‘DLA Piper’s Belgian team is very efficient and has profound knowledge in the financial services area. Very easy to work with.’

‘The entire team is great to work with, but I would specifically recommend Marie Goossens, who is a young, yet very experienced, lawyer. I am sure that she has a great future and will become one of the leading experts in Belgium for financial services.’

‘They have a great team with a good complementarity of junior and senior advisors.’

‘The people at DLA Piper are motivated and always prepared to help. They are also invested and will help you find a solution that fits, and support you throughout the process. They are sincere and very friendly.’

‘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.’

‘Knowledge and understanding of the sector and our specific niche. Clear engagements. Valuable and nuanced advice.’

‘Very good contact with Anne Fontaine!’

‘Easy to work with. Very client oriented.’

‘Anne Fontaine is an excellent lawyer with high expertise in regulatory banking matters. She connects well with clients and makes complex concepts easy for them. She is absolutely reliable.’

‘The team at NautaDutilh is commercial, with a sound understanding of technical detail. I highly value working with them!’

‘Anne Fontaine is a fountain of knowledge, and always available for a quick chat.’

‘Scott McInnes and Julien Sad are trusted advisors in this area. They have extensive subject matter knowledge and are incredibly pragmatic and responsive.’

‘Scott McInnes is THE subject matter expert on all things card acquiring-related. He understands the issues quickly and keeps an eye/ear out for changes coming which impact his clients.’

‘Julien Sad knows all things about payments and e-money and is incredibly helpful and on-point with his advice.’

‘The team that we deal with (Jean-Marc Gollier and Nicolas Schrans) are very responsive to our queries for advices and training requests. The advice is always timely, precise and of a very high level. We are always confident that we are receiving the most up to date information and often insights into local regulatory updates and discussions. This is highly valued by us as business with a presence in Belgium.’

‘Nicolas Schrans is a very impressive lawyer. Always available to us in order to deal with our regulatory requirements and provide concise advice.’

‘The expertise, availability and pragmatism of Hogan Lovells (and more especially Charles-Henri Bernard and Philip Van Steenwinkel) are exceptional.’

‘They have a very specific place on the market because of the very close and good contact with the regulators.’

‘Both Charles-Henri Bernard and Philip Van Steenwinkel are open for discussions and not purely dedicated to the “billing” aspect. They will first take the time to understand the issue and give a global opinion. This approach achieves a very interesting level of quality, thanks to a specific focus on the underlying technical issue.’

‘The team is very strong. They know the local market very well and always look for solutions that are practical and commercially feasible, but nevertheless robust. Even though the Belgian team is still relatively small in size, the breadth of the Hogan Lovells international network backing allows them to source know-how efficiently and support us on a broad range of topics.’

‘The team is very close to its clients. Philip Van Steenwinkel and Charles-Henri Bernard are easily reachable and truly invest in the relationship. They not only bring the quality you expect from a top-notch firm like Hogan Lovells, but they are also keen to truly support your business on a daily basis.’

‘Very good responsiveness. Concise and practical advice. Access to the ‘regulatory dashboard’ on a daily basis is a great tool, allowing us to save time while remaining aware of constantly growing legal developments.’

‘Working with Tom Van Dyck is a pleasure, he is very responsive, with very good command of complex regulations, very fluent and agreeable communication.’

‘Vanessa Marquette stands out for her top expertise.’

‘Open and collaborative team. Diverse and solution driven.’

‘Vanessa Marquette is sharp and to the point. She knows our regulatory environment and the regulators and can propose plug and play solutions.’

‘The regulatory team is efficient, listening to the client’s constraints and keen to find clever solutions.’

‘Excellent level of deliverables in terms of quality and time. The team was involved in an innovative project that required quite a lot of re-thinking of existing models. They were able to combine innovative thinking with solid legal bases and very good knowledge of market practice.’

‘Vanessa Marquette: excellent knowledge of the Belgian legal environment. Always available when asked and eager to find flexible solutions.’

‘I believe that what makes this firm unique is the high-level expertise in each of the jurisdictions that it operates.’

‘Marc Vermylen is just great. He is reliable and enthusiastic.’

‘Very helpful on Belgian private funds regulatory matters.’

‘Audrey Zegers in particular is excellent.’

‘I really like the hands-on approach of the people at Lydian and the fact that answers to questions are quite direct.’

‘One point of contact, with a back-up of multiple experts.’

‘Good negotiation, tactical approach, knowledge.’

‘I like working with Hugo Keulers because he understands our business. Apart from his thorough knowledge, vast experience and great competence, he is also very accessible and always open to discussion.’

‘It is very helpful that we have an excellent law firm like Lydian in Belgium which is based in Brussels, the heartland of EU financial regulatory law. Lydian has a strong international focus and really helps to resolve cross-border financial regulatory projects.’

‘Tom Geudens’ international network and strong position in the London market gives him a unique position and understanding of financial regulatory projects, from a Belgian as well as from an EU law perspective. He is supported by a very solid team which responds quickly and accurately. They are all pleasant people to work with and we enjoy working with them.’

‘The team is focused on how to leverage regulation to conduct business in the most efficient and flexible way within the framework of compliance.’

‘The practitioners know the market and understand the issues. They have good insight on how the regulator works in their jurisdiction.’