Born 1934 in Dusseldorf Dr. Ferdinand Hermanns studied law at the Universities of Cologne and Paris. During the preparatory stages for the second state examination Dr. Hermanns worked as a stagiaire with the High Authority in Luxembourg, the EC Commission in Brussels, the Chamber of Commerce in Berlin, the law firm Hengeler Wirtz in Dusseldorf and the Handelsunion AG in Dusseldorf, an affiliate of Thyssen AG. In 1961 he acquired the "Dipl´me d'Introduction au Droit Comparé".

After his second stat e examination in 1963 he published a thesis "Limitations based on public international law with respect to the applicability of antitrust provisions".

Dr. Hermanns started his professional career working in the Competition Department at the Federation of German Industries. In 1966 he was admitted to the Court of First Instance in Cologne. In 1970 he conducted research in the United States analysing the legal and economic results of the US merger control.

In 1973 he was nominated director of the Brussels Liaison Office of the Federation of German Industries to the EC Commission. He left the Federation of German Industries in 1977 and was admitted to the Court of Appeal in Dusseldorf. His specialisation is German and European Antitrust Law. In this field he acted as counsel for different industrial branches like the aluminium industry, the cable industry and numerous internationally acting companies like BASF, Siemens, Metro, Dr¤ger, Karstadt, Toepfer, ADM, Kirch, Deutsche Post, the European Commission and several head co-operatives in the field of agriculture. Dr. Hermanns was nominated chairman of several arbitration cases by the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce. He continues to act as chairman of the Commission on Competition of the International Chamber of Commerce.