About

The Berenberg Bank legal team is led by general counsel Gianni Porpiglia, who created the legal department from the ground up in 2010. The complete team consists of six people (two lawyers and four non-lawyers) that support the bank in conducting international business in the investment and private banking sector. As a direct result of the business expansion strategy pursued in the last few years, privately-owned Berenberg Bank reported a big profit increase, net profit for the year rose from €40m in 2014 to a record amount of €104m in 2015. The legal team has led a number a strategic projects to assist this growth, for example the investment banking arm helped Rocket Internet with its €589m capital increase; in Belgium they advised the MDAX-listed engineering firm DMG Mori Seiki on its acquisition by its Japanese partner firm; and the team worked on the Deutsche Office acquisition by its competitor, Alstria. The team concedes that regulatory changes have increased steadily over the last few years creating some new challenges. Porpiglia says, ‘as a small bank with a manageable sized team, the team members must be willing to manage a broad area at the same time become specialists on several and different topics’. The team adds a considerable value to the business by successfully reducing potential reputational legal risks.