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Special Edition: Finding Balance – Sustainability in Financial Institutions

In this special edition, Eva-Maria Segur Cabanac, a partner in our Vienna office and global sustainability lead for financial institutions, and Jennifer Klass, a partner in our New York office and co-chair of the financial regulation and enforcement practice in North America, talk with Ying Yi Liew on how the COVID-19 pandemic led to the prioritization of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations among financial institutions (FIs). They also cover progress around the creation of common and consistent international standards over disclosure and classification, and the impact of new technologies on sustainability priorities. This episode is part of the sixth installment of Finding Balance: The Post-COVID Landscape for Financial Institutions.

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Iris Barsan joined Baker McKenzie in October 2019 after practicing as a lawyer in a Franco-German law firm. Prior to that, Iris worked for several years in the legal department of the Prudential Control and Resolution Authority and as a financial lawyer in a French banking group (insurance and investment banking). Iris holds a doctorate in French and German law, an LL.M. from the University of Cologne and is a former student of the ENA (Willy Brandt promotion). In addition to her practice as a lawyer, Iris is an assistant professor at the University of Paris XII. She teaches company law (French, European and comparative), European business law, financial regulation and personal data and new technologies law.

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Ken Chia is a member of the Firm’s IP Tech, International Commercial & Trade and Competition Practice Groups. He is regularly ranked as a leading TMT and competition lawyer by top legal directories, including Chambers Asia Pacific and Legal 500 Asia Pacific. Ken is an IAPP Certified International Privacy Professional (FIP, CIPP(A), CIPT, CIPM) and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators.

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Wildu du Plessis is a partner and head of Baker McKenzie's Banking & Finance Practice Group in Johannesburg. He also acts as the office's Africa Head. Wildu is regularly ranked as one of South Africa's leading banking and finance and capital markets lawyers and is recognized by Chambers Global 2016 and the Legal 500 2016.

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Michael Fieweger represents private equity and venture capital funds, institutions, family offices and hedge funds and strategic acquirers in their formation and global acquisition and investment activities. Michael has a background in corporate finance, having previously served as a commercial lending officer with a division of JP Morgan Chase in Chicago. He is the chairman of the Firm's Global Private Equity Practice Group.

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David Hart is a partner in Baker McKeznie's corporate group, based in London. He joined the Firm as a trainee in 2007 and became a partner in 2019. He is a member of the Firm's TMT Industry Group.

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Julian is a senior associate in Baker McKenzie's Financial Services Group in London. Julian advises financial institutions including international and local fintechs, investment and retail banks, asset managers, investment advisers, payment services firms and product issuers on compliance with UK and European regulatory obligations. Julian also has experience in advising on the spectrum of regulated financial services and products including deposit products, payment accounts and electronic money products, consumer credit, insurance, derivatives, managed funds, structured debt and equities. Julian has completed a secondment to UBS AG and Western Union Business Solutions, in their in-house legal and compliance teams. Duties included advising equity derivatives, fixed income derivatives and equities teams on general commercial and regulatory issues. He is currently on secondment from the Australian offices of the Firm and has extensive experience with both Australian and English financial regulation.

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Jennifer L. Klass serves as the co-chair of Baker McKenzie's North America Financial Regulation and Enforcement Practice, which provides clients with a full range of regulatory advice and enforcement counseling. Jen is an experienced financial services regulatory lawyer with particular focus on investment adviser regulation and the convergence of investment advisory and brokerage services. She regularly represents clients before the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), both in seeking interpretative guidance and in managing examination and enforcement matters.

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Lawrence C. Lee is a partner in Baker McKenzie's Palo Alto office. Lawrence regularly advises clients in connection with mergers and acquisitions and other complex corporate transactions across a variety of industries, with a particular focus on the technology sector. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Lawrence served as in-house counsel for a San Francisco digital currency exchange where he led all corporate and strategic transactions and investments. From 2015 to 2018, he was selected by California Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Mergers and Acquisitions. In 2020, Lawrence was selected by Law360 as a Top Attorney Under 40 in the Technology sector.

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Ying Yi is a local principal in the Financial Services Practice Group of Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow in Singapore. She focuses on regulatory and compliance issues in the financial services sector.

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Stephanie Magnus co-heads the Asia Pacific Financial Institutions Group and heads up the Financial Services Regulatory Practice Group in Singapore. Stephanie is ranked Band 1 for FinTech in Singapore by Chambers FinTech 2020. She is also ranked as a Leading Individual for Financial Services Regulatory: Local Firms in Singapore by Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2020. She is recognised as a leading lawyer for Banking & Finance: Regulatory in Singapore by Chambers Asia Pacific and Chambers Global 2020. Stephanie was quoted in Chambers Asia Pacific for her "timely, practical and business-oriented" advice, with a "deep understanding of the regulatory regime." She is also recognised as "very business-savvy and brilliant every time," and is admired for her "very strong grasp of the legal issues from both a technical and practical perspective."

