Biography
Klaus Lackhoff began his career at Bruckhaus Westrick Heller Löber (now Freshfields) after completing his legal studies at the University of Münster, Germany. He holds a Ph.D. on the freedom of establishment under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), a Master’s degree in European Law from Europa Institut in Saarbrücken, Germany, and an LL.M. from the University of Iowa, USA.
During his nearly 16 years at Freshfields, Klaus gained extensive experience in both advisory and transaction-related work. His advisory practice focused on banking supervision law (e.g., CRR, German Banking Act) and securities trading law (e.g., WpHG). Key projects included advising on the restructuring of a financial institution during the global financial crisis, providing legal counsel to banks on capital increases, and supporting a medium-sized credit institution on a broad range of supervisory issues, such as own funds requirements, large exposures, remuneration, and consolidated supervision. He also worked on authorisation proceedings, outsourcing contracts, portfolio transactions, restructurings (including “branchifications”), passporting issues, and provided advice to banks in connection with on-site inspections and supervisory measures.
In 2012/2013, Klaus was seconded to the European Central Bank (ECB), where he contributed to the establishment of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), a cornerstone of European banking supervision.
In addition to his advisory work, Klaus gained significant experience in transaction-related matters at Freshfields. This included advising on equity capital market transactions (e.g., IPOs, capital increases), debt capital market transactions (e.g., MTN programs), asset finance transactions (e.g., U.S. cross-border leasing, financing of rolling stock), as well as securitisations, particularly of trade receivables, and other structured finance transactions.
In 2015, Klaus joined the European Central Bank as Head of Section. In this capacity, he leads a team of lawyers addressing legal questions arising from supervisory activities and horizontal supervisory functions. His responsibilities include work on own funds, own funds requirements, internal models, large exposures, the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP), options and discretions under EU banking law, consolidated supervision, liquidity, and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). Additionally, he provides advice on the functioning of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), including its tasks, powers, and decision-making processes, as well as on resolution-related issues.