A sound expertise in M&A
 
On January 1st, 2019, Jean-Philippe Smeets, who was already co-head of our M&A practice for almost one year, has been promoted to the position of Partner within the Corporate and M&A Department.
 
Since he joined the firm in the latter part of 2016, Jean-Philippe has enriched the Corporate & M&A team with more than fifteen years’ experience in mergers and acquisitions. He assists and advises (both sell side or buy side) the firm’s national and international clients in various domestic or cross-border M&A transactions, including the drafting and negotiation of the full range of appropriate corporate documentation. Before joining our firm, Jean-Philippe also developed (both in Belgium and Luxembourg) considerable expertise in mainstream corporate law, private equity and commercial law, including litigation (particularly with specific emphasis on post-acquisition and shareholders’ disputes).
 
Focus on New Technologies & GDPR projects
 
On January 1st, 2019, Audrey Rustichelli, who heads the Technologies & IP practice, has been promoted to the position of Partner.

Audrey has been renowned for several years in Luxembourg for her expertise in the areas of information technology and data protection rights. Her skills notably enable her to assist clients managing their projects to reach compliance with the new European data protection regulation, but also with IT projects (such as outsourcing and cloud computing, among others), together with drafting and negotiating appropriate legal documentation. She also operates in the area of FinTech in close collaboration with our Banking & Finance team, handles issues relating to the enforcement and defence of intellectual property rights and media law.

Audrey is also in charge of the commercial contracts practice, using her comprehensive knowledge of the legal framework, guidelines, trends and challenges applicable to prepare and negotiate contracts that are tailor-made to clients' needs and sector (services agreements, content agreements, general terms and conditions, joint ventures, distribution and franchise agreements, confidentiality agreements, etc).

Launching of Investment Funds practice

Responding to the demand from an ever-expanding market, Mathieu Scodellaro joined PwC Legal on 9th January 2019 as Principal, leading our Investment Funds practice.
 
Over the last 15 years, Mathieu has been involved in the creation of a large number of regulated and unregulated investment funds from “simple-strategy” UCITS to investment funds investing in illiquid assets (private equity, debt funds, real assets, insurance-linked assets, among others), with complex investment strategies or with innovative features. He also assisted numerous international clients (investment funds or service providers) in the setting-up, (re)structuring and handling of their organization or projects.

At PwC Legal, Mathieu will advise fund managers, depositary banks, central administrations, boards of directors, together with any and all fund industry stakeholders at each stage of their product life cycle.

Cindy Arces, managing partner of PwC Legal, says: “We are very proud to welcome in the partnership Audrey, Jean-Philippe and Mathieu. Their tremendous expertise, their commitment and their outstanding personality will contribute massively to add value to the services provided to our customers and to our firm in general. Our new partners and principal represent a continued investment in bringing the best our firm has to offer to the Luxembourg market place as we seek to support sustainable growth for our clients. From their insights on key business issues to the various perspectives they offer their clients, they will help continue making PwC Legal the distinctive choice for organisations looking to build success and drive value for their stakeholders”.