Switzerland 2022 – GC Powerlist
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Switzerland 2022

  • Industries

  • Powerlist

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Alison Lazerwitz

Executive vice president and general counsel | Swarovski

Consumer products

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Andrea Antonelli

General counsel and company secretary | ABB

Industrials and real estate

Andrea Ferrari

Head of global legal functions | Sandoz

Healthcare

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Andreas Meier

Executive vice president and chief legal officer | Straumann Group

Healthcare

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Andreas Walde

Executive vice president and general secretary | Vifor Pharma

Healthcare

Andreas Zumbach

Head of legal, trading and sales | Axpo Services AG

Energy and utilities

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Andrzej Kolwas

Senior sounsel, operations | Philip Morris International

Consumer products

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Anela Musat

General counsel | Blue Horizon

Financials

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Barbara Lange

General counsel | Tillotts Pharma AG

Healthcare

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Barbara Levi

Group general counsel and member of the group executive board | UBS

Financials

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Bart Philips

Vice president, regulatory law EMEA and APAC | Johnson & Johnson

Healthcare

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Caitlin St Vincent Welch

Director of legal operations | Zurich Insurance Company Ltd

Financials

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Catherine Schmid

Head of legal Western Europe wealth and investment | Barclays

Financials

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Cedric Bossert

General counsel | Richemont

Consumer products

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Charalabos Klados

Vice president, general counsel Europe | Colgate-Palmolive

Consumer products

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Christian Haitz

General counsel corporate and M&A | Gategroup

Consumer products

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Claudia Crescenzi

Group general counsel | Oriflame Cosmetics

Consumer products

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Cornelis Van Ophem

Executive vice president and global general counsel | Fresenius Medical Care

Healthcare

Daniel Morales

Head UBS group functions legal | UBS

Financials

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Daniel Schoenberger

Head of legal, Switzerland and Austria | Google

Information technology

Elisabeth Leimbacher

Head of legal for rare diseases and commercial contracts, Europe-Canada | Takeda

Healthcare

Elmar Büth

General counsel | Ivoclar

Healthcare

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Eyal I. Tavor

General counsel | Deloitte Switzerland

Commercial and professional services

Fabienne Crisovan

Group head governance, ESG legal and corporate law | Zurich Insurance Company Ltd

Financials

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Federico Piccaluga

Group general counsel | Duferco

Materials and mining

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Flavio Santangelo

Head of legal  | Banque Cramer

Financials

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Florian Harms

Director of data protection Europe | Emerson Corporate

Industrials and real estate

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Francesco Mainardi

Head of legal service | Coop

Consumer products

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François Stettler

Head of legal global commercial | Logitech

Consumer products

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Gabriel Flory

Regional legal lead | Biogen

Healthcare

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Gema Olivar Pascual

General counsel | PwC Switzerland

Commercial and professional services

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Geraldine Llewellyn

Senior vice president and chief counsel, Mondelēz Europe | Mondelēz

Food

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Gerd Maxl

Group general counsel | PartnerRe

Financials

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German Grüniger

Group general counsel | Implenia AG

Industrials and real estate

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Guido Wennemer

EMEA general counsel, head of data protection and compliance | Acer

Information technology

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Hans-Peter Conrad

Head of legal Switzerland | Swiss Life

Financials

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Hanspeter Rentsch

General counsel | Swatch Group

Consumer products

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Hansueli Sallenbach

Group general counsel | Axpo Group

Energy and utilities

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Hermann Geiger

Member of group executive committee, legal compliance internal audit | Swiss Re

Financials

Holger Klafs

Group general counsel | Landis+Gyr AG

Industrials and real estate

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Ingrid Sollerer

General counsel and global head legal | Sandoz

Healthcare

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Irene Klauer

General counsel | Allianz Suisse

Financials

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Jean-Baptiste Leclercq

General counsel | Gunvor Group

Transport and infrastructure

Jelena Madir

General counsel | Gavi

Healthcare

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John Fraser

Senior vice president, legal and regulatory affairs and chief compliance officer | JTI (Japan Tobacco International)

Food

Judith Bischof

General counsel | RUAG International

Transport and infrastructure

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Julia Ender Amacker

Head of legal and compliance | AXA Insurance Switzerland

Financials

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Karen Hale

Chief legal officer and member of the executive committee | Novartis

Healthcare

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Karim Tejani

Head of legal Switzerland | Microsoft

Information technology

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Keir Ashton

Group general counsel | Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC)

