A successful entry into the banking area with a focus on “loan workout” was made possible for me by Unicredit, that- as a bank- deals quite conservatively with non-performing loans. This has not only reputational reasons, but also a social and ethical aspect. Here, the main focus of my activities was dexterous negotiation with debtors, the detection of so-called bulk risks and its avoidance. The credit portfolio for which I was responsible consisted of German loans from private individuals as debtors, which were mainly secured by residential property.

At the American financial investor Lone Star, the purchased loans were to be processed quickly and to maximize value. The aim was to apply the legal tools of credit processing with all its facets: Insolvency law and foreclosure law. As a newly established company in Germany, Hudson Advisors, a member of the Hudson Group, was in a start-up mood. I liked this dynamic right away. Also, the fact that I was allowed to participate everywhere and was deployed in many areas greatly enriched my professional spectrum.

A one and a half year assignment to the island of Bermuda to represent the fund to international investors rounded off my time at Lone Star not only professionally but also personally. Life on an island in the Atlantic Ocean was extremely multi-faceted and still enriches my life today.

After working as a freelance lawyer for three months, the call came from the largest German deconsolidated environment, which I followed. With a balance sheet length of almost €350 billion (nominal €175 billion plus derivatives) and a Commercial Real Estate portfolio with an original volume of €27.2 billion with 1603 counter parties and 3,512 individual positions with a geographical focus on the UK, USA and Germany, this was the dream job of every restructurer and liquidator.

My area of responsibility included credit exposures in all corners of the globe, which cannot be surpassed in complexity. But the wind of a start-up also blew during the FMS World: FMS was newly established to provide state support for Hypo Real Estate within the framework of the Financial Market Stabilization Fund Act and to rescue it from insolvency. Here, too, I not only worked in the Real Estate division, but also had the opportunity to devote myself to completely new projects as division manager.