Ralf Widmer – GC Powerlist
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Germany 2014

Ralf Widmer

Senior legal counsel | Wacker Chemie

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Germany 2014

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Ralf Widmer

Senior legal counsel | Wacker Chemie

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Wacker Chemie is a globally operating chemical company, founded in 1914, that maintains 22 production sites in Europe, the US and Asia, and distributes its products in over 100 countries. In his role as senior legal counsel, Ralf Widmer supervises employees in China and Germany, and setting up of the entire China legal department has been one of his particular successes. Prior to this, China had been covered remotely from Germany, ‘logistically challenging and requiring the extensive use of external advisors’. Within three years, Widmer created a functioning, local legal department, which ‘comprehensively and independently handles the local business with a total volume of €800m’ and also ensures constant contact to Germany for all company-wide China-related matters. But Widmer has initiated further internal changes, among them the ‘training of employees to design bespoke contracts using a database of contractual modules’ and the resulting focus of the legal department on ‘special cases, large contracts and projects’. Not only has he studied international law, but also the Chinese language and Chinese law in China, leading to his focus on handling the company’s activities in China and its dealings with EU administrative bodies. He particularly enjoys ‘bridging the gap between business and law’. External advisors should keep an eye on ‘streamlined organisation and the consistent waiver of excessive security measures such as extensive coordination within the law firm’.

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