Three ways I am engaged
Interim Head of Legal
Full or partial cover of the legal function at a bank, lender or financial institution — end responsibility for documentation, advice to the management board and management of external counsel.
External general counsel
A set number of days or half-days per week or month as a standing legal counterpart, without the cost of an in-house legal department. Suited to smaller lenders, funds and corporate service providers.
Transaction capacity
Overflow on a specific transaction or portfolio: documenting one deal, reviewing a loan portfolio, or reinforcing a law firm team under deadline.
Why an independent senior
For work that is too specialist for a generalist and too small for a firm team, the usual route is slow and expensive. A large firm charges a senior rate plus overhead, and the execution often lands with a junior who still has to learn the transaction. A secondment agency supplies capacity, but rarely fifteen years of specific transaction experience.
What I offer sits between the two: one experienced lawyer who does the work personally, without ramp-up, at an independent practitioner's rate. In the words of IFLR1000: “an experienced lawyer in the field of banking and finance and is able to perform under tight deadlines.”
What you get
- Availability at short notice — usually within days, including mid-transaction.
- Fifteen years of transaction experience in LMA financings, securitisation, structured finance, ISDA/derivatives, real estate and asset finance.
- Three perspectives — large international firm (Norton Rose Fulbright), own niche firm (co-founder of Bond Advocaten) and in-house as Head of Legal — which helps in judging what a credit committee or board actually needs.
- Work in your systems: your precedents, your document management, your reporting formats.
- Languages: Dutch and English at transaction level, plus Spanish and German.
- Clear terms: an hourly rate or a fixed amount per period or transaction, within an agreed range.
Previous interim engagements
Interim Head of Legal at a European SME lender with an Amsterdam branch: end responsibility for all legal aspects of the lending operation, LMA transaction documentation, a securitisation programme, KYC/CDD onboarding of international client structures and vendor contracts under DORA.
Interim head of business compliance at an international corporate service provider: leading the compliance team, onboarding more than 150 clients and redesigning internal compliance processes.
Ongoing interim support to a capital markets service provider on Debt Capital Markets transactions, client onboarding, documentation and regulatory liaison.
Who I work for
Banks and lenders, asset managers and fund managers, institutional investors, corporate service providers and trust offices, and law firms needing temporary senior transaction capacity — as a subcontractor or directly with the client. Previous clients include ABN AMRO, Rabobank, Triodos Investment Management, CBRE Global Investors, Triple Jump, Baker McKenzie, Bird & Bird, Stek Advocaten and Vistra.
Practicalities
Based in Amsterdam, working on site or remotely, across the Netherlands and beyond. Professional indemnity insurance is in place and confidentiality is a standard part of the engagement letter. For the substantive areas, see LMA loan documentation, securitisation and compliance and KYC/CDD.