Baker McKenzie Strengthens Financial Regulatory Practice with Sebastian Dey as Senior Counsel

Baker McKenzie is strengthening its German Banking & Finance Practice Group as of 1 September 2026: Sebastian Dey joins the Firm as Senior Counsel in the area of financial regulatory law. With his arrival, the Firm is strategically expanding its advisory capabilities at the intersection of capital markets business, product-related financial regulation and digital assets. The expansion will focus on the tokenization of financial instruments as well as advising traditional and DLT-based market infrastructures. This further strengthens Baker McKenzie’s leading advisory capabilities in financial regulatory law, capital markets law and digitalization.

Strategic expansion of Digital Assets and Capital Markets advisory

With the arrival of Sebastian Dey, Baker McKenzie is consistently driving forward the expansion of its financial regulatory practice and underscoring its leading market position in the area of Digital Assets and FinTech in Germany and EMEA. At the same time, the Firm is expanding its advisory offering for banks, fund managers, financial market infrastructures and corporates in relation to traditional and digital capital markets products.
Baker McKenzie is thus ideally positioned to meet the growing demand for comprehensive advice on Digital Assets, FinTech, tokenization and blockchain.

Sebastian Dey joins from Linklaters, where he served as Head of Digital Assets Germany. During his time at Linklaters, Legal 500 recognised him as a key lawyer in the German FinTech practice, highlighting in particular his advice on the issuance of crypto securities and DLT-related capital markets matters.

The lawyer and solicitor admitted in Germany as well as in England & Wales specializes in DLT-based capital markets products, the tokenization of traditional financial instruments, and structured capital markets products and financings. He combines his proven Digital Assets expertise with many years of experience in traditional capital markets work. His advisory practice covers capital markets products such as derivatives, repo and securities lending transactions, Schuldschein loans and registered bonds, as well as issues relating to their regulatory and capital treatment under banking regulation, including the use of credit risk mitigation (CRM). He has many years of experience with key regulatory frameworks such as CRR/CRD, CSDR, EMIR, MiFID II, MiFIR, the DLT Pilot Regime and MiCAR.

“We are delighted to welcome Sebastian to the Firm. With him, we are gaining a highly regarded expert who combines traditional capital markets products, product-related regulatory law and technological innovation in an outstanding way. This combination is particularly valuable for our clients and makes his arrival a strategically important step in expanding our established Financial Regulatory and Digital Assets practice,” says Dr. Conrad Ruppel, Partner in the Financial Regulatory Practice at Baker McKenzie in Frankfurt.

“Together with Sebastian, we can provide our clients with even more comprehensive support in the design and implementation of digital business models and innovative financial market products. This will enable us to further integrate our advisory offering in Digital Assets, Derivatives, Capital Markets and Regulation with the capabilities of our Transactional Practice in Germany and across our global network,” adds Dr. Oliver Socher, EMEA Chair of Baker McKenzie’s Banking & Finance Practice.

Integrated one-stop advice

At Baker McKenzie, Sebastian Dey will further expand the advisory offering in Digital Assets, derivatives and product-related regulatory law in particular, and help connect these capabilities more closely integrate it with the Firm’s existing practice groups. The aim is to deepen client relationships, win new mandates in digital capital markets and further strengthen the Firm’s thought leadership through publications, client events and active engagement with the Digital Assets ecosystem.

Sebastian Dey comments: “The digitalization of financial markets is increasingly moving beyond the experimental stage and becoming part of the established financial and capital markets architecture. For banks, financial institutions and companies, this creates new opportunities while also raising complex regulatory and legal issues. Baker McKenzie has a strong global network and an outstanding financial markets and regulatory practice. I look forward to contributing my experience in Digital Assets, Derivatives, structured products and product-related regulatory law, and to working with the team to help shape the further development of these markets.”