Global Head of Legal, Vanessa Bouthinon-Dumas, heads a team of around one hundred people spread across several countries in our network. She is also Secretary to the CACEIS Board of Directors and Secretary to the Executive Committee.
Her role includes closely monitoring the Group's strategic external growth projects and any internal reorganisation projects, from their initial phase through to completion, and is responsible for all the operational, commercial, financial and legal aspects.
This was notably the case for the acquisition and subsequent integration of RBC's European asset servicing activities, a transaction that involved legal staff for more than two years. After negotiations with our Canadian counterparts, the acquisition of the Luxembourg company that headed RBC’s European network, covering ten countries including the Malaysian operation, was renamed CACEIS Investor Services Bank. This acquisition and integration involved in-depth discussions with the local banking regulators and the European Commission, the competent competition authority, in order to obtain their authorisation.
"As soon as the acquisition was completed on 3rd July 2023, we embarked on the integration process, which would enable us to develop a broader range of services for our clients, unite our teams around a common culture, and realise synergies designed to create value for our staff and shareholders," explains Vanessa Bouthinon-Dumas. Her teams are responsible for meeting the deadline of 31st May 2024 for merging the legal structures in the 5 countries concerned (France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland and Ireland). They drew up an integration plan based on several legal mechanisms. The project was then presented to the relevant banking regulators for their approval.
In addition to the regulators, clients are also key stakeholders in this integration: CACEIS' Legal Department ensures that they are informed of the implications of the transaction in all the jurisdictions concerned. It is involved in discussions on changes to the Group's governance in this context. It is also involved in the overhaul of intra-group contractual arrangements following the integration of the centre of excellence in Malaysia within CACEIS, and the forthcoming transfers of our offices from Toronto to Montreal and from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur.
"As a business partner, I have to take account of operational and business constraints. As a manager, I have to lead a predominantly female team made up of people of many different personalities, cultures and nationalities. It's an exciting challenge that I'm enthusiastic about taking on," concludes Vanessa.
