Finn Zeidler is a partner in the Frankfurt office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He is a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations and Litigation Groups.

Mr. Zeidler focuses his litigation practice on white collar defense, regulatory investigations and compliance matters that often have cross-border elements, as well as corporate and commercial litigation and arbitration, with an emphasis on securities and post-M&A disputes.  He has significant experience in the high tech, automotive and the banking and finance industry, as well as renewable energies.

Mr. Zeidler is ranked for Compliance in Germany by Chambers Europe 2022 and was listed as a Notable Practitioner for Dispute Resolution: White-Collar Crime: Corporate Advisory.  Handelsblatt / The Best Lawyers™ 2022/2023 list him among the best lawyers for Arbitration and Mediation, Litigation, Criminal Defense, Banking & Finance Law and Corporate Governance & Compliance Practice in Germany. He was named among the 2021 Lawdragon Global Litigation 500, the inaugural list recognizing the 500 best dispute lawyers worldwide, for International Arbitration and White Collar. WirtschaftsWoche recognized Mr. Zeidler as a Top Lawyer 2021 in Compliance and 2020 in White Collar in Germany. The Legal 500 Deutschland 2023 and The Legal 500 EMEA 2022 recommend him for Compliance, Internal Investigations and Dispute Resolution – Commercial Litigation and cite a reference: “’For critical investigations in the financial services sector, Finn Zeidler is the safe choice.” The Legal 500 EMEA 2017 recommended him also for Financial Litigation. He was again “frequently recommended” by JUVE for Dispute Resolution-Litigation (JUVE 2022/2023) and White-Collar Crime and Compliance (JUVE 2018/2019). A competitor says: “[Dr. Finn Zeidler is a] compliance specialist who achieves outstanding results for clients across legal fields.” (JUVE Handbook 2022/2023) Other sources stated: “You can speak sensibly with Finn Zeidler without getting the constant feeling that he’s only thinking of business; you know he wants to solve the case.”  (Chambers Europe Germany 2016). He was also recognized for his “experience in US and UK dispute resolution” (Chambers Europe Germany 2013). A referee said: “Finn Zeidler impressed clients and peers with his skill at avoiding litigation potholes, saying he ‘knows the ins and outs of litigation – you can’t fool him’.” (Chambers Europe Germany 2011).

Mr. Zeidler regularly publishes on legal matters. Amongst others, he is co-author of Michalski, “GmbHG” (Commentary on the Law on Limited Liability Companies) (2010).

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Zeidler was a litigation partner in the Frankfurt office of a renowned US law firm.

Mr. Zeidler, in addition to his native German, is fluent in English.

Experience

Representative cases from his white collar defense and compliance practice include:

• Representing international financial institutions in criminal and regulatory investigations by German and U.S. authorities into allegations of tax fraud, money laundering, sanctions violations, illegal granting of loans, market manipulations, and illegal selling of securities.
• Representing financial institutions in banking-law related disputes and related regulatory investigations. This in particular included representing one of Germany’s largest banks in a rare joint investigation by the SEC and the German BaFin (the financial markets and banking regulator) into an alleged market manipulation of U.S. listed stocks and a different international bank in relation to tax fraud allegations.*
• Representing companies listed in Germany in investigations by public prosecutors, BaFin and the German Financial Reporting Enforcement Panel, into alleged violations of securities laws, in particular market manipulations or violations of ad-hoc disclosure duties, alleged accounting violations; and alleged tax fraud.
• Advising companies in internal investigations into allegations of, i.a., corruption, money laundering, tax fraud, securities fraud, and ensuing investigations by the public authorities.
• Representation of a global consulting firm in connection with investigations by an investigating committee of the German Bundestag.
• Representing several executives, in particular from the financial industry, relating to criminal and regulatory investigations by German authorities, i.a., related to cum ex-transactions.

*Experience prior to joining Gibson Dunn