“What drives me is the combination of sophisticated legal advice, human interaction and the ambition to create strategically clever and practically feasible solutions even in crises.”
Nicole Willms has been a partner at Pohlmann & Company since 2014. She has been advising German and international clients in the areas of compliance, corporate governance and general corporate law for many years.
Nicole Willms has particular experience in the development, implementation and effectiveness testing of compliance management systems. One focus of her work is on complex, international mandates – in particular with regard to US authorities such as the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for example in the context of compliance monitorships.
She advises management boards, managing directors and supervisory boards on their organizational and supervisory duties, on establishing an effective control and compliance organization and governance as well as in connection with internal investigations and external regulatory proceedings. A particular focus of her work is on the legally compliant processing of compliance incidents, strategic crisis management and the examination and defense of directors’ and officers’ liability claims (D&O).
“Nicole Willms is very experienced and knowledgeable. She knows compliance best practices and offers practical solutions that a company can actually implement. She is personable and fun to work with!”, Legal500
Languages:
German and English.
Expertise: Effectiveness tests & monitorships, Governance structures, Assurance systems, ESG consulting, Internal investigations, Monitorships, Crisis management
Short vita.
- Studied law in Jena
- 2005 Admitted to the bar
- 2005-2014 Lawyer at various international commercial law firms in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and London
- Partner at Pohlmann & Company since 2014
- Since 2019 German Chapter Leader of the Woman’s White Collar Defense Association(WWCDA); member of the global WWCDA Monitor/Receiver Committee
- Since 2020 member and speaker of the Wirtschaftsstrafrechtliche Vereinigung e.V.(WisteV)
- Since winter semester 2020/21 Lecturer for Corporate Governance and Compliance at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
- Member of the Cross-Atlantic Cooperation Committee (CACC) of the International Association of Independent Corporate Monitors(IAICM) since 2021
- Member of the Expert Commission for the Development of Sustainable Governance Principles for SMEs since 2022(website)
Selected mandates.
- Lead member of the Independent Compliance Monitor Team (for the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) at VEON Ltd. (2016-2019) and telephone sharebolegat L.M. Ericsson (2020-2024)
- German Counsel to the Independent Compliance Monitor Larry Thompson for Volkswagen AG (2017-2020)
- Leading an internal investigation mandated by the Supervisory Board at a listed investor and an investment company into any business transactions that may affect the balance sheet
- Leading an internal investigation at a financial institution mandated by the Supervisory Board to clarify breaches of integrity/duty of care alleged by the authorities
- Legal review and ongoing support in the implementation of a group-wide compliance/risk management system (including internal controls) at a globally active DAX 40 company
- Advising on the organizational structure and further development of the global compliance function at a DAX 40 company
- Senior member of the U.S. Independent Compliance Monitor Team (for the Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) at a Swedish listed multinational network and telecommunications company
- Legal review and ongoing support in the implementation of a group-wide compliance/risk management system (including internal controls) at a globally active DAX 40 company
- Ad hoc management support and legal advice to a German energy supply company in connection with a cyber-attack
- Internal investigation and (legal) advice with regard to the corporate governance structures and know-your-customer processes at a technology platform provider in the e-commerce sector
- Comprehensive advice to an internationally active, family-run group on the establishment and further development of a central compliance management system
- Conducting and providing legal advice on various internal investigations at a globally active DAX 40 company
- Senior member of the U.S. Independent Compliance Monitor Team (for the Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) at VEON Ltd.
- German Counsel to Independent Compliance Monitor Larry Thompson for Volkswagen AG
- Examination and judicial enforcement of liability claims against former board members for a German energy supply company
- Advising a former managing director of a municipal company on the defense against liability claims asserted against him
Publications.
