A prominent partner at crypto law firm MME is defecting, and joining up with a veteran UBS lawyer. The team has already nabbed a a lucrative mandate off MME, finews.com has learned.
Marcel Hostettler and Peter Maerkl are joining the Zurich office of Heuking, the two told finews.com. The German-based law firm wants a piece of the legal business offered up by Switzerland’s budding blockchain, fintech, and cryptocurrency sectors.
Both lawyers are well-known in their respective areas: Hostettler, who will run the Zurich office of Heuking, was a partner at MME, a Zurich-based law firm specialized in digital assets, for the past two years. Previously, he worked for UBS, Swiss financial regulator Finma, and KPMG.
Maerkl (pictured below) was most recently a lawyer for emerging market clients at UBS’ ultra-rich and family office unit, led by Josef «Joe» Stadler. He is to expand Heuking's business with private clients and wealth managers.
SIX Mandate
The new firm is taking a lucrative mandate off MME: SDX, the digital exchange project being launched by Switzerland’s stock exchange SIX, Hostettler said.
The move – seismic in legal circles – is a blow to MME: a frequent legal advisor to initial coin projects in 2016 and 2017, the Swiss law firm is attempting diversity into capital markets projects. MME wasn't immediately available to comment.
Heuking is also poaching Anna Wehrmueller, a capital markets lawyer, from MME. She, Hostettler and Maerkl add to a Heuking office in Zurich that had traditionally focused on self-declarations by wealthy German clients with money in Switzerland.
Additional MME Hire
In Zurich, Heuking plans to offer legal advice on digital assets, private banking clients, M&A and restructuring, compliance, and market access in Switzerland as well as in the European Union, via Germany, where the parent company is based.
The law firm had tapered its presence in Zurich after demand for voluntary disclosures faded. Hostettler told finews.com his team will work as an independent organization under Heuking’s brand.
