Dr. Tadas Zukas

Dr. Tadas Zukas is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth in Zurich and the Competence Center of Sustainability: Finance, Law, Sciences, and the Humanities at the University of Zurich. Dr. Zukas looks back on a distinguished career as a Senior Legal Counsel at leading globally operating Swiss banks. Most recently, he served as the Global Lead Senior Legal Counsel Sustainability/ESG at Bank Vontobel—a pioneering role in which he covered the full range of Group‑level sustainable finance topics. Recognising his top tier in-house ESG Legal practice, Dr. Zukas has been included into Legal500 GC Powerlist Switzerland 2025. An influential voice in the Swiss and European sustainable finance market, Dr. Zukas is a member of the Swiss Bankers Association Working Group on Sustainable Finance, which has been instrumental in developing the Swiss ESG self‑regulation. A published author and recognized expert, Dr. Zukas regularly speaks on sustainable finance topics at industry events and universities. His work and expertise have been featured in Pensions & Investments and Legal Business magazines, as well as in leading Swiss and German business newspapers. His new book, European Sustainable Finance Regulation in a Nutshell (Dike, 2024), has received wide acclaim.

Publications

Books

• "European Sustainable Finance Regulation in a Nutshell", 335 pp., Dike, Zurich 2024
• "Regulating Sustainable Finance in Europe", 95 pp., Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2024

Book chapters & papers

• “Sustainable Finance 3.0: The Emerging Regulatory Framework for Impact Investing under EU Law”, pp. 1-44, in: European Law Journal/EuZ, 3/2025 (open access)
• “Article 7 SFDR Commentary”, pp. 152-187, in: Glander / Lühmann / Kropf (eds.), SFDR Commentary (“Kommentar Offenlegungs-VO”), C.H. Beck, Munich 2024, jointly with U.Trafkowski (in German)
• “ESG & Sustainable Finance”, pp. 305-320, in: Germann / Wicki-Birchler (eds.), Compliance in Charts («Tafeln zur Compliance»), Dike, Zurich/St. Gallen 2024 (in German)
• Regulating Sustainable Finance in Europe, pp. 203 – 282, in: Nobel/Baumann/Aliverti (eds.), Law and Economics in all its facets. Festschrift in Honor of Klaus Mathis, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2023
• "Impact Investing under the Evolving EU Regulatory Framework", pp. 44-50, in: Impact Report 2023, Vontobel Fund - Global Environmental Change, Regulatory briefing / Expert contribution
• "Sustainable Finance: The Regulatory Concept of Greenwashing under EU Law", pp. 1-33, in: European Law Journal/EuZ, 2/2022, jointly with U.Trafkowski (open access)
• “How to become a global business lawyer - a roadmap”, pp. 341-351, in: Liber discipulorum / Festschrift Prof. Andreas Furrer, Stämpfli, Bern 2018 

Interviews

• “At the intersection of theory and practice: Dr Tadas Zukas on AI, ESG and the future of in-house legal leadership”, in: Legal500 / Legal Business Magazine, 23 January 2026
• „Interestingly, the First AI Application Cases Come from the Field of Greenwashing Prevention” (“Die ersten KI-Anwendungsfälle kommen spannenderweise aus der Greenwashing-Prävention”), in: tippinpoint.ch / Special Week | AI in Banking, 17 July 2025 (in German)
• "Climate-Related Risks - A Focus on Banks and Credit Risk", Swiss Finance Institute Roundup N 1 / August 2024, pp. 1-20 (contribution)
• “Regulation of Sustainable Finance is not just a European topic” (“Die Regulierung von Sustainable Finance ist kein rein europäisches Thema"), in: Handelszeitung / HZ Banking, 20 June 2024 (in German)

Book reviews

• Anton Beck: “Everyone talks about sustainability, but who understands it really?“ ("Alle sprechen von Nachhaltigkeit, aber wer versteht sie wirklich?"), in: Handelszeitung / HZ Banking 2024/11 (in German)
• Prof. Michael Brandl, University of Texas at Austin: „Review of Tadas Zukas new book ‘European Sustainable Finance Regulation’”, in: Macro Updates 2025/11
• For further book reviews & praise, see the book’s website at www.dike.ch/6376
• Susanne Bergius: "Book recommendation on Sustainable Finance Regulation" ("Buchtipp zur Sustainable-Finance-Regulierung"), in: Handelsblatt / Business Briefing Nachhaltige Investments 2024/1 (in German)

Guest lectures, speeches (selection) 

• March 2026: Delivered a talk on “The EU Omnibus Simplification Package” at the 21^st Swiss “Capital Market – Law & Transactions” conference, hosted by the Europa Institut Zurich
• December 2025: Expert speaker at the inaugural Lunch Seminar Series event on “Swiss Sustainable Finance Regulation – At A Crossroads?”, hosted by the Competence Center of Sustainability at the University of Zurich
• November 2025: Delivered a talk on “ESG in Finance” at the Zurich Foundation for Continued Legal Education afternoon event on "ESG: What All Lawyers Need to Know"
• October 2025: Delivered a guest lecture on “Regulating Environmental Sustainability in Finance” for the students of the University of Zurich masters course “Financial and Environmental Sustainability" (deputising Prof. Chesney / Prof. Paetzold)
• November 2024: Delivered a lunch lecture on “Regulating Sustainable Finance in Europe” at the Europa Institut (“EIZ”) of the University of Zurich, as part of the traditional EIZ Luncheon Lecture Series
• May 2024: Delivered a guest lunch lecture on “How to (not) regulate sustainable finance: Experiences from capitals of capital”, hosted by the Society of Commercial and Financial Law (“SCFL”) at the University of Zurich
• Spring 2022-2025: Developed and delivered a module on “Navigating Greenwashing Risk in Wealth Management” at Zurich University’s Executive Finance Education programme on Sustainable Finance, as part of the course on “Sustainable Investing in Wealth Management” hosted by the Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth
• November 2022: Co-delivered a lunch lecture on “Sustainable Finance: The Regulatory Concept of Greenwashing under EU Law” at the Europa Institut of the University of Zurich, as part of the traditional EIZ Luncheon Lecture Series
• January 2021: Delivered a lunch lecture on “Sustainable Investment: A Regulatory Perspective” at the Europa Institut of the University of Zurich, as part of the traditional EIZ Luncheon Lecture Series