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Karen Man is a partner in Baker McKenzie’s Financial Services group, leading the non-contentious Financial Services Regulatory practice. Her clients include global, Chinese and local banks, fund managers, brokers/dealers, money service operators and fintech firms. Karen is admitted to practice in Hong Kong, the UK, and Australia.

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Sue specialises in technology and had been advising on technology projects for over 20 years. She advises clients (both customers and vendors) on a wide range of technology matters, including outsourcing, cloud, digital transformation, technology procurement, development and licensing, m/e-commerce, AI, blockchain and data privacy. Sue also advises on the commercial, technology and intellectual property aspects of M&A transactions and joint ventures. Her clients include some of the world's best known tech companies and multinational corporations. She also enjoys working with emerging and growth companies. Sue is the Firm’s co-chair of the EMEA Financial Services Industry Group and co-chair of the Firm's UK FinTech practice. Sue was named TMT Lawyer of the Year at the Euromoney Women in Business Law Awards 2019.

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Christopher Murrer is an associate in the FinTech, International Tax and Wealth Management practice groups of Baker McKenzie Zurich. He joined the Firm after practicing for seven years as tax and wealth planning attorney in New York and Washington, DC.

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Jonathan chairs the firm's Financial Institutions Global Industry Group and is a partner in the London Dispute Resolution practice. Jonathan has deep experience in advising boards, executive teams and individuals dealing with issues of market integrity, ethics, brand and reputation impact, conduct risk, whistleblowing, market misconduct, systems and controls failings and remediation, public statements and investor relations, financial crime, fraud, regulatory investigation and enforcement, public policy, public law and civil and criminal litigation. Jonathan's substantial in-house experience delivers a highly strategic and commercial focus aimed at re-establishing confidence in the brand and individuals. Jonathan joined Baker McKenzie from Barclays Bank PLC. Spanning a decade of unique pressure in the financial sector amidst the global financial crisis, he led the global litigation, investigations and enforcement function and established the bank's financial crime legal team. Jonathan was responsible for a series of high-profile regulatory and criminal investigations in EMEA, the US and Asia Pacific regions and led a significant portfolio of wholesale and retail litigation. Supporting the bank's risk and compliance functions, he implemented and improved systems and controls in respect of money laundering, bribery and corruption, fraud and international sanctions. Jonathan worked with UK and US law enforcement and government intelligence agencies on counter-terrorism, organised crime and other domestic and international security initiatives. Jonathan is the contributing author to a number of leading legal and sector publications, including: Banks and Financial Crime: International Law of Tainted Money (Oxford University Press 2008, 2016); Global Investigations Review - The Evolution of Risk Management in Global Investigations (GIR 2016, 2017, 2018); and Risk.net's annual Top 10 Operational Risks (2018-2022).

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Martin Tam is knowledgeable in the areas of insurance law and financial services. Chambers Asia Pacific and PLC Which lawyer? recommend him as a leading practitioner in insurance law. Mr. Tam is admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong.

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Eva-Maria Ségur-Cabanac heads Baker McKenzie's capital markets practice in Austria and is a member of the Firm's EMEA Steering Committee for Capital Markets. She is also Global Lead Sustainability Partner for our Financial Institutions Industry Group and a member of Baker McKenzie's global Sustainable Finance Service Line. Eva-Maria is a dual-qualified lawyer, admitted to practice in Austria and New York. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie's Vienna office in 2008, Eva-Maria worked in the New York, Paris and Frankfurt offices of a well-known US law firm.

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Harry A. Valetk is a partner in the Global Privacy and Security Practice group based in New York, advising global organizations on privacy and data security compliance requirements. He regularly supports companies in financial services, retail, pharmaceutical/ healthcare, travel/hospitality, cloud technology, and manufacturing industries. His practice is focused on delivering commercially practical advice to highly regulated companies on designing security, privacy, and technologically compliant solutions. Harry's practice routinely covers a wide range of issues on global regulatory implementation readiness for privacy laws, including GDPR, CCPA, CPRA, HIPAA, GLBA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). He also works with companies in developing customized comprehensive incident response plans, trainings, table-top exercises, and advising senior management on liability risk mitigation. Harry puts on an insider's perspective when advising his clients building on his in-house experience as Director of MetLife’s Global Privacy Office in New York for almost seven years. In that role, he supported business lines in more than 60 countries to protect the personal data of over 90 million MetLife customers. Additionally, he led numerous strategic efforts to build out a global Privacy Risk Framework, achieve global compliance with applicable privacy and data protection laws, deploy cross-border data transfer solutions, implement global training and awareness initiatives, and manage data and cyber security incidents. Before MetLife, Harry led the video game publishing industry's privacy compliance efforts as the Director of Privacy Online for the Entertainment Software Rating Board and its COPPA Safe Harbor Seal Program. Finally, Harry served as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division.

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