Dr. Michael Huertas

Partner | Financial Services Legal Leader - Global Legal Network, Financial Services Legal Leader Europe, Head of the Financial Institutions Regulatory Europe Team, Head of Legal Financial Services Germany Frankfurt am Main

Address

PwC Legal

Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 35-37

60327 Frankfurt am Main

Contact

Mobile  +49 160 97375760

Email  E-Mail

Qualification

  • German lawyer (Rechtsanwalt) since 2019
  • Solicitor-Advocate – Senior Courts of England & Wales since 2019
  • Lecturer of “Consolidated Supervisory Law” at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management for the Master of Financial Law programme since 2019
  • Lecturer of “Law and Practice of International Capital Markets” at the Institute for Law and Finance of the Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main for the programmes LL.M. Finance and LL.M. International Finance since May 2016
  • Registered European lawyer (Frankfurt) since 2013
  • Solicitor, Senior Courts of England & Wales since 2011
  • Solicitor, Ireland since 2011

Expertise

  • EU and international financial service providers (banks, investment service providers, asset managers and insurance undertakings)
  • FinTech firms, including crypto-asset service providers
  • Financial market infrastructure providers

Languages

  • English
  • French
  • German
I offer

About me

Dr Michael Huertas LL.M., MBA, is a Partner with PwC Legal. As the Global & European Financial Services Legal Leader for Europe, the German Practice Group Leader for Bank, Insurance and Investment Law as well as the Head of the Financial Institutions Regulatory Europe (FIRE) Team at PwC Legal he leads a group of multi-disciplinary, multijurisdictionally qualified and multilingual professionals who help clients navigate and realise the opportunities in the EU-27 – and notably the eurozone’s regulatory, supervisory and monetary policy framework. Michael specifically advises on the eurozone's Banking Union, the European Central Bank’s monetary policy activity and the EU’s Capital Markets Union workstreams along with the regulatory and supervisory priorities of the European Supervisory Authorities. Michael is also a member of PwC Legal and PwC’s Capital Markets Leadership Team. His structured finance practice focuses on derivatives, securities financing transactions and securitisations. Michael also has experience advising on conduct of business and governance arrangements (in particular, the managing of NPLs and non-performing assets) and financial market infrastructure, collateral and custody arrangements. His FinTech regulatory practice focuses on helping clients prepare for EU-level and national-level reforms as a result of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) as well as more generally questions relating to blockchain-based business models, DeFi, crypto-custody as well as FinTech providers and digital banks looking to enter or expand in the European Union.

Memberships

  • Member, Law Society of England & Wales
  • Member, Law Society of Ireland
  • Member, Rechtsanwaltskammer Frankfurt am Main
  • Member, Law Society of Northern Ireland
Career
  • Since June 2021: PwC Legal, Frankfurt am Main
  • Until June 2021: Partner and Head of the Financial Institutions Regulatory Practice for Europe at a global law firm, Frankfurt am Main
  • 2020: Doctorate (PhD in law) at Queen Mary University of London – “Custody, collateral and client money regulation in the post-crisis world: a comparative study”
  • Until 2018: Counsel at a global law firm, Frankfurt am Main
  • Until 2017: Associate at a Magic Circle law firm, Frankfurt am Main as well as a secondment from September 2014 to September 2015 at the European Central Bank (DG Legal), Frankfurt am Main
  • Until 2013: Associate at a global US law firm, London
  • 2012: MBA in Banking, University of London
  • Until 2011: Lawyer at a global banking group, London
  • Until 2009: Legal & Regulatory Consultant at a hedge fund compliance boutique, London
  • Until 2008: LL.M. at BPP University Law School, London
  • Until 2008: Legal Practice Course at BPP University Law School, London
  • Until 2007: Graduate Diploma in Law at BPP University Law School, London
  • Until 2006: Bachelor (Hons) in International Business with French and Law, European Business School, London
Publications
  • “What next for regulation of fund finance as the EU plans CMU 2.0?” Chapters in Fund Finance 2019 (3rd edition) and Fund Finance 2020 (4th edition), Global Legal Insights 2019 and 2020
  • “Das Regime der Regulatory Sandbox in Großbritannien: Entwicklung und Zukunftsperspektiven”, Handbuch FinTech, Erich Schmidt Verlag, 2018
  • Co-Author, Handbuch EMIR – Europäische Regulierung der OTC-Derivate, Erich Schmidt Verlag (2015): http://www.esv.info/978-3-503-16386-1 Review Lemke, WM 2016, pp.763 et seq.; Review Scherer, Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation, 2016, Vol. 31, Issue 7, 2016
  • Co-Author, “First steps on the path to Croatia adopting the euro as its official currency”, Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation, November 2019
  • “Why breaking-up is hard to do: a snapshot of key currency union dissolutions sovereign interventions and compatibility with EU law”, Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation, October 2019
  • “SBBS Regulation Proposal under Way: Will the Eurozone’s Sovereign Bond-backed Securities Come into Existence?”, Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation, July 2019
  • Co-Author, “Financial sector dispute resolution in a post-Brexit world”, Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation, March 2019
  • “Bundling Bonds as Safe Assets: An Update on the Eurozone’s Sovereign Bond-backed Securities Proposal”, Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation, 2018
  • “Continued challenges for private debt and loan origination funds in the EU despite the CMU”, Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation, April 2018
  • Co-Author, “Belgium: dispute resolution – Brexit”, Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation, March 2018
Mentions
  • JUVE Handbuch Wirtschaftskanzleien 2023/24: "True expert in financial regulation" (Competitor, Banking Law)
  • Best Lawyers recommends Dr. Michael Huertas for his Regulatory Practice since 2020.