardaht, who was appointed to his current role in October 2016 after having already spent a decade with the company. Earning an excellent reputation for his work within the KfW business including a spell as the head of regulatory compliance, Dr Hardraht is well acquainted with the internal workings of the bank and the applicable legal issues, the bulk of which is related to transaction consulting for international export and project financing as well as advice on financial cooperation with developing countries. It is also concerned with questions of banking supervision and capital market law as well as with the topics of IT and digitisation. Hardraht has an accomplished background in law firms, having started his career at Taylor Wessing and Hölters & Elsing, the predecessor of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe.