Monika Koolmeister is a Partner of COBALT Estonia having a 15-year track record as a Banking & Finance attorney. Monika also has valuable experience from a leading commercial bank in Estonia, operating as Head of Compliance and member of the Extended Management Board. Monika has also been in charge of keeping good working relationships with the financial regulators – as Head of Compliance she has served as a contact person to the European Central Bank and the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority. 

She has been a member of the Estonian Bar Association since 2004.

• Capital Markets
• Corporate Governance
• Financial Services Regulatory
• Funds
• Fintech
• AML and Sanctions

• Legal 500, Banking, Finance, and Capital Markets/Fintech, Next Generation Partner – 2023
• Chambers Europe, Banking & Finance, Ranked Lawyer – 2022
• Legal 500, Banking, Finance, and Capital Markets, Rising Star – 2020 / 2021 / 2022

• Estonian, English, German, Russian

• Member of the Estonian Bar Association (since 2004)
• Master of Laws (LL.M), with merit, London School of Economics & Political Science, United Kingdom (2008-2009)
• Master of Laws (LL.M), magna cum laude, University of Freiburg (Albert-Ludwigs Universität Freiburg), Germany (2004-2005)
• Bachelor of Arts in Law / officially equivalent to MA, University of Tartu (Tartu Ülikool), Faculty of Law, Estonia (1999-2003)
• Exchange student, University of Latvia (Latvijas Universtitate), Latvia (2002)
• Distance course Legislative Drafting for Democratic Social Change, University of Boston (2001-2002)
• Summer university, University of Bremen (Universität Bremen), Germany (2000)

• 2023 — 09 — 13
  Binalyze raised 19 million dollars in a Series A financing round
• 2023 — 05 — 30
  COBALT advised Change Ventures on creating their €20M Fund III
• 2023 — 05 — 26
  COBALT advised Quickbyte Global in several aspects of the licensing process for renewal of a licence of a virtual currency service provider
• 2022 — 11 — 24
  COBALT advises Neo Performance Materials Inc. upon development of magnet manufacturing plant in Estonia
• 2022 — 10 — 30
  COBALT advised Wise (TINV Europe AS) in several aspects of the licencing process for receipt of a licence of an investment firm
• 2021 — 06 — 08
  COBALT advised Fortumo in Press Council complaint
• 2021 — 02 — 08
  COBALT advised Swedbank on evaluating structural changes at the Baltic level
• 2020 — 02 — 13
  COBALT advised SEB life insurance undertakings on cross-border merger in the Baltics
• 2019 — 09 — 30
  COBALT advised Luminor, Nordea and DNB on closing transaction with Blackstone
• 2018 — 09 — 13
  COBALT advised Luminor on EUR 1 billion majority stake acquisition by Blackstone