Annick De Waele

Experience

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  Lawfirm Cooreman-Mertens-Cooreman

  Oct 1992 - Jan 1997

  Lawyer

  Lawyer at the Law Office “Cooreman-Mertens-Cooreman” of which Mr E Cooreman, Esq., has been president of the Brussels Stock Exchange and Senator for many years.Key responsibilities:- Drafting and negotiating international sales contracts (including for Malaysia, France, Netherlands, ..);- Preparing law cases, which included consultations with clients, examination of the applicable law and jurisprudence, determining appropriate and creative solutions/advice, and the drafting of the Memoranda of Defense or Writ of Summons. The above applied for all kind of law cases, but mainly with respect to commercial law, as e.g.:• Enforceability and legal conditions of different financial payment instructions • EU competition law;• Breach of contract claims;• Protection of minority shareholders;• Conditions and enforceability of agreements for collateral security. Show less

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  Puratos

  Feb 1997 - Mar 2000

  Corporate lawyer

  Corporate lawyer of Puratos Group, a leading global manufacturer of ingredients for the bakery, confectionery, chocolate and catering industry. Present at the time in more then 100 countries, with 58 manufacturing companies.Key responsibilities:- General legal advice in the day to day operations of all companies that belonged to the Puratos Group (including commercial and corporate law, EU competition law, environmental matters, litigation, employment matters);- Drafting and negotiating all types of international contracts that pertained to Puratos Group’s business, including distribution and agency agreements;- Merger and acquisitions: M&A operations in Italy, France, Canada, Israel, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, USA;- Legal set-up of new companies (Korea, Egypt, India, Pakistan, South-Africa, Indonesia). Show less

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  ADC TELECOMMUNICATIONS INC

  Apr 2000 - Oct 2002

  European Legal Affairs Manager

  The European Legal Affairs Manager for ADC Telecommunications, Inc (“ADC”) based in Diegem, Belgium. ADC employed at that time approximately 12,500 professionals worldwide and was present in more then 100 countries. ADC customers included local and long distance telephone companies, cable television operators, internet/data communication providers, wireless service providers, private network operators and broadcast television operators.Key responsibilities were:- Acting as primary attorney for the European business of ADC;- Establishing a trusted advisor relationship with the European General Manager for ADC, the different business units and sales managers and provide full legal and commercial deal support to drive the growth of the business;- Assisting European business unit managers, the worldwide general counsel and other internal attorneys in monitoring and advising on EC Competition law, as well as on the laws of each individual European country; - Determining appropriate and creative actions/solutions for complex legal and business issues;- Corporate governance of the European subsidiaries and representative offices of ADC in EMEA (13 legal entities in total);- Reviewing and establishing European templates of the distribution and different types sales agreements;- Developing and implementing the European legal team strategy;- Working closely with the legal teams in this US to share strategy and best practices;- Working on group restructuring and acquisitions. Show less

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  Scientific-Atlanta Europe NV

  Oct 2002 - Sept 2009

  General Counsel EMEA

  General Counsel EMEA for Scientific-Atlanta Europe NV (“S-A”).As General Counsel EMEA, I created and managed the European Legal Team for S-A.Key responsibilities:- responsible for all legal matter of S-A in EMEA and - creating a legal team with the main focus on helping to drive further growth of the business and which is considered as a business enabler;- acting as primary escalation point for the lawyers of my team for complex issues arising during contractual negotiations and determining creative solutions to very complex legal and business issues;- ensuring conformance to S-A’s compliance processes and policies (FCPA, EU Competition, Code of Conduct);- establishing trusted advisor relationship with senior management;- member of the works council of S-A;- participating in the restructuring of S-A and the closure of the manufacturing units in Kortrijk. Show less

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  Cisco

  Sept 2009 - now

  I created the SP Legal Team for EMEAR in full alignment with the business leaders.Key responsibilities:- Help driving business growth for GSP and the SP segment for EMEAR;- Part of the senior leadership team of GSP EMEAR;- Creating an SP DNA with a "can-do" approach and driving best practices within the SP Legal Team and wider legal team;- Helping with the integration of different acquisitions;- Working on different strategic projects always with an "easier-to-do-business" focus;- "New business model" focus;- EU Competition Law;- Negotiating complex deals. Show less

  • VP, EMEA General Counsel

    Nov 2021 - now

  • EMEAR General Counsel, SR Director

    Jun 2020 - Nov 2021

  • Senior Director, Legal, EMEAR GSP

    Sept 2011 - Jun 2020

  • Director Legal Services, North, France, Switserland and Austria

    Sept 2009 - Sept 2011