Sven H. Schneider

PARTNER

sven.schneider@hengeler.com

Sven is one of the co‑organizers of Hengeler Mueller's internal investigations, crisis management and compliance practice group. He advises companies and their corporate bodies worldwide

comprehensively on both internal investigations and investigations conducted by German and foreign, primarily Anglo-American, criminal prosecution and regulatory authorities into potential compliance violations and
on group-wide compliance governance programs.

He has extensive experience and expertise in dealing with German, European and US authorities and agencies, specifically in compliance situations.

He also advises companies and their executive and supervisory board members on corporate and regulatory law issues, in particular on questions of corporate organization and governance, as well as in instances of crisis.

In addition, Sven is responsible for Hengeler Mueller's eDiscovery platform, as well as our Legal Tech Center and inhouse translation team.

Sven is a thought leader in the use of Generative AI in internal investigations, has published scientific work on the subject, and has driven the development of Hengeler Mueller's own innovative Generative AI-based eDiscovery solution.

Sven is the author of over one hundred publications on corporate and capital markets law, as well as on compliance and internal investigations. He is an executive editor of the Neue Zeitschrift für Gesellschaftsrecht, a German specialist periodical on corporate law.

Selection of Sven's most recent rankings:

Chambers Europe 2024 – Compliance
Who's Who Legal 2024
- Thought Leaders - Germany - Investigations, WWL Ranking: Thought Leader
- Thought Leaders – GIR- Investigations, WWL Ranking: Thought Leader
- Germany – Investigations, WWL Ranking: Thought Leader
Best Lawyers 2024 – Compliance, Corporate Governance
IFLR1000 2023 – Bankrecht und Finanzielle Restrukturierung, Hoch angesehen
Business Today 2023, Top 10 Influential German Compliance Lawyers
Wirtschaftswoche 2025 – Top Anwalt Compliance
Leaders League 2024 – Internal Investigations & Compliance, Excellent

"Hengeler Mueller's compliance practice is an experienced, proven, diligent, and impactful team with which you can successfully master complex situations." Nora Klug, Global General Counsel, Robert Bosch GmbH

"Hengeler Mueller's compliance team proved on a number of occasions that it can provide top-class advice to its clients on all aspects of an internal investigation, including even questions of D&O liability and corporate organisation." Jens Rönnberg, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, GRENKE

"Its professional excellence, foresight and stamina makes Hengeler Mueller's team an invaluable asset in challenging situations – the team of choice for complex matters." Florian Stork, Group General Counsel/Chief Compliance Officer, TÜV SÜD AG

"Hengeler Mueller's compliance team not only demonstrates discipline and sound judgment in cross-border investigations, thus meeting the expectations of clients of a leading European law firm with a global network, but also has excellent contacts at the highest levels when it comes to dealing with investigating authorities." Christian Ollig, Leiter DACH, KKR

"The compliance team of Hengeler Mueller, one of Germany's well-established law firms, values long-term collaboration and lasting relationships with its clients – an advantage clearly demonstrated in our cost-benefit analyses." Jörg Kondring, General Counsel, Voith Group

Career

Admitted to the German bar in 2003
Working as a lawyer at Hengeler Mueller since 2005
Partner at Hengeler Mueller since 2011
Attorney-at-law (New York)
Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Ruprecht Karls University of Heidelberg and Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (Dr. iur.)
Clerked at the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg
Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley (LL.M.)
Lecturer at the University of Marburg as part of a course led by Prof. Markus Roth since the 2023/24 winter semester

Practice Areas

Industry Sectors

Publications

A complete list of Sven's publications can be downloaded here.

Recent Work

Internal investigations and other compliance advising matters:

Aurubis: internal investigation for the Supervisory Board regarding certain damage events related to gold and other precious metals deficits as well as advice regarding management board matters including assessment of management liability
Global industrial player: internal investigation and defense regarding the alleged supply of products to the Russian defense industry prior to the invasion of Ukraine
Grenke AG: advice and representation in internal and external investigations in connection with negative public representations by a short-seller
Cross-border internal investigation and advising in connection with a BaFin special audit
BMW: preventive advising on technical product compliance/advising on the options to further develop the organization and processes for ensuring compliance with technical-regulatory requirements (homologation, non-homologation) – against the background of the technological transformation of the automotive industry and other external factors
Bosch: co-lead partner of the Hengeler Mueller team advising on the internal investigation into, and proceedings before public authorities and courts in Germany and abroad relating to, the alleged manipulation of control units for diesel vehicles
Credit institution operating worldwide: internal investigation regarding cum/ex investigations conducted by public prosecutors' offices and BaFin against the banking group's German subsidiary credit institution and its employees
DAX-listed company: lead partner of the Hengeler Mueller team conducting the senior management review of the potential involvement of top management in international bribes and books-and-records violations and of the failure of top management to implement adequate compliance structures
Leading international digital company: lead partner of the Hengeler Mueller team advising on and conducting an internal investigation regarding suspected malpractice in the cross-border infrastructure sector (possible manipulative business models)
Leading international listed consumer goods company: lead partner of the Hengeler Mueller team conducting an internal investigation regarding the leakage of trade and business secretes
International listed manufacturer based in Germany: lead partner of the Hengeler Mueller team advising on global World Bank investigations into possible corruption
Deutsche Bank: lead partner on the Hengeler Mueller team advising on the global internal and external investigations into alleged manipulations of reference interest rates (especially Libor and Euribor)
Deutsche Bank: lead partner on the Hengeler Mueller team advising on the internal and external investigations into potential violations of U.S. export control law (OFAC)
Credit institution operating worldwide: advising on how to deal with investigations into potential violations of German securities trading law conducted against the German subsidiary credit institution of the banking group and a management board member
Asset manager operating worldwide: advising on how to deal with investigations conducted by BaFin into potential violations of German securities trading law
German branch of a major foreign insurance undertaking: advising on allegations of corruption brought against a member of the executive board.

For a description of our Internal Investigations, Crisis Management and Compliance practice group please here.

For a description of our services in the area of eDiscovery please click here.