Financial Services Lawyers Association (FSLA)

An association for financial services lawyers, regulators, academics, judges
and policy experts to share ideas about financial services law
and regulation and to socialise with peers.

Latest News & Events

FSLA, Winston Taylor and Outer Temple Chambers Event: Recent Developments and Future Trends in the Regulation of Cryptoassets

By | Events, Financial Services Practitioners, Junior Lawyers | No Comments

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association (FSLA), Winston Taylor and Outer Temple Chambers would like to invite you to attend our in-person panel event on Recent Developments and Future Trends in the Regulation of Cryptoassets to be held on Thursday, 8 October 2026 from 5.45pm to 8pm.

The panel will be chaired by Martin Dowdall, a partner in Winston Taylor’s financial services regulatory team, and will feature the following speakers:

·       Victoria McLoughlin, Head of Department – Market Interventions (Digital Assets) at the Financial Conduct Authority

·       Kate Rhodes, Senior Counsel, Regulatory, Blockchain and Digital Assets at Mastercard

·       Ed Winters, Barrister, Outer Temple Chambers.

At what is a defining moment for the digital assets sector, the panel will discuss key developments and areas of consideration in UK cryptoasset law and regulation, as well as related developments in the EU and beyond. 

FSLA expects the event to be of interest to financial services lawyers of all PQE levels, as well as industry professionals. 

It will conclude with an audience Q&A session, intended to finish by 7.30pm, followed by an opportunity to network.

The event will be held pursuant to the Chatham House Rule.  


Venue: Winston Taylor, 5 New Street Square, London EC4A 3TW


Date:  Thursday, 8 October 2026

Time:  5.45pm – Registration

            6.15pm – Introduction, panel discussion and Q&A

            7.30pm – Networking



If you would like to attend the event, or if you have any queries please contact us at fslalondon@gmail.com

FSLA and Hickman & Rose Event: The FCA as criminal prosecutor: past, present and future?

By | Events, Financial Services Practitioners | No Comments

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association and Hickman & Rose we invite you to attend a discussion presented by a panel of speakers on the criminal powers of the FCA, and its role as a prosecutor in relation to corporates and individuals
 
Speakers: 
Sarah Clarke KC – Serjeants’ Inn Chambers
Jill Lorimer – Kingsley Napley
Lauren Rafter – FCA, Head of Legal and Litigation Review in Enforcement Legal
 
Chaired by:
Claire Wallace – Hickman & Rose
 
Date:
Thursday, 17th September 2026
 
Timings:
Registration: 6.00pm
Panel Session & Q&A : 6:30pm – 7.45pm
Drinks, canapés and networking: 7.45pm onwards
 
Venue: The Goldsmiths’ Centre
42 Britton Street
London EC1M 5AD
 
(The Goldsmiths’ Centre – The Goldsmiths’ Centre)
 
If you would like to attend or if you have any queries or special requirements please contact fslalondon@gmail.com

Winners of the FSLA Essay Competition 2026

By | Junior Lawyers, Students | No Comments

We are delighted to announce the winners of the FSLA Essay Competition 2026. 

The title for this year’s competition was: “Streamlining regulation for international growth and innovation: a legal perspective.

Congratulations to:

First placed essayist and Winner of the Chris Stallard Memorial Prize: Ali Kaissy

Second-placed essayist: Noah Koncar

Third-place essayist: Esther Lafitte-Ibarra

We are grateful to our esteemed judging panel, (Professor Eva Lomnicka KC (hon), Travers Smith partner Phil Bartram, and Tracey McDermott, CBE (former Group Head of Conduct, Financial Crime and Compliance at Standard Chartered)), who were impressed with the standard of entries across the board. 

FSLA is grateful to all of the entrants who entered their work.

The top three essays are available to read below, with thanks to our winners who allowed us to share them.

First place: https://fsla.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/First-Place-Ali-Kaissy-.pdf

Second place: https://fsla.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Second-Place-Noah-Koncar-.pdf

Third place: https://fsla.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Third-Place-Esther-Lafitte-Ibarra-.pdf

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“In the end, our financial system only works – our market is only free – when there are clear rules and basic safeguards that prevent abuse, that check excess, that ensure that it is more profitable to play by the rules than to game the system. And that’s what these reforms are designed to achieve – no more, no less. Because that’s how we will ensure that our economy works for consumers, that it works for investors, that it works for financial institutions – that it works for all of us.”

(Barack Obama, at the signing of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act)