Articles
- US Whistleblower Incentivization and EU Whistleblower Protection – A System Comparison Taking into Account the New DOJ Pilot Program, in: Compliance Berater, September 2024 (together with Isabelle Plath)
- The supervisory board as guardian of corporate integrity, in: Der Aufsichtsrat, September 2024
- Corporate criminal liability due to insufficient compliance, in: ESGZ, September 2024 (together with Carola Stark)
- Compliance en Allemagne, in: Handbuch Lefebvre-Dalloz Verlag, November 2024 (together with Carola Stark)
- The rediscovery of clawbacks as part of sustainable corporate governance, in: ESGZ 6 (2023), 40-43 (together with Carola Stark)
- Compliance management as a duty of care and management of the GmbH management. On the judgment of the Higher Regional Court of Nuremberg of 30.03.2022 – 12 U 1520/19, in: GmbH-Geschäftsführung 2023, 72-78 (together with Carola Stark)
- DCGK-Novelle 2022 – The role of the supervisory board in the transformation process, in: Der Aufsichtsrat 07-08/2022, 104-106 (together with Carola Stark)
- Effective supervisory board work in the age of increasing compliance regulations, in: Der Aufsichtsrat 10/2021, 142-144 (together with Carola Stark)
- From apathy to advocacy: Germany’s growing support for compliance programs, in: CEP Magazine October 2021, 8-22
- Proven Practice – Practical experience with US Compliance Monitorships, in: CCZ 2 (2020), 57-65
- “US Compliance Monitorship – Lessons Learned!”, in: Compliance Praxis 40 (2019), 40-43 (together with D. Strieder and T. Baumgartner)
- How to prepare for a monitorship, in: Pohlmann & Company International Compliance Update 1/2018, 1-10 (together with Clemens Blettgen)
- Draft of the EU Commission to amend the Shareholders’ Rights Directive, in: Pohlmann & Company International Compliance Update 4/2016, 1-4 (together with Christopher Hsu)
- New criminal liability risks in the healthcare sector, in: Pohlmann & Company International Compliance Update 2/2016, 5-7 (together with Dr. Max Erhard)
- Better safe than sorry – Duties of the supervisory board of an insolvent stock corporation, in: Pohlmann & Company International Compliance Update 3/2015, 5-6 (together with Andrea Hienzsch)
- No liability of the management for antitrust fines of the company (judgment of the LAG Düsseldorf on the “rail cartel”), in: Pohlmann & Company International Compliance Update 2/2015, 3-5
- Joint Venture and Russian Roulette, in: Corporate Finance 5/2014, 237-240 (together with Dr. Eike Bicker)
- Shoot-Out – the effective exit from a joint venture based on parity, in: Betriebs-Berater 23/2014, 1347-1352 (together with Dr. Eike Bicker)
Blog posts
- DOJ revises Compliance Program Guidelines and presents pilot program for clawbacks
- Whistleblower Protection Act: Refusal of approval by the Bundesrat
- Update on the DOJ’s U.S. Corporate Enforcement Policy
- Compliance defense: BGH rewards subsequent compliance measures in the assessment of fines
- SEC fines Goldmann Sachs for non-compliance with its own ESG guidelines
- OLG Nuremberg confirms the compliance obligation of managing directors
- Carrots and sticks – New DOJ guidelines for the prosecution of companies
- Government draft of the Whistleblower Protection Act published
- ESG reporting and greenwashing as a compliance risk
- Monitor or no monitor? – What makes compliance programs effective in practice
- The 2nd attempt – Draft bill for the Whistleblower Protection Act presented
- Sustainable Corporate Governance
- Prime example from the USA: reactive compliance pays off
- US Department of Justice announces more consistent criminal prosecution
- FISG to prevent Wirecard 2.0
- Combating corporate misconduct – Hell and High Water
- Well-structured internal investigations pay off!
- Update on the implementation of the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive
- ECJ: Investors are liable for compliance violations by their portfolio companies
- DOJ updates guidance for evaluating corporate compliance programs
- WirtschaftsWoche: TOP law firm 2021 in the legal field of compliance
- The VerSanG is coming – draft bill published by the BMJV
- DOJ publishes names of all currently active compliance monitors
- DOJ changes Corporate Enforcement Policy
- Adoption of the EU directive on the protection of whistleblowers
- Munich draft of an association sanctions law
- Draft bill on the Association Sanctions Act presented
- New DoJ guidance on corporate compliance programs
- Benczkowski clarifies position on monitorships
- Memorandum on the selection of compliance monitors
