An Van Damme

An Van Damme studied law at the Universities of Namur and Leuven (1987 – 1992) . Afterwards she obtained a degree in International Politics & Economics at the John Hopkins University, Bologna Center (in 1993).

An started her professional career as an employment lawyer at De Bandt, Van Hecke, Lagae (now Linklaters) in 1993. In 2001 she was one of the founding partners of the law firm Claeys & Engels. She became head of the pensions department in 2006 (together with Jan Van Gysegem) and remained a pension partner at Claeys & Engels until the end of 2020.

In 2021, An took a career break of a few months, during which she followed a mediation course. An is now a certified mediator in social affairs. In addition, she took up mandates as an independent director in two pension funds. She continues to perform these mandates until today.

An joined Nexyan in September 2021 in order to give legal support to the team.

During her career, An specialized in occupational pensions and benefits, assisting clients in drafting and modifying pension plans or collective bargaining agreements, helping clients with the pension related aspects of mergers or acquisitions (including due diligence) or with the harmonization of pension plans following a merger or acquisition; setting-up, merging or dissolving pension funds; drafting governance documents for pension funds including cross-border pension funds; giving legal advice on discrimination issues or legal compliance issues. In addition, An assisted clients with information/communication, negotiations, presentations regarding occupational pensions. She has also been a compliance officer for various pension funds. An is a frequent lecturer both at national and international seminars and conferences and author of several legal publications.

An is an active member of IPEBLA (International Pension Benefits Lawyers Association) and a co-founder of BEPLA (Belgian Pension Benefits Lawyers Association). Her mother tongue is Dutch, but An is fluent in English and French. She has basic knowledge of German and Spanish.

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