Nicole Willms
Partner
Nicole Willms is partner of Pohlmann & Company since 2014. Since many years she regularly advises German and international clients in the areas of compliance, corporate governance, and general corporate law.
Nicole has distinctive experience in the design, development, implementation and auditing of compliance management systems, particularly in the context of compliance monitorships. She is a recognized subject-matter expert with respect to whistleblower systems, internal investigation and related enforcement processes. She also advises clients in the context of M&A transactions as well as on other corporate matters, in particular in the area of corporate governance and directors’ and officers’ duties and liability (D&O).
Languages: German and English
CV
- Law studies in Jena
- 2005 Admitted to the bar in Germany
- 2005–2014 Attorney at law at various international corporate law firms in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and London
- Since 2014 Partner at Pohlmann & Company
- Since 2019 German Chapter Leader of the Woman’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA); member of the global WWCDA Monitor/Receiver Initiative
- Since 2020 Member and speaker of Wirtschaftsstrafrechtliche Vereinigung e.V. (WisteV)
- Since winter term 2020/21 Lecturer for Corporate Governance and Compliance at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
- Since 2021 Member of the Cross-Atlantic Cooperation Committee (CACC) of the International Association of Independent Corporate Monitors (IAICM)
- Since 2022 Member of the Expert Commission for the Development of Sustainable Governance Principles for SMEs (website)
Memberships
Publications
Articles
- Die Wiederentdeckung von Clawbacks als Teil nachhaltiger Unternehmensführung, in: ESGZ 6 (2023), 40–43 (together with Carola Stark)
- Compliance-Management als Sorgfalts- und Leitungspflicht der GmbH-Geschäftsführung. Zum Urteil des OLG Nürnberg vom 30.03.2022 – 12 U 1520/19, in: GmbH-Geschäftsführung 2023, 72–78 (together with Carola Stark)
- DCGK-Novelle 2022 – Die Rolle des Aufsichtsrats im Transformationsprozess, in: Der Aufsichtsrat 07-08/2022, 104–106 (together with Carola Stark)
- Effektive Aufsichtsratsarbeit im Zeitalter zunehmender Compliance-Regularien, 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 – Praxiserfahrung mit 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)
- Governance and Compliance Issues Resulting from the Revised Proposal to Amend the Shareholder Rights Directive, in: Pohlmann & Company International Compliance Update 4/2016, 1–4 (together with Christopher Hsu)
- New risks of criminal liability in the healthcare sector, in: Pohlmann & Company International Compliance Update 2/2016, 5–7 (together with Dr. Max Erhard)
- Better safe than sorry – Obligations of the Supervisory Board of a factually insolvent corporation, in: Pohlmann & Company International Compliance Update 3/2015, 5–6 (together with Andrea Hienzsch)
- No management liability for cartel fines imposed on a company (Decision of the Labor Court Dusseldorf on the “international 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 – der wirksame Ausstieg aus einem paritätischen Joint Venture, 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: Refused Approval by the Bundesrat
- DOJ announces Updates to its Corporate Enforcement Policy
- Compliance defense: BGH honors subsequent compliance measures in the assessment of fines
- SEC fines Goldmann Sachs for not following own ESG guidelines
- Nuremberg Higher Regional Court Confirms Compliance Obligation of Managing Directors
- Carrots and Sticks – DOJ’s Latest Guidance on Corporate Prosecutions
- Draft Bill of the Whistleblower Protection Act published
- ESG Reporting and Greenwashing as Compliance Risk
- Monitor or no Monitor? – And What Makes Compliance Programs Effectively Working in Practice
- The Second Attempt: Ministerial Draft Bill of the Whistleblower Protection Law Presented
- Sustainable Corporate Governance
- Prime Example from the U.S.: Remediation Pays Out
- U.S. Department of Justice Announces More Rigorous Enforcement
- FISG’s objective is to prevent Wirecard 2.0
- Fighting Corporate Wrongdoing – Hell and High Water
- Well-structured internal investigations pay off!
- Update on the upcoming German law on Whistleblower Protection
- CJEU: Investors are liable for portfolio non-compliance
- DOJ updates Guidance on the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs
- The German Act on Corporate Sanctioning is coming!
- DOJ Publishes Names of Active Compliance Monitors
- DOJ changes Corporate Enforcement Policy
- Adoption of the EU directive on the Protection of Whistleblowers
- Munich draft of a Corporate Sanctions Act
- Ministerial draft on the Law of Combating Corporate Crime published
- The DoJ’s new guidance on corporate compliance programs
- Benczkowski clarifies DOJ’s view on monitorships
- Memorandum “Selection of Monitors in Criminal Division Matters”
Selected Mandates
- Executive 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 networking and telecommunications company
- Legal advice and ongoing support during the implementation of a group-wide compliance/risk management system (including internal controls) at a global DAX-40 company
- Ad-hoc management support and legal advice of a German energy company in connection with a cyber-attack
- Internal investigation and (legal) advice with regard to corporate governance structures and know-your-customer processes at a technology platform provider in the field of e-commerce
- Comprehensive advice to an internationally active, family-run group on the establishment and further development of a central compliance management system
- Conducting of various internal investigations at a global DAX-40 company
- Executive 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 of Volkswagen AG , Larry Thompson
- Review and judicial enforcement of liability claims against former board members for a German energy company
- Advising a former managing director of a municipal company in the defense of liability claims asserted against him