Dechert LLP announced today that it has expanded its presence in Germany with the opening of an office in Frankfurt. Achim Pütz, who joined the firm in 2010, will serve as the managing partner for the office. He will be joined by Dr. Carsten Fischer and Dr. Benedikt Weiser, who have been elected as partners in the Financial Services group. Fischer, who has started with the firm, was previously a partner and a leader of the regulatory team at WTS Group, while Weiser, who will join the firm in February, was most recently a partner at Mayer Brown and head of its German Private Investment Funds group.
“Germany has always been an important part of our strategy to serve our clients’ global needs,” said Daniel O’Donnell, Dechert’s CEO. “We are delighted to have found lawyers of Carsten’s and Benedikt’s caliber to join us as we continue to build our team in Europe. Further recruitment in the financial services and corporate area is expected shortly.”
With approximately 160 financial services lawyers working throughout Europe, the United States and Asia, Dechert has one of the largest Financial Services practices.
A senior figure in the German alternative investment industry, Pütz is the founder and chairman of the German Alternative Investment Association. He has extensive experience advising both German and international clients on traditional and alternative investment funds and the conception, documentation and promotion of structured debt products. He advises regulated and unregulated institutional investors, with regard to their investments in complex alternative investment structures, especially hedge funds, commodity funds, real estate, infrastructure and debt funds as well as private equity funds.
“With Carsten and Benedikt, we have further strengthened our German Financial Services group, giving us an even greater ability to cover all aspects of financial services and asset management related matters,” Pütz said. “Our German presence is an important key for a top-ranked global law firm focusing on this area.”
Fischer concentrates his practice in the areas of asset management, banking regulation and insurance law. He has extensive experience in regulated and non-regulated funds, including UCITS, real estate funds, private equity funds and hedge funds.
Weiser advises on all aspects of asset management, regulated and unregulated funds, private equity, general M&A and corporate law. He focuses on advising both investors and fund sponsors on the structuring and formation of investment funds, including private equity, real estate, infrastructure, mezzanine and hedge funds. He also covers related tax and regulatory matters in all relevant fund jurisdictions.
Dechert’s presence in Germany has steadily grown since 2004 when the firm’s first office was opened in Munich by Federico Pappalardo. The Frankfurt office will work closely with our seasoned team in Munich that focuses on private equity and venture capital transactions, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged finance and acquisition finance, financial services and asset management, securities, banking, capital markets, labor, tax, finance and real estate as well as Islamic Finance and other business law for various industries.
