Willem Van de Wiele
National Partner, Corporate & Financial Services
Willem Van de Wiele is a National Partner in Willkie’s Corporate & Financial Services Department. He is based in the Firm’s Brussels office.
Willem focuses on finance transactions, capital markets transactions and financial services regulation. He represents clients on capital markets and structured finance matters, covered bonds, securitizations, financial services regulatory issues, and corporate finance and lending transactions, including private credit transactions and fund financing.
He has extensive experience in structuring and managing complex cross-border legal transactions, involving both EU and US aspects.
His financial services regulatory practice encompasses advisory and structuring work, financial sector M&A and contentious matters, and assisting clients on enforcement proceedings before various regulatory authorities and in court proceedings and internal remediation processes.
Willem advises on all legal and regulatory aspects of fintech and blockchain technology and speaks regularly on these topics. He has presented before the International Securities Lending Association in London, King’s College London (Dickson Poon School of Law), the Frankfurt Crypto Assets Conference, the Academy of European Law, Fintech Belgium, Istanbul Fintech Week, the Forum of Belgian Compliance Officers, the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Instituut Financieel Recht (Universiteit Gent) and Blockchain Forum Vlaanderen, as well as in-house at various leading firms and institutions. He is also interested in new developments involving artificial intelligence.
Willem is recognized in various legal directors for his work. He has been recognized as “a standout capital markets lawyer in Belgium” (WWL 2023), “lauded for his ability to skillfully handle capital market transactions and regulations both domestically and abroad” (WWL 2024). He was praised for “Thorough knowledge and understanding of financial laws, markets and practices, combined with very efficient and reactive work capacity, problem-anticipating and solving spirit, client oriented mentality, excellent understanding of client’s position and very good project management abilities” (Legal 500, Europe-Belgium, 2025). Commentators indicate that he “always available and has a lot of experience in the field” (Chambers Europe 2025), “he is super technical, extremely smart and trusted by his clients” (Chambers Europe 2025) “an extremely good lawyer who delivers above-standards work with great insight and anticipates potential problems in a useful and helpful way” (Chambers Europe 2024). “He is very reactive, persuasive and has a fast comprehension of the legal issues” (Chambers Europe 2024), “very pleasant to work with and not afraid to take a position even if the law remains unclear” (Legal 500, 2023).
Willem is fluent in Dutch, French and English.
Experience
- Client Choice by Lexology, sole winner in the category “Banking” for Belgium, 2025
- Chambers Europe, Recommended lawyer, 2025
- IFLR1000, Notable practitioner, Capital Markets, 2025
- Legal 500, Europe-Belgium, Recommended lawyer, 2025
- Lexology (WWL), Thought leader-Capital Markets (debt & equity), 2025
- Lexology (WWL), Banking-Regulatory, Recommended lawyer, 2025
- Recognized by Best Lawyers™ for Regulation, Belgium, 2022
- Authored an article on the Royal Decree of November 14, 2007 regarding the obligations of issuers of financial instruments admitted to trading on a regulated market, Kluwers, December 31, 2024
- Author, “Protection of Client Assets Under Belgian Law and Trust-Like Structures,” Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law, January 14, 2022
- Co-authored chapter on the rules for protection of debtors and the public international order in Revue de Droit Commercial/Tijdschrift Belgisch Handelsrecht, November 1, 2020
- Authored a chapter on the New Prospectus Regulation from a European and Belgian perspective in “Financial Regulation: A Cross-Section,” Institute of Financial Law, University of Ghent, December 1, 2019
- Author, “Some Considerations Regarding the Impact of Brexit on Market Infrastructure and Derivatives Transactions,” Droit bancaire et financier / Bank- en Financieel Recht, November 1, 2019
- Lecture on greenwashing and asset management, Abilways Conference, Brussels, 2024
- Roundtable on crypto assets and derisking, Creobis Conference, Brussels, 2024
- Panel on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CDBCs), Istanbul, 2024
- ATLAS Infrastructure on Elia Group’s EUR 850 million PIPE transaction, Elia Group is the Belgian TSO;
- the global coordinators on a EUR 1.2 billion bond offering by Syensqo;
- Syensqo on its inaugural USD 1.2 billion offering of 144A/Reg S Notes;
- the joint lead managers on the inaugural EUR250 million retail bond issue by Worxinvest NV, a leading Belgian investment holding;
- Hiro Metaverse Acquisitions I S.A. (Hiro Metaverse), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by Hiro Capital on its £115 million initial public offering;
- the joint global coordinators on the EUR 200 million IPO by GP Bullhound Acquisition SE (SPAC);
- the leading Belgian credit institution Crelan SA on the establishment of its EUR 3bio EMTN programme, including on various benchmark issues under this programme, such as the EUR 300mio inaugural senior non-preferred notes issuance, a subsequent EUR 500mio senior non-preferred notes issuance as well as a EUR 300mio tier 2 notes issuance under the programme;
- the dealers on the inaugural EUR 1 billion EMTN programme establishment for the German-Speaking Community of Belgium;
- the lead managers on the issuance by the Flemish Community of EUR 1.25 billion fixed rate notes and EUR 1.25 billion sustainability fixed rates notes,
- the dealers on the establishment of the first two Belgian covered bond programmes and inaugural issues under these programmes;
- the dealers on the first perpetual bond issue by a Belgian corporate (UCB perpetual bond issue);
- the originators on various diamond securitization transactions (K.G.K. Diamonds, Pluczenik Diamond Company NV and Stargems DMCC);
- investment funds on the issuance of treasury notes of Farys, a utility company, under its EUR 500mio Treasury Notes Programme;
- Belfius Bank on the reintroduction of “savings certificates” on the Belgian market.
- Société Générale-FORGE on the launch of the first institutional stablecoin deployed on a public blockchain;
- Unicredit on its acquisition of AION Bank, a Belgian established credit institution offering BaaS;
- Crédit Mutuel Arkea on the acquisition of the client portfolio of the Belgian branch of Rabobank;
- Caisse d’Epargne et de Prévoyance Hauts de France on the acquisition of Banque Nagelmackers;
- various Belgian and foreign clients on the enforcement proceedings before the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority;
- a leading Belgian financial institution in connection with a feasibility study for a new technology project;
- a leading French investment bank on its EU-wide MiFID II implementation programme;
- a leading life insurance company on various regulatory questions regarding the structuring of life insurance contracts;
- a provider of DLT (distributor ledger technology) on EU and Belgian regulatory questions;
- a real estate investment fund on Belgian fund and regulatory questions with respect to structuring;
- a life insurance company in relation to misselling claims on the Belgian market.
- Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank on the senior financing for the privatization of L'Occitane International S.A. by its majority shareholder L'Occitane Groupe S.A.
- the super senior lenders on the financing for IK Partners’ Acquisition of BOMA, a market-leading developer and distributor of sustainable cleaning products;
- Pemberton Asset Management on the refinancing of Sereni;
- CAPZA on unitranche financing to dental group Dentius.
*Willem advised on some of these matters prior to joining Willkie.
Credentials
Education
New York University, LL.M., 2004 University of Ghent, Law Degree (summa cum laude), 2003