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FSLA Essay Competition 2024

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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: £1,500 and a legal internship at the FCA Second Prize: £750 Third prize: £500

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.

What can ED&I deliver for financial services?

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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

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 £1,500 and a legal internship with the FCA.

Many congratulations also to second placed Francesca Jackson (winning £750), and third placed Hubert Florianczyk (winning £500).

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

FSLA Essay Competition 2023

By | 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: “Can the risks and opportunities of AI in financial services be managed by fine-tuning existing regulation, or is a new approach required?

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 6 October 2023.

Prizes

The Chris Stallard Memorial (First) Prize: £1,500 and a legal internship at the FCA

Second Prize: £750

Third prize: £500

We hope to present the prizes at FSLA’s winter social event.  In any case, winners will be notified by the end of 2023.

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, can be found here.

Financial services: How can it deliver on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

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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

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FSLA Essay Competition 2022

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The competition is now closed. Thank you everyone for your entries.

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

The title for this year’s competition is as follows:

Laundromat, police state or somewhere in between: has the correct balance been struck between anti-money laundering, anti-fraud, and anti-corruption aims on the one hand and the benefits of free enterprise and a global financial market on the other?
If not, explain one legislative or regulatory change which could make a significant difference.

The purpose of the essay is to provide students 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. The full competitions rules can be found on the FSLA website through the link below.

Please submit your essay by Friday 15 July 2022 to essay@fsla.org.uk.

Prizes will be presented at a reception hosted on a date to be confirmed.

The Chris Stallard Memorial Prize (first prize) is £1,500 and an internship with the FCA.

The runner up prize is £750. Third prize is £500.

Entrants are not required to be FSLA members, though free membership is offered to all law students.

FSLA Essay Competition 2022 Rules

FSLA Junior Lawyers Training: Recording of Introduction to Market Abuse session with Herbert Smith Freehills

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On Tuesday 19 April 2022 the Financial Services Lawyers Association and Herbert Smith Freehills invited our junior members to attend a training session on market abuse led by FSLA Advisory Board member and HSF Partner Chris Ninan.

The session provided an overview of the civil and criminal market abuse regime in the UK and do a deeper dive into some of the key concepts, and will finish with a look at the regulators’ enforcement action in this area.

The event was very informative and would be of great interest to our junior members who were unable to attend.

Registered FSLA members can view the recording of the session below. If you wish to become a member or need to confirm your username, please contact secretary@fsla.org.uk.

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FSLA Junior Lawyers: Introduction to Market Abuse – training session with Herbert Smith Freehills and junior networking

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A FSLA Juniors Lawyers’ training session and networking drinks at 6:30pm at Herbert Smith Freehills and online on Tuesday 19th April 2022

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association (FSLA) and Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), we invite our junior members (students and those with less than 5 years’ post-qualification experience) to attend an introductory training session on market abuse conducted by Chris Ninan, Natasha Stevens, and Alexandra Fitzgerald from HSF.

The session will provide an overview of the civil and criminal market abuse regime in the UK and do a deeper dive into some of the key concepts, and will finish with a look at the regulators’ enforcement action in this area.

The presentation will be followed by drinks and canapés, giving our junior members the chance to re-connect in an informal and relaxed setting.

The event will take place at HSF’s offices (Exchange House, Primrose Street, EC2A 2EG) on Tuesday 19 April. Registration will be open from 6pm and the presentation will start at 6:30pm, followed by drinks at 7:30pm. The presentation will also be available to view live online – please see the below RSVP options.

If you wish to attend, whether in-person or virtually, please register via the applicable link below. If you select virtual attendance, you will be sent a link a few days beforehand. Please provide your RSVP for in-person attendance by Monday 11 April. If you have any queries or special requirements, please contact us at events@fsla.org.uk.

We look forward to seeing you on 19 April.

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Winners of the FSLA Essay Competition 2020

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We are delighted to announce the winners in FSLA’s annual essay competition, with this year’s competition receiving one of our largest number of entries ever.

Congratulations to William Wong, the winner of this year’s Chris Stallard Memorial Prize, who will receive £2,000.

Many congratulations also to second placed Vibudha Hebballi, and third placed Constantine Fraser.

Our judging panel of Professor Eva Lomnicka QC (hon), Upper Tribunal Judge Tim Herrington, and Sir William Blair QC were very impressed by the standard of all our entries this year.

FSLA is very grateful to all of the individuals who entered their work, as well as to the judging panel who reviewed all of the entries before selecting our worthy winner.

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

Core Elements of Financial Services Regulation – Recording of Training Session with Herbert Smith Freehills

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On Tuesday 9 March 2021 the Financial Services Lawyers Association and Herbert Smith Freehills invited 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 event was aimed at our junior members who have less than 5 years’ experience as the session went back to basics, stopping to consider why regulation is so critical and introducing the UK’s regulatory structure and legislation. The HSF presenters also discussed the importance of good governance, individual accountability and culture within firms. The session also briefly examined some of the most pressing areas of focus for the financial services industry in 2021.

The event was very informative and would be of great interest to our junior members who were unable to attend.

Registered FSLA members can view the recording of the session below. If you wish to become a member or need to confirm your username, please contact fslalondon@gmail.com.

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