About

Dutch financial giant ING has had a presence in France since 1982. It currently operates in the country through its retail banking business ING Direct and ING Commercial Banking, its corporate banking business. Attached to the risk function, the legal team is formed of eight members and headed by Philippe Pied, who is praised by one source ‘for the finesse of his legal analysis and his pragmatism’. The legal team also benefits from the expertise of senior legal counsels Robert Stalford and Emmanuelle Huberman-Reiss who both joined in 2012. The latter provides expertise for both parts of the business, particularly in negotiations and contract drafting for electronic banking, service providers and suppliers as well as bilateral and syndicated loans. Both Stalford and Huberman-Reiss have played a big role in the analysis of the implementation of a new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is concerned with the protection of individuals with regard to processing personal data. Other notable members of the team include Henri Berthommier and Smahan Retayli who have specialist skills in legal financing and investment banking products respectively. As a combined unit, the team has assisted the business in arranging major commercial real estate transactions in France in 2016, such as: the €420m refinancing of the Logistis fund for AEW Europe; participation in the creation of Galimmo for the Louis Delhaize Group (Cora); and the acquisition of the Marché Saint-Germain for Hines and Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) in 2016.