Mrs Berry van Wijk > Houthoff > Rotterdam, Netherlands > Lawyer Profile

Houthoff
WEENA 365
3013 AL ROTTERDAM
Netherlands

Position

Partner (Insurance and Financial Services)

Career

Berry van Wijk specialises in insurance law and liability issues. She advises and litigates in the fields of regulatory law, reinsurance, life and non-life insurance, distribution of insurance, the transfer of portfolios and the liability of insurers for their products.

Berry has been a key voice in the nationwide discussions about unit-linked insurance since the debate began in 2006. This discussion has led and still leads to a variety of claims from different consumer organisations and individual policy holders. She advises a vast number of insurers, including Nationale Nederlanden, in such matters.

Berry advises on the development of new life and non-life insurance products as well as new distribution forms. She helps clients in their contacts with the main Dutch regulators, the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) and the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), and assists them with the implementation of regulatory requirements in the Netherlands. Berry further advises on the regulatory component of M&A transactions in the insurance industry.

Berry is a trusted adviser to the legal counsel and board members of several insurance companies. She is a daily board member of the Association for Insurance Sciences (Vereniging voor Verzekeringswetenschap) and member of the Advisory Committee on Insurance of the Dutch Bar Association (Orde van Advocaten). She is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Albert Schweitzer hospital and of the VNAB (Dutch Insurance Exchange Association).

Berry is an editor of the journal ‘Liability, Insurance and Damage’ (Aansprakelijkheid, Verzekering & Schade), writes a regular column in de Beursbengel and publishes in other trade journals. She is a lecturer on the post-academic Financial Law programme at the Eggens Institute of the University of Amsterdam and the Co-Insurance course (Leergang Co-Assurantie) at Erasmus University.

Languages

Dutch, English

Lawyer Rankings

Netherlands > Banking and finance: Financial services regulatory

Houthoff‘s ‘eye for detail’ allows it to oversee clients’ ongoing regulatory obligations, handling matters of AML compliance and risk assessments for their Dutch and European operations. Berry van Wijk steers the team’s efforts, helping financial services clients implement regulatory requirements and liaising with regulators on their behalf. Lisanne Haarman assists with regulations governing payment services and cryptocurrencies.

Netherlands > Insurance

(Leading partners)

Berry van WijkHouthoff

The practice at Houthoff is well-equipped to assist its client roster on complex regulatory matters, including on insurance and reinsurance issues, on insurtech and product launches, and on the array of related commercial and corporate issues. Matters regarding the mis-selling of unit-linked insurance products is a particular area of expertise. The ‘extremely knowledgeable’ Berry van Wijk oversees the practice and has noteworthy expertise handling financial regulatory work. Lucas Dröge and Huib Lebbing are experienced handling liability claims, including defending insurers in toxic chemical disputes and mass claims. Gijs Hamelijnck has expertise assisting insurtech companies.