law

Feb 23
0

FSLA Event: Gender Equality in Financial Services, Law and Beyond

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FSLA, Fox Williams and 3VB Seminar in support of IWD 2026

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association, we invite you to attend our inaugural IWD event. Join us for a fireside chat with the fantastic Mary Ann Sieghart, author of the highly acclaimed book “The Authority Gap”.  Mary Ann will explain the Authority Gap, why it exists and what can be done to resolve it. This will be followed by a panel discussion with leading lawyers from across the FS and legal community, exploring how these issues impact our industry and the challenges we continue to face in delivering on the ED&I agenda.  

Speakers: 

Guest Speaker:  Mary Ann Sieghart, author of “The Authority Gap”

Saima Hanif KC – Barrister at 3VB

Sona Ganatra – Partner, Co‑Head of Financial Services Regulatory at Fox Williams

Daniel Winterfeldt MBE KC – former General Counsel (EMEA and Asia), Jefferies and Founder and Co-Chair of the InterLaw Diversity Forum

Sarah Peazer-Davies – General Counsel & Company Secretary, Close Brothers

Date: Tuesday 24 March 2026

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

Registration: Places to attend this event will be limited, so please register early to avoid disappointment – if you would like to attend or if you have any queries or special requirements, please contact us at fslalondon@gmail.com

This is an in-person event only.

Registration will be open from 6pm, with the event starting at 6:30pm.

Venue: Fox Williams LLP

            10 Finsbury Square

            London EC2A 1AF

Feb 05
0

FSLA Essay Competition 2026

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FSLA Essay Competition 2026


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


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


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 20 March 2026.


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 summer social event.


Eligibility and rules
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.

Jan 13
0

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

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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.

Sep 05
0

FSLA Academy Event – Market Abuse and Associated FCA Investigations

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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 “Market 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.

Jan 30
0

Recent Developments and Future Trends in the Regulation of Cryptoassets

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Taking place at DAC Beachcroft LLP, 25 Walbrook, City of London, London EC4N 8AF

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association (FSLA),  DAC Beachcroft LLP and Outer Temple Chambers would like to invite you to attend our in-person event on Recent Developments and Future Trends in the Regulation of Cryptoassets to be held on Tuesday, 18 February 2025 from 5.45pm to 8pm.

The panel event will feature the following speakers:

  • Victoria McLoughlin, Head of Department – Market Interventions (Digital Assets) at the Financial Conduct Authority;
  • Katie Fry-Paul, Senior Legal Counsel at Coinbase;
  • Justina Stewart, Barrister at Outer Temple Chambers; and 
  • Steve Elam, Partner at Cooke Young & Keidan LLP. 

The 1 hour event will focus on the latest developments, future trends and areas of concern in the fast-evolving and increasingly topical field of cryptoasset regulation. We expect that it will be of interest to all financial services lawyers of all levels of PQE. It will conclude with an audience Q&A session that will finish by 7.30pm and shall be held pursuant to the Chatham House Rule.  


Venue: 25 Walbrook, City of London, London EC4N 8AF


Date:    Tuesday 18 February 2025

Time:    5.45pm – Registration

             6.15pm – Introduction, panel discussion and Q&A

             7.30pm – Drinks 

Please use the link here to register for the event.

If you have any queries ahead of the event, please contact us at events@fsla.org.uk

Jan 08
0

Breakfast roundtable: FCA Transparency of Enforcement Investigations

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A FSLA in-person roundtable to discuss the FCA’s amended proposals for greater transparency of enforcement investigations (CP24/2 Part 2) on Wednesday 22nd January 2025 from 8am to 10am hosted by Mishcon de Reya.

On behalf of the Financial Services Lawyers Association, we would like to invite you to attend an in-person roundtable event on the FCA’s amended proposals to “Greater Transparency of our Enforcement investigations” (CP24/2 Part 2), as published on 28 November 2024.

Therese Chambers, joint Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, has stated: “We have heard the strength of feedback to our original proposals, and we are making changes as a result”. This roundtable will examine the FCA’s amended proposals in more detail and explore the case studies outlined by the consultation paper.

The session will be hosted by Mishcon de Reya and chaired by Javan Herberg KC of Blackstone Chambers (with further speakers to be confirmed in due course).

This is an in-person event only. The event will be hosted at Mishcon de Reya’s London office at Africa House, 70 Kingsway, London, WC2B 6AH. Registration will open at 8am with refreshments with the roundtable commencing at 8:30am.

If you have any queries ahead of the event, please contact us at events@fsla.org.uk.

If you would like to attend the event, please register here. Please note this is a small event and we may therefore need to limit attendance to one representative per firm/chambers.

We look forward to seeing you on 22nd January 2025.

Sep 03
0

Upcoming FSLA Academy events

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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 “FCA enforcement: misconduct and lack of fitness and propriety”.

The series will provide a detailed but practical guide to the FCA’s powers to investigate and impose sanctions on individuals in relation to misconduct and lack of fitness and propriety. It will deal with issues that may be faced by firms and individuals following the identification of a potentially significant regulatory issue all the way through to an FCA decision to impose a sanction and the options then available.

The series will consist of three sessions:

  1. Misconduct and lack of fitness and propriety – the scope and meaning of the terms and the circumstances in which the FCA can take action in relation to them
  2. The pre-FCA investigation stage – how a firm should go about investigating a potentially significant regulatory issue and the consequences of that for an individual
  3. The FCA enforcement process – an overview covering the opening of an investigation through to the conclusion of any enforcement proceedings

The sessions will be led by Ian Weinstein and Chloë Kealey of Brown Rudnick’s Contentious Financial Services Team and build upon the contents of their recently published book on the subject. Ian and Chloë will be joined by a different barrister or in-house practitioner 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 24 September – Session 1: Misconduct and lack of fitness and propriety
  2. Tuesday 15 October – Session 2: The pre-FCA investigation stage
  3. Tuesday 5 November – Session 3: The FCA enforcement process


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, please register here. Please note that, by submitting this form, you are registering your interest in attending the FSLA Academy training sessions. This is not an acceptance or confirmation of any place.

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

Aug 30
0

The FCA in the High Court – The FSLA & 3VB Seminar 2024

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3VB & FSLA are pleased to present a panel discussion on FCA involvement in High Court litigation, including its pursuit of restitution and other orders under FSMA, its business interruption claim in FCA v Arch [2021] UKSC 1, and the FCA as a defendant in claims for judicial review.

Chaired by Saima Hanif KC, who will be joined by panellists:

  • Lauren Rafter – Head of Department in the Enforcement and Market Oversight Division of the Financial Conduct Authority
  • Sarah McNally – Partner at Herbert Smith Freehills
  • Caroline Hunter-Yeats – Partner at Simmons & Simmons
  • Adam Temple – Barrister at 3VB

Date:   Thursday 19th September 2024
Time:   
6:00pm: Registration
6:30pm – 7:30pm: Seminar
7:30pm – 9:00pm: Drinks Reception
Venue: Lecture Theatre, Inner Temple, Crown Office Row, London, EC4Y 7HL
RSVP:
Click here to register for a virtual place
Click here to register for an in-person place

If you have any queries or special requirements, please email at fslalondon@gmail.com

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: £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.