Interview with Pepijn Paanen – Euronext
Pepijn Paanen, Head of Legal & Regulatory Affairs Netherlands at the publicly traded stock exchange company Euronext N.V., is looking to hire a new colleague for his department: an ambitious legal counsel with (at least) four to six years of work experience.
Paanen (48) has his office in the historic Euronext office building at Beursplein 5 in Amsterdam, right next to another famous stock exchange building designed by H.P. Berlage. He explains that the Euronext building was designed by Jos Cuypers, son of Pierre Cuypers, the architect of the Rijksmuseum and Amsterdam Central Station.
In addition to the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, Euronext includes the stock exchanges in Paris, Brussels, Dublin, Lisbon, Oslo, and Milan. Most of the departments in each local market serve the entire group. Paanen, for example, spends a few days a month in Paris for consultations.
The stock exchange company operates in a highly regulated market. The applicable laws and regulations are partly national—and therefore vary by location—and partly European. Paanen’s responsibilities are multifaceted: drafting and reviewing contracts, providing legal support to colleagues in the development of new products and projects, assessing the legal implications of regulations for the company’s products and overseeing the legal implementation of these regulations in the Netherlands, and, finally, coordinating those rules with the other branches. This coordination is carried out by the so-called College of Regulators. According to Paanen, cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and the integration of markets for specific products currently require a great deal of attention.
Paanen’s department consists of a paralegal and a secretary, and there is currently an opening for a lawyer. What experience and qualities is he looking for in the new lawyer? Paanen: “He or she must, in any case, have started their career in private practice. Strong drafting skills are central to the training there, and they come in handy here. In addition, it must be someone who enjoys thoroughly immersing themselves in legislation and regulations and who then applies that knowledge to the business to support colleagues within the company. That’s why I place a strong emphasis on personality; you have to be socially adept, able to approach colleagues easily, and be approachable to them.” Taking initiative is also part of that, he says, “here you have a lot of freedom to get things started, to help the company move forward.”
Of course he will mentor the newcomer. Paanen, who once rowed at a high level, has also coached top international rowers for many years. He is happy to use this experience to mentor and help the new lawyer grow professionally, he says.
And according to Paanen, Euronext is an attractive place to work for a young lawyer because many young, highly educated professionals work there.