Speakers
Timo Matthias Spitzer, executive director & head of legal, Banco Santander Germany
Timo Matthias Spitzer is a distinguished legal professional with over two decades of international experience, particularly in European and Latin American markets. He currently serves as the Head of Legal for Santander Corporate & Investment Banking in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Nordic countries, based in Frankfurt am Main. In this capacity, Spitzer leads a team responsible for overseeing the legal aspects of global wholesale corporate transactions, including syndicated lending, export, trade and supply chain finance, and cash management.
Spitzer’s legal career encompasses significant roles at major international law firms and financial institutions. Notably, he worked at Linklaters Lefosse in São Paulo, Brazil, where he honed his expertise in cross-border legal matters. In 2015, he joined Banco Santander, where he has been instrumental in driving the Frankfurt branch’s commercial growth, contributing also to a doubling of the legal team’s size.
Throughout his tenure at Santander, Spitzer has provided legal support to various sectors, including Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT), Energy, Infrastructure, and Consumer Retail Healthcare. He has played a pivotal role in significant transactions, such as advising Sociedad Transmisora Metropolitana SpA (Grupo Saesa) and Mareco Holdings Corp on acquiring a 99.42% stake in Enel Transmisión Chile through a Mandatory Public Tender Offer valued at US$1.4bn. Additionally, he participated in the team acting as financial advisor to CKD Infraestructura México on equity stakes in three of Coconal’s toll road concessions, amounting to MX$3.5bn.
Beyond his legal practice, Spitzer is a recognised thought leader and educator. Since 2018, he has served as an adjunct professor for International Trade & Export Finance / International Economic Law at the Frankfurt Institute for Law and Finance (ILF). Since him joining, the ILF has continuously been recognised as a Global Top 10 Master program in banking and securities law by LL.M. Guide, ranking alongside institutions like Harvard Law School and Oxford.
Spitzer’s contributions to the legal profession have been acknowledged through various accolades. He was included in The Legal 500 Powerlists for General Counsel Germany in 2017, 2019, 2022 and GC Germany Teams in 2018. In 2018, he received the Santander Group Global WiseLegalSpeakers’ Award. His leadership and expertise were further recognised when he won both the European Counsel Award and the Global Counsel Award in 2019, reflecting his outstanding contributions to the field. In 2024, he won the In-house ESG Champion category at The Legal 500 Germany Awards and the Carsted Rosenberg General Counsel of the Year for Nordics Award.
A proponent of the power of global networking, Spitzer leads an international legal team at Banco Santander, comprising professionals from diverse backgrounds, currently including Mexico, Turkey and Venezuela. His commitment to fostering an inclusive environment underscores his dedication to excellence and progressive leadership.
Spitzer is also an active participant in international legal and business communities. He has continuously represented Santander at conferences organised by the Financial Times and The Economist. In 2023, he addressed delegates from over 20 financial institutions at the Inter-Alpha-Banking School held at Commerzbank, sharing insights on leadership and cultivating a high-performance culture.
In summary, Timo Matthias Spitzer exemplifies the qualities of a highly effective general counsel, seamlessly bridging European and Latin American markets. His profound impact on his employers, the legal profession, and his commitment to diversity and education highlight his exceptional career and enduring contributions to the field.
Dr. Carmen Schneider, partner, FPS
Dr Carmen Schneider has many years of experience in the energy industry. She advises energy suppliers, grid operators, investors, project developers, energy service providers and electricity cost-intensive companies on energy industry law. With a focus on project developments in the field of renewable energies (in particular onshore and offshore wind, solar, electricity storage, green hydrogen and decentralized generation models), she specializes in energy contract and energy regulation law as well as energy trading.
Ms. Schneider’s practice focuses on drafting and negotiating all types of contracts, e.g. PPAs, direct marketing agreements and other energy supply agreements, project and cooperation agreements, component supply agreements and service agreements. A further focus is on advising on issues relating to (priority) grid connection, grid usage and resulting compensation claims, e.g. due to redispatch measures or in accordance with Section 17e EnWG. In addition, she advises on M&A transactions in the energy sector and represents her clients in (arbitration) court proceedings.
