CORESTATE Bank

Nadja has more than 8 years of corporate finance experience with a focus on debt advisory and real estate transactions. As Executive Director in CORESTATE Bank's corporate finance team, she is responsible for advising clients on structuring and arranging financing solutions.

Prior to joining CORESTATE Bank, Nadja advised and executed corporate finance and restructuring transactions at NAI Apollo, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deutsche Bank.

Nadja earned a German Diploma in Economics from the Leibniz University of Hanover.

Dirk joined CORESTATE Bank as Head of Technology & Operations at the beginning of 2020. He has more than 15 years of experience in the IT sector and the financial industry, founding his first Web-Agency back in 1998. Mid of 2021 Dirk took on the position of Group Head of Technology of the CORESTATE Capital Group.

Since the beginning of 2022 Dirk took over the management of the "Marktfolge" on a provisional basis together with Thomas Waldhart-Knopp. As of June 01, 2022, Dirk was appointed together with Thomas as Managing Director of CORESTATE Bank GmbH.

Before moving to CORESTATE Bank he worked in several positions at Deutsche Bank, starting in Group Technology & Operations to latest being the responsible COO for the Financing & Solutions Group in the D/A/CH region of the Corporate Bank division.

Dirk studied at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management and Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand and holds a Master degree in Banking.

In the Spring of 2020 Thomas Waldhart-Knopp joined CORESTATE Bank as Compliance officer. He has more that 20 years of work experience in the financial industry. Since the beginning of 2022 Thomas took over the management of the "Marktfolge" on a temporary basis together with Dirk Giessamer. As of June 01, 2022, Thomas was appointed together with Dirk Giessamer as Managing Director of CORESTATE Bank GmbH.

Before moving to CORESTATE Bank he worked as Head of Regulatory Compliance for Morgan Stanley Europe SE. Prior to this Thomas worked in various regulatory and regulatory change related positions at Deutsche Bank.
In this roles Thomas was inter alia responsible for the implementation of effective procedures for complying with the legal rules and regulations.

He studied business administration at the University of Applied Sciences Berlin and HELIA Helsinki Business Polytechnic in Helsinki and graduated with a diploma (FH).

Thomas Waldhart-Knopp is married.

Johannes is responsible for institutional client coverage and in charge of new technologies and tools for CORESTATE Bank. Prior to joining CORESTATE Bank, Johannes worked for 10 years in the capital markets divisions of Deutsche Bank and Macquarie Group where he focused on the coverage of institutional and corporate clients. Preceding his career in the financial industry, Johannes was a professional cyclist.

Johannes completed his studies of Engineering and Economics and owns a diploma in Industrial Engineering from the Technical University of Ilmenau.

Matthias has more than 20 years experience in various roles and positions in the real estate market. As Managing Director, he is responsible for banking coverage.

Prior to joining CORESTATE Bank, Matthias worked for NATIXIS, Helaba and WestLB. During his 6 years as department head for international real estate restructuring (US, UK and European portfolios) at Helaba, he gained significant experiences in turnaround, restructuring and operational / performance improvement consulting. Previously, Matthias focussed on real estate lending in Central and Eastern Europe and as Head of Western Europe. Matthias is married and has 3 children.

Martin has joined CORESTATE Bank in 2019. He is responsible for structuring financial solutions. He previously worked for Deutsche Bank’s Private Debt Syndicate. Before joining Deutsche Bank in 2006, Martin has worked for Morgan Stanley in London and Clifford Chance in Frankfurt and London. Martin is a qualified lawyer in Germany and a solicitor of England and Wales.

Stefan is a Director at Corestate Bank and responsible for bringing real estate and capital together. Before joining Corestate Bank in 2021, Stefan worked over a decade in the debt capital markets departments at BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse in London where he hold different roles in origination and syndicate.

In addition to his career in capital markets, Stefan also worked for Raisin, a Fintech unicorn, on its way to become the number deposit platform.

Stefan graduated from EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht (Oestrich-Winkel) in 2010.

Raphael has joined CORESTATE Bank in 2020. He is responsible for product development and structuring. He previously worked for Société Générale’s Legal Department in Frankfurt.

Before joining Société Générale in 2015, Raphael has worked for Morgan Stanley, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays in London, Landesbank Berlin in Berlin, UniCredit in Munich as well as Clifford Chance in Frankfurt and London, SJ Berwin in Berlin and Frankfurt, Dewey & LeBoeuf in Frankfurt and King & Wood Mallesons in Frankfurt.

Raphael is a qualified lawyer in Germany.

Steffen Janssen is an Associate at Corestate Bank in the Corporate Finance team which is responsible for advising clients on structuring and arranging financing solutions.

Prior joining Corestate Bank in 2021, Steffen Janssen worked two years in management consulting in the divisions of capital markets and asset management at Exxeta AG in Frankfurt am Main. During his university studies, Steffen Janssen worked as a working student in portfolio management at Union Investment and did internships in corporate and investment banking.

Steffen Janssen studied economics and business administration at the Goethe University after an apprenticeship as in investment fund manager.

Anastasiia joined CORESTATE Bank at the beginning of 2021. She supports the team in compliance. Previously, she worked at a banking institution with a focus on banking and securities law along with anti-money laundering.

She is studying business law at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences.

Marcus joined CORESTATE Bank at the beginning of 2021 as Head of Digital Client Platforms. His responsibility is the bank's technology as well as broadening and digitizing the sales channels.

Before joining CORESTATE Bank, Marcus worked in the corporate banking division of Deutsche Bank for 12 years where he focused on digital client solutions, such as external and internal electronic trading & advisory solutions, system mergers and MiFID II compliance.

He studied in England, Germany, Switzerland and Australia from where he holds degrees in International Business (B.A.), Business Informatics (B.Sc.) and Finance & Capital Markets (M.Sc.).

Farid Najem joined CORESTATE Bank in 2021 as Risk Manager responsible for overseeing matters related to risk and regulatory.

He has more than 13 years of experience in the banking sector. Before joining CORESTATE Bank, he worked for PwC as well as consulting firms in the banking and savings bank sector in the area of risk management. In this capacity, Farid was responsible for the identification, assessment, management, monitoring and communication of risks.

Farid holds a degree in Business Mathematics from University of Hamburg. Outside of work, he is a family man, married and has two children.

Elif Sarisoy is responsible for all aspects of implemention, processing and accounting processes mapping in the financial department. Her responsibilities include management financial reporting and the preparation of monthly and annual financial statements in accordance with the accounting standards of the German Commercial Code (HGB) and the German Ordinance on Accounting for Banks (RechKredV). In this function, she supports the risk department in certain aspects.

Elif is a proven expert in the areas of accounting and taxes. She has acquired her broad expertise in various functions in tax consulting companies.

In the last 10 years, she has gained her professional expertise and experience in positions in Mainz, Wiesbaden, Frankfurt and New York (USA). She is a tax specialist and studied in Mainz and New York. She is currently in the preparation phase for the tax advisory exam.