Philippe De Prez is a Financial Services Regulatory lawyer with a strong focus in the FinTech industry. He is co-heading the firm’s Financial Services and Digital Finance team and is fluent in English, Dutch and French.
He assists on a daily basis domestic and foreign credit and financial institutions, investment firms, payment service providers, e-money issuers, lenders, insurers, crypto platforms, financial intermediaries, public authorities, crowdfunding platforms, issuers of public offers, technical services providers and investors in the tech and financial services industry.
Philippe specialises in advisory and contractual work and is an expert in assisting foreign entities on their entry into the Belgian and European market. He has a broad experience in working with the competent financial supervisors and helps clients with their license applications, regulatory queries of all kinds, compliance checks, legal assessment of client journeys, the launch of new products and services or in the framework of audits.
Next to his core business in financial services regulation, Philippe has extensive knowledge on connected areas of law such as anti-money laundering, data protection, electronic signatures, outsourcing contracts, marketing conduct of business rules and e-commerce. He has furthermore a keen interest in new technologies both inside and outside the financial world.
He is ranked in FinTech by Chambers & Partners: “Philippe goes above and beyond to ensure all of his client’s needs and requests are met and exceeded”. He is ranked as a Leading Partner by The Legal 500 in FinTech and EU Regulatory: Financial Services: “Extremely hard working, very knowledgeable, has great connections in Europe who can help further with legal advice in most of the countries and mostly he is super approachable. His fintech knowledge is great, as well as his reputation with the regulator which is also helpful when building connections”. Philippe is also recommended in the Banking – FinTech 2024 global guide of Who’s Who Legal (WWL).
Law Degree (University of Ghent) in 2006
Economic Law Degree (University of Brussels / ULB) in 2007
Postgraduate in Real Estate Management (University of Leuven) in 2013
Digital Leadership Programme (Vlerick Business School) in 2018
Admitted to the Brussels Bar since 2007
A commentator reported that "The team at Simont Braun was very responsive, able to understand our unique position within the insurance market, and timely guided us through the process of establishing business operations in Brussels. We spoke with another law firm that was unable to move as quickly or provide the experienced guidance on what we should expect that Simont Braun could."
Thomas Derval | Next Generation Partner
Philippe De Prez | Practice Head
Rafaël Jafferali | Other Key Lawyer
A commentator reported that Simont Braun has a "Strong team, exceptional knowledge and practical expertise. Ability to translate complex matters into straightforward legal advice."
Joan Carette | Next Generation Partner
Philippe De Prez | Next Generation Partner
Thomas Derval | Other Key Lawyer
A commentator reported that "The team works at the cutting edge of fintech and truly knows the industry" and another that "All stakeholders at Simont Braun are highly responsive and knowledgeable having been able to provide us with precise and practical information with a wide spectrum of regulatory issues."
Joan Carette | Hall of Fame
Philippe De Prez | Leading Partner
Thomas Derval | Other Key Lawyer
A commentator reported that "Simont Braun offers great client service, is extremely communicative and always available. It is a trusted partner for us."
Joan Carette keeps its excellent ranking in Band 2
Philippe de Prez in recognised in Band 2
Simont Braun is delighted to be ranked six years in a row in Band 1 in FinTech by Chambers & Partners. The team is praised for "offering insights into the nuanced requirements of the regulator that you cannot learn from reading the regulations"
Philippe De Prez | Band 1
"Philippe is very responsive. He has industry knowledge at his fingertips and always goes above and beyond"
Joan Carette | Band 2
"Joan Carette is super solution-oriented. She has this capacity to bring things to their simplest elements to make them work"
Thomas Derval | Associate to Watch
"Thomas knows exactly what is happening in the market and he has very good skills in terms of communication. He makes sure everyone is on the same page"
