About

Formed in September 2016, Sparkasse’s legal team is focused on providing legal advice to all business units of the bank and covers all aspects of banking and financial law, litigations and restructuring. ‘The most important change implemented recently, has been a change in the mentality of work, which entails a more efficient way of doing things’ general counsel Luca Braulin states. ‘The idea is to streamline processes in which team is involved and to support business in a way that makes an impact’. Utilising Braulin’s wealth of expertise, which includes a previous stint as head of legal and compliance for the Italian business of RBS Markets and International Banking, the team has already managed to impress with its involvement in strategic cases and transactions for Sparkasse. Recently, for instance, it managed to resolve issues related to litigations that had negative impact on a complex restructuring agreement for the company. In addition, the team recently defended the bank against an external party regarding the miss-selling of products. ‘The main challenge was to find arguments to protect the bank and apply new rules issued by the Italian government,’ Braulin says. Despite its recent inception, Sparkasse’s legal team has a clearly defined culture focused on efficiency and time delivery. Braulin explains, ‘we develop this by having regular meetings to discuss how we can add value to business and to having an even better performance’.