Materials and mining

Ken Ebanks

Vice president and deputy general counsel – markets, growth and privacy | eBay

Financials

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Kevin Forjette

General counsel, Europe and Middle East | Gategroup

Consumer products

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Koenraad Van Himbeeck

General counsel EMEA and Americas, Garrett Motion | Garrett

Information technology

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Leanne Geale

Chief legal officer and member of the executive committee | Nestlé

Food

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Lisette van Eenennaam

Global general counsel robotics and discrete automation | ABB

Industrials and real estate

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Marc Monnier

Company secretary, head board office | Zurich Insurance Group Ltd

Financials

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Marc Olivier Morant

Head of legal business services, newlaw and contingent workforce | PwC Switzerland

Commercial and professional services

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Marc-Antoine Mazloum

Head of legal department | Barclays

Financials

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Maria-Antonella Bino

Group general counsel | Vontobel

Financials

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Marie-Théodora Vandewiele

General counsel and company secretary | Galapagos

Healthcare

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Markus Lang

General counsel Europe West | EY

Commercial and professional services

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Martin Vonaesch

General counsel Switzerland and Austria | The Adecco Group

Commercial and professional services

Martin Wartmann

Group general counsel and chief compliance officer | Geistlich Pharma AG

Healthcare

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Matthew Owens

Global head legal, Digital | Novartis

Healthcare

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Matthias Glatthaar

Head data privacy and digital | Migros

Consumer products

Maurus Schreyvogel

Chief legal innovation officer | Novartis

Healthcare

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Michele Casale

General counsel and head of legal and compliance for Holcim Central Europe West | LafargeHolcim

Industrials and real estate

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Nakisa Serry

General counsel, chief compliance officer | Galderma

Healthcare

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Nick Raymond

General counsel corporate centre and group functions | Swiss Re – Corporate Centre and Group Functions

Financials

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Nicolas Burgener

Chief legal officer and secretary of the board | Audemars Piguet

Consumer products

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Nicolas Meyer

General counsel and general secretary | RUAG

Transport and infrastructure

Nicolas Tschopp

General counsel | Pictet Asset Management

Financials

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Nora Zinsli

General counsel | SWITCH

Information technology

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Oliver Kirchner

Managing director and head of legal EMEA | Citrix Systems

Information technology

Oliver P. Kronenberg

Group general counsel and executive vice president | Vifor Pharma

Healthcare

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Patrick Dehmer

General counsel | Swisscom

Telecommunication services

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Patrick Verraes

Global deputy general counsel  | Huntsman Advanced Materials

Energy and utilities

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Peter Fatzer

General counsel | KPMG Switzerland

Commercial and professional services

Philippe Hengy

Head general and regulatory legal services | AXA Insurance Switzerland

Financials

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Philippe Huber

Vice president, group general counsel and chief compliance officer | SIG Combibloc Group

Materials and mining

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Rachel J Mattatia

General counsel | HSBC Private Bank (Suisse)

Financials

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Remco Lemarcq

Global head counsel, plasma-derived therapies | Takeda

Healthcare

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Ricardo Cortés-Monroy Castillo

Group chief legal officer and general counsel | Nestlé

Food

Richard Ancrum

General counsel, EMEA | PartnerRe

Financials

Richard Magnan

General counsel, chief information officer, chief of cybersecurity, data protection officer, and chief data officer | Rising Tide

Healthcare

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Rita Portmann Witmer

Head of legal wealth management | BNP Paribas

Financials

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Romeo Cerrutti

General counsel | Credit Suisse

Financials

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Roy Papatheodorou

General counsel | Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Healthcare

Sarah Marshall

Vice president legal, international and Japan | AstraZeneca

Healthcare

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Saumya R. Bhavsar

General counsel | Diem Networks

Financials

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Shaun Teichner

General counsel | Glencore

Materials and mining

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Sofya Matteotti

General counsel and data protection officer | Teralytics

Information technology

Stephanie Bregy

Group general counsel | Swiss Federal Railways (SBB)

