Students

Jan 13
0

FSLA and Fountain Court Event: Individual Accountability: The regulator, the regime and the individual

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

FSLA and Fountain Court panel discussion at Macfarlanes LLP on Tuesday 10 February 2026 at 6:30pm

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association and Fountain Court, we invite you to attend a panel event which seeks to explore regulators approach to Individual Accountability. The panel discussion will consider recent high-profile regulatory actions pursued against senior managers, the FCA’s long awaited Policy Statement which provides guidance on the Non-Financial Misconduct Rules and explore some of the practical challenges firms (and individuals) might face as we prepare for implementation from September 2026 (for non-banks). Chatham House Rule will apply.

The panel will be chaired by Zeena Saleh of Dentons and include (with more speakers still to be confirmed):

  • Peter Curtis-Valino, Cross-Cutting Policy, FCA. Peter leads the cross-cutting policy team at the FCA responsible for recent publications on non-financial misconduct and the Senior Managers & Certification Regime
  • Leigh-Ann Mulcahy KC, Fountain Court – Leigh-Ann appeared on behalf of the FCA to secure a landmark victory in respect of non-financial misconduct in which the Upper Tribunal upheld the FCA’s decision to prohibit and fine the former CEO of Barclays, Jes Staley. Leigh-Ann is a leading silk and arbitrator specialising in insurance & reinsurance, financial services and group litigation.
  • Laura Bridgewater, Macfarlanes LLP– Laura regularly advises both senior executives and financial institutions on contentious matters relating to individual accountability (both financial misconduct and non-financial misconduct) and has particular expertise in parallel employment disputes.

The discussion will be followed by a networking event which is open to all attendees. 

The event will be hosted at Macfarlanes LLP at 20 Cursitor Street, London, EC4A 1LT.

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

Timings:

Registration: 6pm

Panel discussion: 6:30pm

Drinks and networking reception: 7:30-9pm

Jan 06
0

FSLA Event: Growth and Innovation in Capital Markets

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

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association, we invite you to attend a panel event which explores growth and innovation in capital markets. The Draghi Report underlines a negative prognosis for future growth across all European economies. That makes capital raising options more important than ever. Encouragingly the UK regulators offer a range of pioneering ways forward, including sandboxes, PISCES (platforms for trading private company shares), and scale up units.

Under Chatham House rules a distinguished panel of investment bank, trading platform providers, FCA, and PRA directors will briefly summarise then discuss these initiatives. The discussion will be followed by a networking event which is open to all attendees.

Location: Slaughter and May, One Bunhill Row, London, EC1Y 8YY

Registration: Places to attend this event will be limited to 60, so please register early to avoid disappointment.

Date: Thursday 5th February 2026

Timings:

Registration: 6 – 6:30pm

Discussion: 6:30 – 7:30pm

Drinks: 7:30 – 8:30pm


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

Event access / security: Upon arrival, please check-in with the reception who will direct you to our event space. Please note that all visitors will be required to present government issued photo identification.

Jan 05
0

FSLA, Pinsent Masons and 3VB Event: Supervisory Powers in the FCA and the Upper Tribunal

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

We are pleased to announce a semniar hosted by FSLA, Pinsent Masons and 3VB: Supervisory Powers in the FCA and the Upper Tribunal.

A panel of expert speakers from 3VB, Pinsent Masons and the FCA will present a panel discussion on the FCA’s focus on assertive supervision, including the range of supervisory powers available to the FCA and what firms can do to challenge supervisory interventions in the Upper Tribunal.
 
Speakers:
Saima Hanif KC â€“ Barrister at 3VB
Jonathan Cavill â€“ Partner at Pinsent Masons
Lauren Rafter â€“ Head of Litigation and Legal Review at the FCA
Adam Temple â€“ Barrister at 3VB
 
Date: Tuesday 20th January 2026
 
Venue: Pinsent Masons, 30 Crown Place, Earl Street, London, EC2A 4ES
 
Timings:

18:00 – 18:30Registration
18:30 – 19:45Session followed by Q&A
19:45 – 20:45Drinks & Networking

 
If you wish to attend the event or have any queries or special requirements, please contact events@3vb.com

Sep 05
0

FSLA Academy Event – Market Abuse and Associated FCA Investigations

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

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association (FSLA) and Brown Rudnick, we invite you to attend a FSLA Academy series of training sessions on â€śMarket abuse and associated FCA investigations”.

The series will provide a detailed but practical guide to the various criminal and civil market abuse offences. It will consider the elements of the various offences (e.g. insider dealing, unlawful disclosure of inside information and market manipulation), the compliance considerations that the regime raises for firms and individuals (e.g. the circumstances in which information needs to be disclosed to the market and who inside information can be shared with) and how market abuse investigations differ from other FCA investigations (e.g. the potential for dual-track investigations and the restrictions around the use of compelled evidence).

The series will consist of three sessions:

  1. Insider dealing
  2. Unlawful disclosure and market manipulation
  3. FCA investigations into market abuse

The sessions will be led by members of Brown Rudnick’s Contentious Financial Services Team accompanied by a different barrister, in-house practitioner or regulator for each session.

The series is open to all but specifically targeted at practitioners with fewer than seven years dedicated contentious regulatory experience. It is therefore also suitable for those practitioners who are more than seven years PQE / call but who do not exclusively focus on contentious regulatory work.

Each session will be followed by drinks and canapés, providing an opportunity to network.

