At Linklaters, Etienne Dessy ‘combines great legal and commercial skills’ to lead the ’brilliant’ financial regulation sub-group, which operates within the firm’s broader corporate and finance department. The regular workload includes assisting with capital requirements, clearing and settlement, payment services, derivatives, and MiFID. The practice also advises on complex governance-related matters and is regularly involved with the relevant aspects of cross-border M&A transactions and reorganisations in the banking sector. Investigations are another core area of strength. Counsel Andreas Van Impe and managing associate Pauline Kustermans were both promoted to their respective positions in 2022.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Very responsive team with efficient staffing across seniorities.’
‘Etienne Dessy combines great legal and commercial skills and expertise in dealing with the regulator with responsiveness and very good team management.’
‘Etienne Dessy and his team are just brilliant. Their added value lies with their profound understanding of their clients' businesses and needs. They are sharp, accurate and fast. Very pragmatic as well.’
‘Etienne Dessy is very much client and solution oriented. He knows his clients well and advises them accordingly. He seems to be a very good people manager which translates into dedicated and efficient teams working for him.’
‘Deep knowledge of the sector, and the team makes an extra effort to start understanding the client and the objectives before jumping into providing a quote. This makes a huge difference and ensures a top-notch quality of delivery.’
'They're proactive in identifying potential issues and also collaborate across teams (internally) to provide holistic solutions.'
- 'The team has in-depth knowledge of regulatory market practices in the Belgian jurisdiction and regulatory expectations, hence ensuring that the proposed solutions/approach are likely to align with regulatory expectations whilst also being efficient.’
‘The individuals at Linklaters are pleasant to work with due to being straightforward in what the outcome would likely look like, hence managing expectations and not overpromising on results. They apply a solution-based and efficient approach to problems, aiming to (also) have an in-depth knowledge of the operational set-up, rather than providing a solely theoretical approach, and also proactively providing (practical) solutions to problems.'
Key clients
- Ageas
- Aion Bank
- Alipay
- AXA
- Bank Nagelmackers
- Bank of America
- Barclays
- Belfius
- BlackRock
- BNP Paribas
- bpost
- CACEIS
- Candriam
- Cofinimmo
- Credendo
- Credit Mutuel
- Credit Suisse
- Degroof Petercam
- Euroclear
- ING
- J.P. Morgan
- Johnson & Johnson
- KBC
- Morgan Stanley
- Pimco
- Proximus
- State Street Global Advisors
- The Bank of New York Mellon
- Unifiedpost
Work highlights
- Advised Indosuez Wealth Management Group, a subsidiary of French international banking group Crédit Agricole Group, on the acquisition of a majority stake in Degroof Petercam.
Lawyers
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Etienne Dessy