About

Founded in 2005 in Stockholm, Klarna is now one of Europe’s largest banks and is providing payment solutions for 60 million consumers across 130,000 merchants in 14 countries. Headed by general counsel Oscar Hållén, the legal department of Klarna has around 40 lawyers overall and is a centralised function, with the central legal domain consisting of six teams – commercial legal, group legal, product legal, corporate legal, AML advisory and privacy legal – where each team is led by a senior lawyer responsible for solving legal challenges within each team’s area of legal expertise. The legal department has been involved in all of Klarna’s major achievements, ranging from acquisitions such as the purchase of Close Brothers Retail Finance in the UK in 2018 to building major partnerships with Abercrombie & Fitch and H&M. Commenting on the legal team culture, one team member states: ‘Legal promotes Klarna’s profitable growth through legal innovation and reliable support at a balanced risk level. This is achieved and maintained by a strong legal leadership with a focus on problem solving, careful recruitment and a strong collaborative culture between lawyers and other competencies’.