Former Crédit Agricole General Counsel Hubert de Vauplane Joins Kramer Levin’s Paris Office

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP is pleased to announce that corporate and banking attorney, Hubert de Vauplane, has joined the Paris office as a partner. The firm’s Paris office, which continues to expand, specializes in business law and comprises 30 lawyers

“The firm has a reputation as one of the most highly regarded law firms in Paris for its experience in banking and financial law, both as an advisor on complex operations and the creation of new banking products and for commercial, disciplinary and criminal litigation,” stated Alexander Marquardt, managing partner of the Paris office. “The arrival of Hubert, formerly General Counsel, Legal and Compliance for the Crédit Agricole S.A. group, adds additional depth to our practice and reinforces the position of the firm among those which are able to offer their clients a made-to-measure service.”

After earning a doctorate (Ph.D) in law at Paris II - Panthéon University (ASSAS), Mr. de Vauplane began his career with Banques Populaires as a financial lawyer, handling both primary and secondary market operations and the creation of new savings products. He then spent seven years at the firm Oddo & Cie, first as a derivatives trader and then as head of the legal department.

In 1994, he joined the legal department of PARIBAS, which was managed at the time by Jean-Pierre Mattout with whom he now meets up again at Kramer Levin, where he dealt with capital market operations and mergers and acquisitions, both for the bank and for its clients. Shortly after the merger with BNP, he was appointed Legal Director for Corporate & Investment banking activities at BNP PARIBAS, in France and abroad (2002).

He continued his career with the Crédit Agricole group, first as Legal Director of the Crédit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank (2007) where he managed the consequences of the financial crisis, then from January 2009 as Legal and Compliance Director of the Crédit Agricole S.A. group, where he was in charge of the group’s complex reorganisation operations and Crédit Agricole’s major litigations in France and abroad.

Mr. de Vauplane is currently an associate professor at Paris II-Panthéon University (ASSAS) where he teaches banking and financial law in various Masters degrees and is Chairman of the European Association for Banking and Financial Law (AEDBF). He is designated as an expert with the French Securities Commission (AMF) and the European Commission among other international institutions. Until May 2011, he was vice-chairman of the European Financial Lawyers Markets Group (EFLMG) with the European Central Bank.

He has written numerous articles and reference books on banking and financial law, one of which received an award from the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques (1999). He also writes various legal columns for specialist journals.