Financial Services Practitioners

Link to the video of the FSLA and Mayer Brown Webinar, which took place on Thursday 28^th October at 1pm

On 28 October the Financial Services Lawyers Association (FSLA) and Mayer Brown LLP organised a panel event considering ESG Climate Disclosures and the key challenges for firms.

The panel was chaired by James Whitaker, Litigation and Disputes Partner at Mayer Brown, and featured:

• Joanne Etherton, Climate Finance Lead, Client Earth;
• Anne Corrigan, Deputy Head of Legal, Bank of England;
• Edward Cumming QC, XXIV Old Buildings; and
• Tonia Plakhotniuk, Vice President, NatWest Markets and ex Director of Policy for Sustainability at AFME.

The one hour webinar focussed on the key risks and challenges for financial services firms navigating the latest developments in the ESG Climate Disclosures landscape.

The panel covered a wide range of topics, with lively and engaging discussion between the panel. The recording will be of interest to all financial services lawyers of all levels of PQE, please login to access the link below.

Join us for our annual drinks at 6pm on 20^th July at Middle Temple Gardens

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association, we invite you to attend a summer drinks party in Middle Temple Gardens where we shall also carry out the prize giving for the annual essay competition.

The drinks are an opportunity to re-connect with friends and colleagues after what will in many cases be a long absence. The drinks are outdoors (but with space indoors in the event of rain) and therefore we hope all our members will feel comfortable attending.

Since we expect most people will be attending from home rather than from the office please feel free to dress for a summer garden party rather than for the office!

We have booked the gardens for 20^th July 2021 from 6pm with the prize-giving at 6.30pm. We look forward to seeing our members in person after a year of online events.

The title of the essay competition was “Facebook (and other private companies) are better placed than central banks to issue and maintain stable currencies.” Discuss. The Chris Stallard Memorial Prize (first prize) was awarded to William Wong, with Vibudha Hebballi and Constantine Fraser in second and third place. Their entries may be viewed here.

FSLA is very grateful to the panel of judges for considering the huge number of entries in this year’s competition, Professor Eva Lomnicka, Sir William Blair QC and Upper Tribunal Judge Herrington.

Please note the event may still be cancelled due to government COVID announcements expected prior to 20^th July.

If you are able to attend the drinks, please register below.

An online seminar at 9.30am on Wednesday 17^th March 2021

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association (FSLA) and Blackstone Chambers we would like to invite you to attend our annual ‘Trends in Enforcement’ event, which this year will be run as a webinar. The webinar will be held on Wednesday 17 March, 9.30am to 11am.

The webinar will comprise of a panel discussion chaired by Javan Herberg QC, Blackstone Chambers, that will also feature:

• Thomas Baudesson, Partner, Clifford Chance, Paris;
• Andrew George QC, Blackstone Chambers;
• Helen Marshall, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld;
• Patrick Meaney, Head of Enforcement, Dubai Financial Services Authority; and
• Mark Steward, Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight, Financial Conduct Authority.

During the 90 minute webinar, the speakers will discuss the latest trends and current thinking on how to tackle some of the most difficult enforcement issues facing those working in the financial services sector. Log in to the webinar will open at 9am on 17 March, with the webinar beginning promptly at 9.30am. It will conclude with an audience Q&A session that will finish by 11am.

We look forward to welcoming you on 17 March.

An online event at 6:00pm on Tuesday 9^th March

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association and Herbert Smith Freehills, we invite our members to attend a training session on the core elements of financial services regulation led by FSLA Advisory Board member and HSF Partner Chris Ninan. The talk will take place online on Tuesday 9 March 2021, 6:00pm to 7:30pm.

The event is open to all but would be most beneficial to our junior members who have less than 5 years’ experience as the session will be going back to basics, stopping to consider why regulation is so critical and introducing the UK’s regulatory structure and legislation. We will also discuss the importance of good governance, individual accountability and culture within firms. Looking ahead, we will examine some of the most pressing areas of focus for the financial services industry in 2021.

If you wish to attend please register on the link below. Once registered you will be sent a link to attend the online event a few days beforehand.

We look forward to seeing you on 9 March.