Location

The sessions will take place at Brown Rudnick’s offices (8 Clifford St, London W1S 2LQ).

Dates

  1. Tuesday 30 September – Session 1: Insider dealing
  2. Tuesday 21 October – Session 2: Unlawful disclosure and market manipulation
  3. Tuesday 11 November – Session 3: FCA investigations into market abuse


Timings

For each session, registration will be open from 6.00pm and the session will start at 6:30pm, followed by drinks and canapés.

If you wish to attend one or more of the sessions, or have any queries or special requirements, please contact us at fslalondon@gmail.com.

Aug 11
0

The Road Less Travelled: Navigating the Upper Tribunal – A FSLA Academy and Mishcon de Reya Event

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

A FSLA Academy and Mishcon de Reya in-person panel event to discuss how to navigate references to the Upper Tribunal

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association (FSLA) and Mishcon de Reya, we would like to invite you to attend our in-person event on references to the Upper Tribunal to be held on Wednesday, 3 September 2025 at Mishcon de Reya, Africa House, 70 Kingsway, WC2B 6AH.

The 1-hour event will provide attendees with a practical understanding of how to navigate references to the Upper Tribunal, including process and procedure, insights from the front line and lessons from recent Upper Tribunal cases. The event will be followed by a Q&A.

The panel event will feature the following speakers:

  • Guy Wilkes, Partner and Head of the Financial Services Investigations and Enforcement practice at Mishcon de Reya
  • Elizabeth Hope, Managing Associate at Mishcon de Reya
  • Farhaz Khan KC, 3 Verulam Buildings
  • Ava Mayer, Blackstone Chambers

Registration will open at 5.45pm, with the panel starting at 6.15pm, followed by drinks and canapés at 7.30pm.
The event is open to all but specifically targeted at practitioners with fewer than seven years dedicated contentious regulatory experience. It is therefore also suitable for those practitioners who are more than seven years PQE / call but who do not exclusively focus on contentious regulatory work.

We look forward to seeing you on 3 September 2025. If you have any queries or special requirements, please email Shirley.Layne@Mishcon.com.

Venue: Mishcon de Reya, Africa House, 70 Kingsway, London, WC2B 6AH

Date: Wednesday 3 September 2025

Time: 5.45pm – Registration
          6.15pm – Introduction, panel discussion and Q&A
          7.30pm – Drinks 

If you are interested in attending, please contact us at fslalondon@gmail.com

Feb 18
0

Pathways into Financial Services and Regulatory Law

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

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!

Dec 11
3

Winners of the FSLA Essay Competition 2024

By | Junior Lawyers, Students | No Comments

We are delighted to announce the winners of the FSLA Essay Competition 2024.  The title for this year’s competition was: “With the rise of so-called “finfluencers”, how can the FCA and its international counterparts effectively protect younger consumers from high-risk investments such as cryptoassets and contracts for difference?”

Congratulations to Daniel Feltham, our first placed essayist and winner of the Chris Stallard Memorial Prize, and to second-placed Sessi Hundeyin and third-placed Charlie Lam.

We are grateful to our esteemed judging panel, (Professor Eva Lomnicka KC (hon), Travers Smith partner Phil Bartram, and Tracey McDermott, CBE (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 individuals who entered their work.

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

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Z2V-v7H3PVTovBg57Ee2jBNYZz4tgO8-?usp=sharing

Aug 29
2

FSLA Essay Competition 2024

By | Events, Junior Lawyers, Students | No Comments

The Financial Services Lawyers Association is pleased to announce its annual essay competition.

The title for this year’s competition is: “With the rise of so-called “finfluencers”, how can the FCA and its international counterparts effectively protect younger consumers from high-risk investments such as cryptoassets and contracts for difference?”

The purpose of the essay competition is to provide students, trainees, and pupil barristers with the opportunity to apply their studies to issues that are of particular relevance to the financial services industry and wider society.

Essays should be no longer than 1,500 words, and the deadline for entries is midnight on Friday 11 October 2024.

Prizes

The Chris Stallard Memorial (First) Prize: ÂŁ1,500 and a legal internship at the FCA Second Prize: ÂŁ750 Third prize: ÂŁ500

We hope to present the prizes at FSLA’s winter social event.  In any case, winners will be notified by the end of 2024.

There is no requirement that entrants be FSLA members; however, free membership is offered to all students.  Please email fslalondon@gmail.com for further details. The full rules for the competition, including submission details and terms applying to the prizes, can be found here.

May 03
0

What can ED&I deliver for financial services?

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

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

Dec 23
0

Essay Competition 2023: Winners

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Winners of the FSLA Essay Competition 2023

We are delighted to announce the winners of the FSLA Essay Competition 2023.  The title was: “Can the risks and opportunities of AI in financial services be managed by fine-tuning existing regulation, or is a new approach required?“ 

Congratulations to Ella Higgs-Sharrock, our first placed essayist and winner of the Chris Stallard Memorial Prize.  Ella will receive ÂŁ1,500 and a legal internship with the FCA.

Many congratulations also to second placed Francesca Jackson (winning ÂŁ750), and third placed Hubert Florianczyk (winning ÂŁ500).

We are grateful to our esteemed judging panel, (Professor Eva Lomnicka KC (hon), recently retired Upper Tribunal Judge Tim Herrington, and Tracey McDermott, CBE (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 individuals who entered their work.

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

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12Ufb8Kzx9238I8GclbEBwDDUb0_dphTO?usp=drive_link