About

Norway’s largest financial services group is supported by prudent legal counsel from a team led by group general counsel Audun Moen. DNB is a long standing institution that provides innovative products with a focus on new technology and efficient banking, which the legal team support via its 60-strong function that has a multitude of experience across various practice areas. Despite the requirement to be somewhat of a ‘catch-all’ department there are three specific areas in which DNB rely on their legal team during the rollout of ambitious products for their customers. Firstly, finance transactions are a huge part of the team’s daily work; numerous facets to these transactions include structuring, drafting documentation, negotiation and advising on policy issues whilst monitoring market and regulatory developments. DNB’s emphasis on digital banking also necessitates the input of the legal team, especially with regards to new digital payment services including extensive strategic and legal advice on a payment application “Vipps”, which has been downloaded approximately two million times. The team also dispense extensive regulatory advice on European Union (EU) legislation, often complex and subject to implementation from EU law into Norwegian law, and the challenges that accompany those circumstances. Coupled with managing the budget for large amounts of external legal services, it is clear that the team’s standards are high and that they go the extra mile to obtain the competence and skill necessary to satisfy their internal clients. Despite in-depth knowledge of the law, the legal team’s expertise extends well into the commercial for DNB too, forging strong relationships with the business side of the company, including senior management. This is what one source calls a ‘win-win in-house legal environment – it ensures accurate, professional and efficient legal advice to the organisation, and it motivates and engages the lawyers’.