Emilio Meyer-Pellegrini joined PayPal shortly after its split from eBay and a few months after it became a listed company. ‘One of the reasons why I joined PayPal was to set up its legal function for the Iberia region. Prior to my joining, legal matters for the region were handled from Paris,’ Meyer-Pellegrini says. ‘Since joining, I have set the rules for engaging the legal department, defined the scope of the role, defined some basic policies and principles and put together a contract template repository’.

Meyer-Pellegrini also made his mark by immediately establishing legal service agreements for contract drafting, reviewing marketing materials and hiring junior level support employees to handle less complex work. He established an early warning system through which he can identify legislative and legal developments then flag them to the compliance function and business clients. ‘This has resulted in the business having clear rules on engaging the legal department, and having clear expectations regarding turn-around times,’ Meyer-Pellegrini clarifies.

‘The contract template repository has also helped us to gain consistency and being more efficient. The early warnings system has helped us manage the legal risks affecting our business’. An astute communicator, Meyer-Pellegrini has impressed with his involvement in the negotiations of a European-wide partnership with Visa Europe, enhancing the online, in-app and in-store payment experience for consumers in Europe, and enabling PayPal to issue Visa accounts in Europe. Additionally, Meyer-Pellegrini has made valuable contributions to the implementation of the second Payment Services Directive and the fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, two pieces of regulation that greatly impact how payment firms operate in Europe.

More recently, Meyer-Pellegrini has been involved in the negotiation of partnerships with two of Spain’s largest financial institutions, Bankia and Caixa. According to Meyer-Pellegrini the partnership with Bankia ‘allows Bankia customers to open PayPal accounts in an easy, frictionless way and allows Bankia customers to link their cards to PayPal accounts, to help them transact in online purchases’.

The partnership with Caixa, according to Meyer-Pellegrini ‘allows its merchants to open PayPal accounts in an easy and simple way, helping them to operate in the online commerce world’. Prior to his time at PayPal, Meyer-Pellegrini gained vast experience in the payments industry, spending a combined ten years at American Express and MoneyGram.