Transport and infrastructure

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Thomas Gross

General counsel and company secretary | Swissport International

Transport and infrastructure

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Thomas Hogfors

Global general counsel, motion | ABB

Industrials and real estate

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Thomas Schönholzer

General counsel | Sulzer

Energy and utilities

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Tom Fischer

General counsel | Zürcher Kantonalbank

Financials

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Ueli Studer

General counsel Switzerland region | UBS

Information technology

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Urs Schwartz

General counsel and corporate secretary | Victorinox

Consumer products

Vincent Mohy

Chief legal and compliance officer  | SOCAR Trading

Energy and utilities

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Xavier Schops

General counsel, global M&A and strategy | Sonova

Healthcare

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With widespread acknowledgement of climate change and its impact on the environment, corporate organisations are now increasingly required to evaluate sustainability practices within their business. This year’s The Legal 500 GC Powerlist: Switzerland 2022 highlights, among the other myriad responsibilities of a leading in-house lawyer, the leading role that general counsel play in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters for their companies. ESG has evolved from being a solely ethical or social requirement to an essential corporate strategy that must be considered. Non-compliance with ESG could potentially devastate a company’s reputation while limiting market opportunities and capital raising. Corporate bodies in Switzerland are strongly encouraged to implement ESG into their operations to maintain their business in one of the most prosperous and modern free markets in the world.

Switzerland, undoubtedly seen as a leader in the traditional banking services world, now is facing the challenge of the new era of technology in finance. By offering a well-developed regulatory framework for fintech firms and digital assets, Switzerland is now a leading world fintech market, evidenced by the fact that ten percent of all global European fintech enterprises are situated in Switzerland.

As the interviews within these pages clearly show, the pandemic has accelerated in-house legal functions’ transition into utilising technology. Legal tech has helped in-house lawyers to function beyond their current capacity and budget while allowing them to effectively manage time and reduce the cost of contract complexity. Despite the hardships caused by the global crisis, in-house lawyers in Switzerland moved out of their comfort zone while focusing on adopting cutting-edge technologies into their practice.

I would like to extend the sincerest gratitude to all the general counsel and in-house lawyers who participated in this edition of the GC Powerlist: Switzerland. This edition celebrates counsel in Switzerland who successfully expanded their roles to become strategic business partners to their organisations. While helping their organisations to tackle new challenges caused by the pandemic and the development of ESG regulations and policies, in-house lawyers in Switzerland deployed innovative technologies to free up valuable but often illusive time for strategic thought.

Yoonsong Choi
Research analyst:
GC Powerlist Series

Axiom

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Axiom is delighted to support the GC Powerlist, to play a role in recognising the innovators and trailblazers across in-house counsel in Switzerland.

The growth of the segment today known as Alternative Legal Services Providers – or ALSPs – has evolved rapidly. Over 20 years ago, Axiom created this new model with the simple idea that there was a better way to bring innovative legal services to inhouse counsel. Since that time, this category has now developed into a rapidly-expanding ecosystem with various industry segments now focused on this same charter.

Axiom shares and meets the higher standards of its clients and lawyers, connecting growing mid-market and Fortune 500 companies with the world’s deepest bench of experienced, specialized legal talent. 99% of clients recommend us, and four out of five rate our lawyers as equal to or better than lawyers from a law firm.

Innovation and change is hard work. We offer congratulations to those recognised in the GC Powerlist: Switzerland 2022, highlighting the strength and innovation displayed by legal leaders across Switzerland, and reinforces the highly strategic role of corporate counsel in today’s business environment.

Baker McKenzie

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Baker McKenzie is one of the largest law firms in Switzerland. Our offices in Geneva and Zurich have been an integral part of the Swiss legal landscape for more than half a century, firmly establishing us as a prominent force for our domestic and foreign clients. Our vast, experienced team of experts, composed of more than 130 lawyers, is providing Swiss and multinational industry players, financial institutions, private equity houses and insurance companies with top-tier legal advice. We have a fantastic track record for domestic and cross-border advice in all areas of business law. The dedication to providing clients with practical and innovative solutions, along with the quality of our work, has been consistently recognized with top rankings by leading global legal directories.

As global citizens, industry savvy, diverse and with a thirst for innovation, our horizon does not end in Switzerland. Our unique global footprint with 78 offices in 46 countries allows us to bring the right talent at the right time to every client issue, regardless of where the client is. And since our clients want lawyers who are prepared to lead, differentiate and adapt in a constantly changing world, we have built on our strengths and abilities to adopt a new type of thinking and use cutting-edge legal technologies to help clients overcome the challenges of competing in today’s new world economic order.

GC Powerlist: Switzerland 2022

After a three-year break, The Legal 500 was back in Zurich to launch the fifth edition of the GC Powerlist: Switzerland. Our research editor Allan Cohen and senior key account manager David Freeman shared a wonderful evening at beautiful guild house Zunfthaus zur Meisen with our awarded GCs and members of the Swiss in-house legal community. A huge thank you to Axiom and Baker McKenzie for hosting the successful event, and to Dr Maria-Antonella Bino, Elisabeth Leimbacher, Alessandro Celli and Daniel Hayter for their inspirational speeches.