Financial Services Practitioners

Tuesday, 25th March from 6pm – non-members welcome

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association (FSLA) Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, we would like to invite you to attend the “Pathways into Financial Services and Regulatory Law” panel discussion and networking on Tuesday, 25th March, starting at 6pm.

The event will be hosted at the City of London Law School with a panel discussion chaired by Saima Hanif KC of 3 Verulam Buildings, a leading financial services silk. The event will feature panellists with a range of experiences, including:

• Aleja Isip – Legal Counsel at the Financial Ombudsman Service. Aleja currently works for the Financial Ombudsman Service, within the Legal and Jurisdiction team. Aleja previously worked as a Lawyer at the Financial Conduct Authority, in its Enforcement and Market Oversight division. Admitted as a solicitor in 2022, Aleja was one of the first cohort to qualify via the SQE route. Aleja has had various roles in private practice and in-house where she gained Qualifying Work Experience, which included areas of professional discipline, healthcare, and insurance.
• Thomas Cave – Solicitor Apprentice at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang (second year). Tom is currently working within the Financial Services Litigation team. After completing A-levels at a state school in North Yorkshire, Tom opted for a gap year, during which he discovered the solicitor apprenticeship route as an alternative to traditional university education. This decision has allowed Tom to gain invaluable hands-on experience in the legal field while continuing his studies and progressing towards qualification.
• Holly Girven – Barrister at Farrar’s Building. Holly is a barrister specialising in regulatory and personal injury law at Farrar’s Building. She is a manual wheelchair user and has first-hand experience of the importance of improving access to the legal profession for disabled people. She has previously spoken on Radio 4’s Law in Action and various podcasts about her experiences as a disabled barrister.
• Dr Rohan Clarke – Pupil Barrister at CANDEY. Rohan is a former Jamaican diplomat who started his pupillage in September 2024. During his pupillage, he has undertaken a variety of work in sanctions advisory, insolvency and offshore and general commercial litigation. In addition to being a former diplomat, Rohan is an international consultant on illicit finance, a Fellow at Yale University’s Global Justice Program and a member of the organising Secretariat of the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime.

During the panel discussion, our speakers will discuss their experiences and journeys into financial services and regulatory law. There will be ample time for questions at the end.

Please register to ensure that you have a space – we are expecting this event to be extremely popular, please contact events@fsla.org.uk if you would like to attend.

Following the panel discussion, we invite you to join us for a networking session with refreshments.

Registration will open at 6pm, with the panel starting at 6.30pm, followed by networking drinks from 8pm to 9pm.

Venue: City of London Law School, Faculty of Law, Northampton Square, Sebastian Street, London EC1V OHB

Due to the nature of the event, we are delighted to be able to invite non-members and members alike.

FSLA membership is free for students – for more details please email fslalondon@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you there!

A FSLA panel discussion at Travers Smith LLP on Thursday 23 May 2024 at 6:30pm

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association (FSLA), we invite you to attend a panel event which seeks to examine the impact that equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) initiatives can have on financial services, and the advisors which service the sector.

We are grateful to the experts who will contribute to the event, including:

Sophie Hulm – CEO, Progress Together 

Progress Together is a not-for-profit membership body which aims to create equity of progression for individuals in the financial services sector, levelling the playing field and ensuring equal access to senior level roles for all, regardless of socio-economic background.

Sarah Minor-Massy – Director – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, PwC

Sarah Minor-Massy is a trained behavioural scientist with 15+ years of management consulting experience. Sarah helps clients to refine their understanding of their current DE&I challenges, and develop DE&I strategies that are aligned with overall business strategy. Sarah has extensive experience in inclusive leadership development, working with leaders to deepen their understanding of DE&I, connect to the topic on a personal level, increase their confidence and competence to engage with stakeholders, and role model inclusion throughout their organisation.

Rupert Allen – Barrister, Fountain Court

Rupert has a broad commercial and civil practice, and frequently acts for and against regulators in professional disciplinary and regulatory investigations (particularly in relation to solicitors, accountants and matters concerning financial services), including where there are allegations of discrimination and/or offensive communications.    

Natalie Lewis – Partner, Travers Smith LLP

Natalie leads the Fintech, Market Infrastructure and Payments Group at Travers Smith, and is the executive sponsor of the firm’s Gender Balance Group.

Michael Raymond – Partner, Travers Smith LLP

Michael is a partner in the Financial Services and Markets Group at Travers Smith, and an active member of the firm’s LGBTQ+ Group.

A panel discussion will be followed by networking drinks and is open to any lawyers with an interest in financial services and/or ED&I within financial services (including students, private practice lawyers and in-house lawyers).  The event is not restricted to FSLA members.

The event will be hosted by Travers Smith at their offices at 10 Snow Hill, London EC1A 2AL.

The event will start at 6pm and the panel discussion will start at 6:30pm.

You can register to attend at this link.

If you have any queries or special requirements, please contact us at events@fsla.org.uk

We look forward to seeing you on 23 May 2024.

FSLA – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group

A FSLA panel discussion at Norton Rose Fulbright on Wednesday 3 May 2023 at 6:30pm

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association (FSLA), we invite you to attend a panel event which seeks to examine the role of, and challenges faced by, financial services firms and practitioners in the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion space.

The event panel will include:

• Elise Sabran (Chair) (UK Head of Governance and Culture & Conduct, Societe Generale)
• Sharon Blackman OBE (Managing Director & General Counsel, EMEA Head of FX & Local Markets Legal, Citi)
• Peter Curtis-Valino (Manager, Governance and Cross-Cutting Standards team, FCA)
• Anna Jernova (Senior Policy Manager Governance, Remuneration & Controls team, PRA)
• Daniel Winterfeldt MBE KC (Managing Director and General Counsel for EMEA and Asia, Jefferies)
• Khasruz Zaman (former Global Head of M&A Legal, Barclays Bank and partner of Simmons & Simmons, now Secondary School Maths teacher)

The discussion will be followed by networking drinks and is open to any lawyers with an interest in financial services and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion within financial services (including students, private practice lawyers and in-house lawyers).

The event will be hosted at Norton Rose Fulbright in their Terrace Suite, 3 More London Pl, London SE1 2AQ.

You can register to attend the event at the link below. Please do not register again if you have registered before.

Registration will be open from 6pm and the panel discussion will start at 6:30pm.

If you have any queries or special requirements, please contact us at events@fsla.org.uk

We look forward to seeing you on 3 May 2023.

FSLA – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Sub-Committee