Vera Luetzelschwab, legal AI consultant, Legalfly
Vera brings a unique combination of legal expertise and hands-on experience consulting clients across SaaS and tech. At LEGALFLY, she works with in-house legal teams to understand their challenges and guide them toward AI solutions that deliver real, practical value. Her background on both sides of the table – law and technology means she speaks her clients’ language and knows how to turn complex tools into meaningful outcomes.
Mirko Tegeler, group general counsel, head of legal and governance Germany and international, Kaufland
Mirko Tegeler is the group general counsel, head of legal and compliance for Germany and International at Kaufland. He is an acclaimed lawyer with an extensive career as an in-house counsel. Not only is Mirko highly knowledgeable when it comes to legal matters, but his business acumen has made him pivotal when it comes to driving the growth of corporations and transforming internal structures and departments.
Mirko started his legal studies in 1997 at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. Given his passion for economics, he decided to undertake a dual degree incorporating business and economics. Early in his career, Mirko understood that he wanted to be something other than a regular solicitor. He was fascinated by companies and the world around them. Mirko’s education was enriched thanks to experiences abroad in Vienna, Austria and Auckland, New Zealand.
After obtaining the title of LLM in 2009, Mirko secured a corporate legal role at Lidl International, which is part of the Schwarz Group. The legal department was at the time newly founded and only counted three employees. Mirko saw in that the opportunity to expand his knowledge and influence. It represented both a challenge and an occasion working for a company with significant revenue and hundreds of different companies in such a small legal department. Certainly, Mirko was on top of the game. He likes to point out how these first years have given him crucial skills such as dealing with executives and genuinely understanding the structure of a company. After two years, Mirko’s tasks changed to commercial law, and he evolved his new field of practice into a regular legal department within Legal & Compliance. With its department, Mirko provided legal advice on a broad spectrum of topics, such as e-commerce, food law, IT law, M&A, public law, real estate law, and waste legislation. Throughout his ten years at Lidl, Mirko was pivotal in driving the growth of Legal and Compliance and turning it into a crucial internal partner for the business departments.
In 2019 Mirko moved on to Kaufland, also part of the Schwarz Group. Besides the general counsel role for Germany and internationally, he is chief of legal and compliance. The main legal fields of practice in the Legal and Compliance department are compliance, contract law, data protection, IP and real estate law, and regulatory affairs.
Isabel Ann Giancristofano, director legal and compliance, Condor Flugdienst
Dr. iur. Nikolai Vokuhl, group general counsel and chief compliance officer, Hugo Boss
Dr. Henning Kuschewitz, group general counsel, Talanx
Steering Committee
Yvonne Schäfer, lead regional counsel – Central Europe, Visa
Yvonne oversees legal operations for Central Europe as well as the Nordics & Baltics and lead a team of talented lawyers. My legal work focuses on enabling Visa’s growth through cutting-edge solutions such as Click to Pay, AI-driven products, and digital payment innovations – while ensuring compliance and strategic alignment as a Legal Business Partner.
Steering Committee
Gabriele Spiess, senior vice president, global field legal, regional general counsel, Middle and Eastern Europe, head of legal department, SAP Deutschland SE & Co. KG
With over 36 years at SAP, Gabriele has held several senior leadership roles within the legal function and brings deep expertise in IT law, complex customer contract negotiations, and commercial support for large-scale, strategic projects.
Gabriele currently leads a 37-strong legal team across the Middle and Eastern Europe (MEE) region, overseeing legal operations across multiple jurisdictions and supporting SAP’s commercial activities in one of its most diverse markets. As part of SAP’s Global Field Legal organisation, the team plays a critical role in enabling business growth through pragmatic, commercially focused legal advice.
Steering Committee
Christian Unsinn, general counsel, Omnicom Advertising Group Germany
General Counsel of Omnicom Advertising Group (OAG) in Germany, overseeing all legal matters for the German BBDO, DDB and TBWA networks.
German-qualified attorney with a strong focus on trademark, copyright, advertising, media, music, contract and employment law.