Find Lawyers in Germany for Banking and Finance Law
Practice Area Overview
The term banking law as used for the methodology of this guide encompasses (1) the legal regime applicable to banks due to the nature of their organization and business segments, as well as (2) the rules of law applicable to the types of transactions banks are conducting as part of their business model.
The first segment of banking law, which is often referred to as banking regulation, has since the financial crisis in the last decade developed from a relatively unspectacular discipline, on which only a few selected and highly specialized — very often in-house — lawyers were focused, to a dramatically expanding field of law fueled by the ever increasing worldwide, European, and national banking legislation. In addition to the international framework and its implementation in domestic German law, the creation of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt has substantially enhanced the demand for qualified banking regulatory specialists in the German market. A number of top tier law firm trained lawyers have meanwhile joined the ECB, the BaFin (the German banking regulator) and the legal departments of banks of every size. Nothing today leads to believe that this trend is going to be inversed soon, and presently all notable domestic and international law firms active in the German market have beefed up their banking regulatory capabilities, or actually for the first time have created such banking regulatory teams.
The second segment of banking law comprises the legal regime applicable to any kind of services and transactions banking institutions are rendering to their clients. Within this broad range, it can be differentiated among the rules applicable to traditional account handling and payment services, those regulating the banks’ financing business and taking of security interests and finally the legal framework of any securities and investment transactions. The common legal framework for these banking disciplines remains the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch – BGB), which contains the main principles governing most of these banking transactions. Due to the high level of codification in German civil and commercial law, German law governed transaction documents, e.g. loan agreements, bond documentation, and security documents can be in substantially shorter form than their counterparts governed by English law or U.S. law which leads to leaner documentation structures, particularly if only domestic parties are involved.
Partner, Frankfurt Dentons U.S.
Claudia Hard is a partner and heads the Finance & Banking Group in Germany. She focuses her practice on real estate, project and corporate finance. Claudia has many years of experience in the field of acquisition and refinancing as well as restructuring in the real estate sector. In addition, she has deep experience in the area of Pfandbrief financing, both in Germany and in cross-border financing within Europe and the USA. Her clients include leading domestic and foreign banks, debt fund...
Dr Jens Linde is an associated partner at POELLATH in Frankfurt. He specializes on M&A, private equity, real estate advice, in particular on the financing in all above mentioned areas. He is a proven expert in his areas of expertise, such as syndicated loans, unitranches or Schuldscheine (promissory note loans), especially for acquisition, corporate and real estate financing. He primarily acts for sponsors and borrowers. However, he is also familiar with the lenders’ perspective. He...
K. Peter Mailänder studied at the universities of Tübingen, where he also obtained his doctorate (Dr. jur.), Munich, New York and Washington D.C. Additionally, he worked as Assistant at the Institute for European Economic Law in Munich. He is a member of diverse boards of corporations and foundations, also of the Media Control Commission KEK, and an honorary professor of the University of Hohenheim.
Heinrich Meyer is partner at BEITEN BURKHARDT's Frankfurt office and co-head of the practice group Banking/Finance & Capital Markets. He is also responsible for the legal areas restructuring, corporate rescue and insolvency. His area of activity comprises, in addition to consulting on debt capital financing, mainly advice on (pre-)insolvency law aspects of corporate rescues, enforcement or defence of claims in insolvency cases as well as liability claims against corporate bodies. He also ...
Dr Jens-Dietrich Mitzlaff specialises in acquisition, company and real estate financing, and in restructuring these types of financing. He specialises in advising domestic and international borrowers, banks, financial service organisations, as well as servicers and private equity investors on national and cross-border financing transactions. Dr Mitzlaff has many years of experience providing legal advice on a broad range of debt instruments, such as secured/unsecured/syndicated loans (includi...
Frank R. Primozic is Partner at BEITEN BURKHARDT's Frankfurt office and member of the practice group Banking/Finance & Capital Markets. Additionally he is working in the competence area of Restructuring, Recapitalization and Insolvency. He is specialised in insolvency-related issues and renders advice on collateralised financings, the relating securities and their realisation within and outside of opened insolvency proceedings. In these areas Frank Primozic provides legal advice and repre...
Dr Christoph Schmitt is Partner at BEITEN BURKHARDT's Frankfurt office and member of the practice group Banking, Finance and Capital Markets. Dr. Christoph Schmitt is responsible for banking, financing and insurance law, including the respective supervisory law. He also advises on commercial and corporate law. His clients include institutions and companies, non-profit corporations, family offices and high net worth individuals. His advice includes litigation (Financial Markets Litigation). In...
Ludwig Zesch advises national and international private equity funds, corporate borrowers, debt funds and financial institutions on a range of complex domestic and cross-border financings. His practice includes acquisition finance, direct lending, leveraged buyouts and corporate financing. Ludwig has particular experience handling significant acquisition financings involving a range of debt structures, including unitranche/super senior structures. Prior to joining McDermott, he worked for oth...
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