Niklas advises fund managers and investors in the field of alternative investments (private equity, venture capital, debt, real estate) on all matters of investment regulatory law. In addition, he provides advice and support to financial-services companies in the context of license proceedings and, on an ongoing basis, in relation to all matters under the German Banking Act (KWG) and the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG). He has been familiar with regulatory matters concerning private equity and venture capital from a scientific perspective since 2013.
Education and Career
Niklas studied law in Göttingen and completed his practical legal training in the district of the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main. Before joining SMP, he served as a research assistant to Prof. Dr. Spindler and worked at Willkie Farr & Gallagher as well as at Pöllath + Partners.
Niklas' recent work highlights include:
- Drafting and negotiating the issue of shares of the first blockchain-based "digital twin" of a listed stock on the PREOS platform
- Providing advice to various European fund sponsors on obtaining a licence as a financial-services institution under the German Banking Act (KWG)
- Providing advice and support in relation to the regulatory part of fund screenings for funds-of-funds
- Advising various token issuers and token marketplace operators on market access in Germany
- Advising a tokenization platform on running a secondary market
- Preparing various expert reports on the qualification of tokens for an international crypto exchange
- Providing advice and support to several German venture-capital fund managers in connection with registration proceedings
- Advising a German fund sponsor on the launch of an investment club
- Advising several investors on regulatory matters in connection with the acquisition of tokens
* not a partner within the meaning of the German Partnership Company Act (Partnerschaftsgesellschaftsgesetz – PartGG)
Qualifications
- German qualified attorney (Rechtsanwalt)
- Ph.D. in law (Dr. iur.) (Göttingen University)
Languages
- German
- English
- Shareholder loans
in: Jesch/Striegel/Boxberger, Legal Handbook Private Equity, 2nd edition 2019 (forthcoming) [in German] - Fund reporting, fund compliance und fund governance
in: Jesch/Striegel/Boxberger, Legal Handbook Private Equity, 2nd edition 2019 (together with Lennart Lorenz) (forthcoming) [in German] - Domestic [German] fund structures
in: Jesch/Striegel/Boxberger, Legal Handbook Private Equity, 2nd edition 2019 (together with Lennart Lorenz) (forthcoming) [in German] - Administrative and advisory structures across borders
in: Pöllath/Rodin/Wewel, Private Equity and Venture Capital Funds, handbook, 2018 (together with Sebastian Käpplinger) [in German] - Private equity (LBO) [leveraged buyout] before and after entry into force of the German Capital Investment Code (KAGB)
dissertation, 2018 [in German] - 2017 Regulation on the Supervisory Requirements for the Institutions' Remuneration Systems and management companies forming part of a group: capping of the amount of variable remunerations through the back door?
ZBB 2017, pp. 335–345 [in German]
Direct message to Dr. Niklas Ulrich