About

Formerly an attorney with Allen & Overy and a legal counsel for UBS, Ksenia Gräfin von Bassewitz moved to a digital capital markets start-up Acatus in late 2017. She hit the ground running, and has already had a major impact on the organisation: ‘I faced the challenge and had the privilege of creating the legal structure of the company from scratch. Acatus provides digitised single asset securitisation creating fully cleared marketable bonds. Acatus’ legal framework ensures this continuous and automated securitisation includes agreements with top-tier cooperation partners, such as Société Générale as an issuing and paying agent and custody bank, JFD Bank as a liability umbrella, originators and investors. Legal played a crucial role in drafting and negotiating the contracts. Furthermore, to this moment, we have completed the operational setup, conducted our first securitisation transactions and developed a data, commercial secrecy protection, and money laundering prevention concept’. Working at a start-up gives Gräfin von Bassewitz the opportunity to develop the team along forward-thinking lines: ‘Where traditionally general counsel focused on primarily practising law within a corporate environment, today a general counsel must offer much more than sound legal advice. The role is evolving from a risk spotter to a strategic partner who helps create value for the company’s stakeholders. Another area of continuing change for the in-house legal role is a focus on the development of non-legal skills. Development in technology urges an in-house legal counsel to look at new ways to increase productivity and maximise efficiency and value of their work’.