15 Jun 2026
PwC Legal hires Valeria Mercatante and Simone Mezzacapo as of counsel
"PwC Legal adds Valeria Mercatante and Simone Mezzacapo as of counsel to its Financial Services team, strengthening banking and financial regulation, asset management and digital finance expertise."
Valeria Mercatante joins PwC Legal as of counsel with more than twenty years of experience in legal, corporate and regulatory matters, gained in institutional settings and in the asset management sector. In recent years she served as General Counsel in leading real estate asset management companies, developing specific expertise in the regulation of supervised entities and public control, and in structuring transactions involving real estate alternative investment funds and institutional investors, both Italian and international.
Simone Mezzacapo joins PwC Legal as of counsel with consolidated experience in European banking and financial regulation, payment services and digital finance. An attorney and university professor of law and economics, he has held roles at national and European institutions including the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Commission, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Bank of Italy, contributing to the analysis and cross-border application of complex regulatory frameworks. More recently he supported the EU legal team of an international banking operator in the launch of innovative credit and payment products and in regulatory advisory and compliance activities.
The two appointments form part of PwC Legal’s strategy to strengthen support for companies and institutions amid evolving European regulation, market convergence, technological innovation and increasingly complex business models. Barbara Pontecorvo, partner and CEO of PwC Legal, highlighted the importance of combining legal, regulatory and business skills to guide clients in the evolution of operating models, governance and risk management.