Team size: 65

What are the key projects that you have been involved in over the past twelve months?

The last twelve months have been a time dominated by two types of activity – the first related to the past and the second to the future.

The first is the management of over 9000 ongoing court proceedings concerning loans denominated in the Swiss franc, variable rate loans based on the WIBOR ratio and free loan sanctions. It is the need to adapt the strategy to the constantly changing case law and to create reporting mechanisms that allow for efficient management of these risks.

The future is work on our Bank’s strategy for 2026 to 2030, analysis of new products and business ideas, as well as projects using AI, both for the needs of customers and employees of the bank. Projects that are technologically complex, but also from a legal point of view, issues of the scope of customer data processing and copyright (for example, in one of the projects aimed at improving money laundering processes, 250 licenses will be used).

Have you had any experiences during your career as a lawyer that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?

The last 23 years of my professional life have been one institution, in the formal and legal sense, but in fact it is a kaleidoscope of changes, starting with the change of leading shareholders (when I started the main shareholder was the State Treasury, then Rabobank and now for ten years BNP Paribas SA), through merger processes (we carried out a total of four mergers), which means continuous change management (combining different organisational cultures, different standards, templates of documentation), it is also the management of emotions, it is a great challenge and a great lesson.

What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

I think that the law, the tools we use, the macroeconomic and political situation, business goals are changing, but the qualities that an in-house counsel should have remain unchanged. Firstly, on the one hand, it is an excellent knowledge of the law, but on the other hand, it is also an awareness of one’s ignorance (nowadays it is impossible to be a specialist in every field of law). Secondly, it is independence, i.e. the ability to independently judge the situation without succumbing to pressure. Thirdly, there is partnership with business, i.e. understanding that the law serves to achieve business goals, and this translates into listening and searching for solutions. It is also the ability to convince business that the regulatory environment is not only challenges but also opportunities. It’s also about patiently listening and building trust, but that means being close to business issues, being in the middle of them, not reviewing from the outside. And fourthly – in the case of in-house lawyers who are responsible for teams (managers), it is the ability to build a team, gather people around the goal and choose those for whom not only the law but values will be important.

Whenever we talk about in-house lawyers, I am reminded of the sentence that in-house lawyers are the kind of people who solve your problems that you don’t even know you have.