As 2020 comes into view, what can we expect to be at the top of regulators’ agendas? Key themes that are new from last year are ESG and an increased focus on operational resilience. Both EU and UK authorities are looking at how buy and sell-side firms should embed ESG considerations into their organisational and customer-facing processes. Whilst legal reforms are under discussion, we expect that institutional investors and market adaptations, such as the rise of green bonds, will continue to drive the debate, perhaps faster than the regulators and legislators can catch up. Much of the EU-level reform work being undertaken at present is dependent on the finalisation of an EU-wide ESG “taxonomy” (stemming from a proposed Taxonomy Regulation), which has proven to be particularly contentious, with the categorisation of “sustainable” activities a sticking point.
Philip Annett is a partner with the Financial Services Regulatory team in Baker McKenzie's London office. He has an in-depth knowledge of working with the UK regulators, having previously been a senior lawyer in the Enforcement Division at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), where he led some of the regulator's highest-profile enforcement cases, and was recently seconded to the Bribery and Corruption Division at the Serious Fraud Office.
Caitlin McErlane advises asset managers, banks, major corporates, exchanges, clearing houses and payment institutions on navigating UK and EU financial services regulation. She has particular experience in advising clients on operating in compliance with ongoing regulatory developments, including MiFID II, EMIR, the Investment Firms Regulation, ESG reforms, AIFMD and the Market Abuse Regulation.
Richard Powell is a knowledge lawyer in Baker McKenzie's global financial services regulatory group where he is responsible for supporting and developing the group's legal and technical knowledge. Previously he was a member of the UK Financial Conduct Authority's Enforcement Division where he advised on regulatory cases. He has also been an editor of Bloomberg Law's UK Financial Services Law Journal.
Shaneil Shah is an Associate in the Financial Services & Regulatory Group in the London office. Shaneil has experience advising FinTechs, funds, banks, asset managers and payment institutions on compliance with their regulatory obligations and has spent time on secondment to Baker McKenzie in Hong Kong.
David Halliday is a partner in the IT/Communications Practice Group in Baker McKenzie's London office. His practice spans a broad range of contentious and non-contentious work in the IT/telecoms area, with particular focus on dispute resolution.
Sue McLean is a partner in the IT/Commercial Practice Group in Baker McKenzie's London office. Sue advises clients on technology, sourcing and digital media business models and deals, as well as the legal issues relating to the implementation of new technologies. Sue has been included in the Women In FinTech Power List for three successive years. She is on the editorial board of the Journal of Digital Banking and is a member of the techUK working group on DLT/blockchain. Sue is an active member of Baker Women and leads Baker Women in Tech, an initiative to encourage the development and promotion of women in the tech sector. In 2017, Sue won the Rising Star Award at the Variety Catherine Awards.
Steve Holmes leads Baker McKenzie's Global Information Technology & Communications practice based in London, and focuses on major technology, sourcing, communications and digital media transactions. In addition to leading the London sourcing team, Steve is co-lead of the London media team, and is on the steering committee of the European technology practice. Since 2006, he has been consistently ranked by Chambers UK and Legal 500 as a leading practitioner in the fields of technology, outsourcing, communications and digital media. Steve is one of the partners who leads the Firm's social mobility committee, BakerOpportunity. Steve has spoken and written extensively on a wide range of topics relevant to his field, including cloud computing, risk/reward in major services agreements, content licensing for new technologies, key issues in MVNO agreements and various other technology, communications and digital media topics.
Matthew Dening is the Chair of the Firm's Global Derivatives Practice and a member of the Firm’s Structured Capital Markets Group in the London office. He focuses his practice primarily on cross-border structured finance transactions involving derivatives, repos and securities lending, as well as the regulation of financial products under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), MiFID II and the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR). Matthew has received acknowledgement from numerous legal industry guides. He has been ranked as a leading expert by Chambers & Partners since 2005, and is currently ranked Band 1 in Structured Finance & Derivatives in the most recent Global edition. They highlight that he "understands complex problems very well, and is able to think about business issues in conjunction with legal requirements," as well as being "incredibly responsive and client-friendly." He regularly acts for buy-side derivatives firms. The UK Legal 500 note him as "a true expert in this area of law, a pleasant person who can explain very difficult matters clearly." Matthew is a member of the Editorial Board of Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Finance Law. He is a frequent speaker and guest panellist at conferences in both the derivative and structured product area, as well as law firm management. He was recently a guest panellist at Thomson Reuters Transforming Women’s Leadership in the Law in 2019.