Legal services, IP and Compliance at the BMW Group.

We legally advise the BMW Group on all product-related issues. This includes advising the development and procurement departments on contract design, recourse, insolvency and antitrust law as well as corporate law matters.

In addition, we initiate and manage legal disputes and administrative proceedings (including product liability lawsuits, class actions and major proceedings), advise on criminal and regulatory offences and manage the resulting risks.

We are also responsible for legal advice during construction and advise on real estate transactions. Our other advisory fields include logistics and transport law and public law.

We advise the global organisation on all legal issues related to the production, distribution and marketing of the BMW, BMW M, MINI, BMW Motorrad and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars vehicle brands as well as China.

In the production environment, our focus is on the global legal support of new plant projects. In the sales area, we deal with all commercial and distribution law issues, innovative concepts, new sales formats, distribution antitrust law and consumer law. We also advise on the China strategy and the management of the Chinese joint ventures.

We advise on a wide range of legal issues from the areas of corporate finance, financial services and mergers & acquisitions (M&A).

In the area of corporate finance, we support the refinancing of the BMW Group on the global capital markets in the form of corporate bonds and asset-backed securities transactions as well as through loan financing. Our service also extends to financial derivatives, project financing and the BMW Group's payment transactions.

Within the area of financial services, we cover the global banking and leasing business of the BMW Group, as well as advice on innovative financing and insurance products for BMW Group customers. We also support cross-border projects and cooperations with banks, financial service providers and insurers.

We also play a central role in the structuring, negotiation and implementation of global M&A transactions of the BMW Group. The range of these extends from company acquisitions and sales, through joint ventures and cooperations, to minority investments and venture capital. In this context, our service also includes antitrust aspects of the transactions as well as the management of global merger, investment and subsidy control proceedings.

We support the specialist departments, the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board on all legal issues in the areas of shares and the group, including securities trading, the law of corporate co-determination and fundamental issues of corporate law.

Our tasks also include project management for the annual shareholders’ meeting and the management of the supervisory board office of BMW AG. We are also the Group-wide control function in the area of corporate governance and are responsible for coordinating the shareholding management. Also, the area of employment law for executives is located within our department.

We legally advise various departments across the BMW Group on all issues of intellectual property. This includes building and defending an effective portfolio of intellectual property rights and taking worldwide action against product piracy and infringements.

Innovative ideas from the BMW Group's development departments are patented, designs and brands are secured worldwide. In cooperation with external partners, we negotiate the licensing of intellectual property rights and the granting of utilisation rights of the BMW Group.

We legally advise on forward-looking data and digital law topics, including digital business models, data economy, artificial intelligence and data protection issues. We also focus on the topics of innovation, process optimisation and the use of legal tech.

We shape the international development of the BMW Group legal network and are responsible for leading international teams. We also coordinate the antitrust law for the entire BMW Group.

At the BMW Group, lawful and responsible conduct is an integral part of our corporate culture. Integrity and compliance ensure the company's long-term success and are translated into specific tasks and processes through our Group-wide and comprehensive compliance management system.

Based on an established prevent-detect-respond-approach, we enable and support all employees in dealing with the identified compliance risks. We accompany the BMW Group in strategic challenges in a dynamic regulatory and business environment and thus contribute to the company being valued worldwide as an integral company and reliable partner.

As part of the HR division, we are a central unit for labour, collective bargaining and social law at the BMW Group, responsible for the strategic-conceptual framework conditions and application of the relevant legal regulations. In doing so, we define the employer's position in collective bargaining and legal issues, advise our HR functions on labour law issues and coordinate the BMW Group's global labour law network. The focus areas include individual employment, works constitution, collective bargaining, social and employee data protection law.

With great commitment, we ensure that the labour and social law concerns of all our colleagues in Germany and worldwide are handled professionally, effectively and in compliance with the law.

As part of the Finance division, we advise the BMW Group on all issues of national and international tax and customs law. Among other things, we ensure that tax and customs law regulations are complied with throughout the company. To this end, we evaluate tax and customs law facts, identify requirements and design options, and ensure compliance-compliant implementation in our company-wide processes and systems.

Our tasks also include the ongoing development of the global tax and customs strategy, for which we proactively monitor the ongoing (legal) developments in Germany and abroad. An important aspect of our work is also communication and negotiation with globally operating tax and customs authorities as well as close cooperation with external tax and customs consultants.