mBank Deputy General Counsel Pawel Szczepaniak talks about his path to banking and reflects on how his varied background continues to shape his approach to complex legal challenges.
CEELM: Tell us a bit about yourself and your career path leading up to your current role.
Szczepaniak: Interestingly, my path to law wasn’t obvious from the beginning. I was quite talented in math, even winning a national math competition in primary school, which led me to attend one of the best math-focused secondary schools in Poland. For a time, I thought architecture might be my future, influenced by my strong interest in design and structure. However, I later shifted gears after some conversations with my mother, who worked in finance. I was drawn to both finance and law and ultimately chose to study law – a decision that has been incredibly beneficial in my current role. My background allows me to communicate effortlessly with finance professionals, which has become a valuable asset in our work.
Early in my studies, I tried various areas of law by gaining practical experience with international law firms. I worked in real estate, insurance, litigation, and a few other fields, but banking and finance truly resonated with me. I enjoyed the work, found it engaging, and decided to pursue it as my career. Today, every new project brings a sense of excitement, which is why I advise young professionals to find what genuinely excites them. It’s so much more rewarding to pursue something you’re passionate about, and that motivation comes through in your work.
Like many, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do from the start, and it took me some time to be sure this was the right path. Ultimately, law proved to be a fascinating and fulfilling field for me.
CEELM: What was the biggest shock when transitioning to the in-house world? On the flip side, what was the most pleasant surprise?
Szczepaniak: My legal journey began at Clifford Chance during my final year at university, where I gained hands-on experience working on high-level projects. Working in an international law firm allowed me to develop practical skills, from drafting agreements and legal documents to conducting thorough research. This practical side of law isn’t always emphasized in academia, which tends to be more theoretical, so I valued the opportunity to build a practical toolkit early on.
For five years, I worked across various international law firms and funds before joining mBank (at the time, BRE Bank) in 2009, during the financial crisis. This was a defining moment. The opportunity to contribute to the bank’s legal efforts to secure its post-crisis position was both challenging and rewarding. Working in-house gave me a broader perspective on business, finance, and the operational side of a company – an aspect that I found especially compelling and hardly visible from a law firm perspective. It felt like my skillset was perfectly aligned with the needs of the bank, and I’ve enjoyed developing my career in this direction ever since.
CEELM: How large is your in-house team currently, and how is it structured?
Szczepaniak: I currently serve as the Deputy General Counsel at mBank, where we have a team of about 60 lawyers. The team is divided into three main areas: retail, investment, and finance, which then break down into six divisions. Each division has a deputy head who reports either to me or directly to the General Counsel. Although we have a clear structure, we promote flexibility and encourage our team members to work outside their immediate areas. This not only broadens their experience but also fosters collaboration on complex projects that require a multidisciplinary approach. Our institution is very client-oriented, so this flexible setup helps us provide tailored, innovative solutions, from which we are proudly recognized in the market.
CEELM: What has been keeping you and your in-house team busy over the last 12 months? What about the upcoming 12 months?
Szczepaniak: The past year has been packed with regulatory projects and transactional work, especially within green financing and financing obtained for us as the issuer with several landmark deals, including a notable top two largest securitization transaction ever from Poland and the issue of non-preferred senior green bonds (NPS) based on the Green Bond Principles. The issue with a nominal value of EUR 750 million is the largest issue of NPS green bonds placed by a Polish bank in history and the largest bond issue in the mBank Group.
Additionally, we dedicated significant resources to ESG and sustainability transition financing, not only providing green financing to our clients but also conducting active campaigns to educate clients and potential clients on climate transformation. For the year ahead, we anticipate more of the same, as the regulatory landscape and sustainability requirements continue to evolve.
CEELM: How do you decide if you are outsourcing a project, and when picking external counsel, what criteria do you use?
Szczepaniak: We frequently collaborate with external experts, especially for specialized areas that require niche knowledge or an international perspective. Our policy outlines when and how to engage external counsel, and we select firms based on the specific expertise needed for a project.
We’re open to collaborating with a range of external law firms. While we have established relationships with some trusted firms, we also welcome new firms, especially those that distinguish themselves, for instance, with insightful seminars or effective negotiation skills. We review our panel of external law firms annually, ensuring they meet specific criteria aligned with our needs, and we share this information internally with our business partners.
CEELM: What do you foresee to be the main challenges for GCs in Poland in the near/mid future?
Szczepaniak: For us at mBank, ESG and sustainable finance will remain top priorities, particularly as we are a market leader in funding projects in renewable energy, green finance, and other environmentally driven areas. We’re fully committed to supporting new technology solutions and sustainable financing for our clients. Looking ahead, we also have some exciting transactions in the pipeline, including the first Additional Tier 1 (AT1) issuance ever from Poland, which, if all goes well, should be finalized soon.
Beyond ESG, artificial intelligence is one of the most prominent emerging challenges, especially with the surge in interest in generative AI in the financial sector. Meeting rising consumer expectations – especially in retail banking – means incorporating AI solutions that are both practical and compliant. This requires not only understanding the technology but also navigating the regulatory landscape. AI and other new technologies are already reshaping how we structure our legal department, as we consider integrating these tools to optimize internal processes. In the next three to five years, we expect to see a significant evolution as we begin implementing these technologies based on our current evaluations. Rapid changes in tech are pushing us to go deep within our internal processes to ensure we remain adaptable, efficient, and at the forefront of these advancements. This is in line with our strategy, which motto is defined as “from the icon of mobility to the icon of possibilities.”
This article was originally published in Issue 11.11 of the CEE Legal Matters Magazine. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the magazine, you can subscribe here.
