About

Manfred Schick joined ING Germany in September 2004 as the general counsel and head of the legal department and board office. Before that he worked at an independent and international law firm covering M&A transactions, corporate law, banking supervisory law and restructuring. Talking about his in-house career highlights which defined him as a legal professional, Schick states: ‘The first can best be described as a takeaway from the acquisition of a mortgage loan portfolio from Hypo Real Estate Bank in 2007. During the due diligence and contract negotiations we flagged the legal risk of insolvency of the seller. During that time an insolvency of a bank was still unthinkable and we received heavy headwind for bringing that topic to the table. We looked into our reasoning but maintained our point. A few months later the financial crises proved us right in our diligent approach. My learning was to stick with a well-founded opinion and not to falter when you face head wind’. During his time in his current role, Schick introduced the change in the professional self-conception of the legal department: ‘the legal department is not a self-sufficient function in an ivory tower, but an internal service provider and employees of other departments seeking our support are our clients. This new approach changed how the legal department was perceived in the bank, from a hurdle to a business enabler and guardian. As a service provider, the legal department needs to add value to the business departments and make that added value transparent’, he says. In the past three years, Schick and his legal team have been involved in important transactions and litigations. With significant contribution from the legal function, in 2018 ING acquired the Lendico group, a digital SME finance provider with companies in Germany, Poland, Spain and the Netherlands. The acquisition was completed under tight time pressure but the legal work did not finish with the signing or closing. The successful integration required sophisticated legal advice. Further, due to the in-depth knowledge and understanding of the Lendico business and structure, the legal department helped bridge the cultural gap between a Fintech and a major financial institution. ‘Currently I am leading the legal department through the biggest reorganisation the bank has ever seen. The agile transformation of the bank and the legal department itself rattles at the foundations of the previous organisations and goes beyond a new structure chart. It aims not only at a lean and more versatile structure but at a cultural change of the mind-set of the people. To break down silo structures and adapt new working methods, like (electronic) Kanban boards, design thinking and a Legal Obeya Room, while at the same time ensuring constant and consistent regulatory compliance and supporting a sustainable and secure business growth is the biggest task of these days’, Schick comments.