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As we entered the new decade, businesses were already grappling with new challenges to their license to operate — what did it mean to be a good corporate citizen in the context of the climate emergency and continuing social inequality? Consumer and employee activism and political pressure at both the global and national levels were combining to force ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) issues to the top of the board’s and management’s agenda. Having a clear corporate purpose was becoming essential. 

This series of ESG-focused thought leadership webinars will share insights and practical guidance for businesses considering what ESG means for them. Set out below are details of our forthcoming demystifying ESG webinar series.

Evolving Financial Services RegulationsThursday, 20 January 2022
1:00 – 2:00 pm GMT
Executive Pay – What are Stakeholders’ Views on Fair Pay?Thursday, 10 February 2022
1:00 – 2:00 pm GMT
How Do Lawyers Draft for Climate Change? Developing Contractual Provisions That Address the Impact of Climate Change – and How to Tackle ItThursday, 10 March 2022
1:00 – 2:00 pm GMT
ESG as a Strategic Imperative – Best Practice for Corporates, How to Demonstrate ESG Credentials and Emerging TrendsThursday, 12 May 2022
1:00 – 2:00 pm BST
Corporate Social Responsibility & Human Rights: Addressing Adverse Business ImpactsWednesday, 15 June 2022
1:00 – 2:00 pm BST

Register your interest in our Demystifying ESG Webinar series:

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Recordings from our Demystifying ESG Webinar Series 2021

Date: 21 October 2021
Topic: Special Edition: Setting the scene – what does the forthcoming COP26 mean for you and your business?
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Speakers: Caitlin McErlane (Chair), Ilona Millar and Graham Stuart

Date: 8 July 2021
Topic: ESG and Corporate Reporting
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Speakers: Beatriz Araujo (Chair), Jo Hewitt and Pete Richardson, Climate Strategist at Manifest Climate

Date: 24 June 2021
Topic: ESG and Sustainable Branding
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Speakers: Jo Hewitt (Chair), Julia Dickenson and Jessica Le Gros

Date: 10 June 2021
Topic: ESG: Strengthening Diversity and Inclusion Through Compliance
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Report
Speakers: Caitlin McErlane (Chair), Yindi Gesinde and Charlene Brown, Co-founder and Managing Director, Howlett Brown

Date: 27 May 2021
Topic: Managing ESG Reputational Risks and Crisis Management
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Speakers: Jo Hewitt (Chair), Jo Ludlam and Mary Jordan

Date: 13 May 2021
Topic: Mitigating ESG risks in M&A and Commercial Transactions
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Speakers: Nick O’Donnell (Chair), Tristan Grimmer, Nick Bryans, Francesca Richmond and Graham Stuart

Date: 29 April 2021
Topic: ESG and Antitrust
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Speakers: Beatriz Araujo (Chair), Samantha Mobley and Grant Murray

Date: 15 April 2021
Topic: ESG and Litigation Risks
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Speakers: Nick O’Donnell (Chair), David Hackett, John Leadley and Francesca Richmond

Date: 11 March 2021
Topic: ESG and Tax: What is a “fair share”?
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Speakers: Jo Hewitt (Chair), Natalie Dunne, James Wilson, Roeland Bavinck and Andriea Vamadevan

Date: 25 February 2021
Topic: ESG and Brexit
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Speakers: Beatriz Araujo (Chair), Caitlin McErlane, Tania Arora and Sarah West

Date: 11 February 2021
Topic: What will Biden’s Presidency Mean for ESG?
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Speakers: Beatriz Araujo (Chair), David Hackett, Gloria Santona and David Chmiel of Global Torch Light

Date: 28 January 2021
Topic: SFDR and ESG Regulation for Financial Institutions
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Speakers: Kimberly Everitt (Chair), Caitlin McErlane, Ansgar Schott and Gabriel Ziero of ECOFACT

Recordings from Our Demystifying ESG Webinar Series 2020

Date: 7 October 2020
Topic: ESG and Corporate Reporting Part 2
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Speakers: Beatriz Araujo (Chair), Ilona Millar, Paul Anderson and Brent Esler

Date: 23 September 2020
Topic: ESG and Executive Compensation
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Speakers: Nick O’Donnell (Chair), Jeremy Edwards, Don-Tobias Jol, Victoria Kirsch and Joseph Fomenky, member of the Equity Solutions team at Aon

Date: 9 September 2020
Topic: ESG and Corporate Reporting Part 1
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Speakers: Beatriz Araujo (Chair), Jo Hewitt, Nick O’Donnell, Hannah Swift and Andriea Vamadevan

Date: 26 August 2020
Topic: ESG and the Supply Chain
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Speakers: Jo Hewitt (Chair), Francesca Richmond, Ben Smith and Graham Stuart

Date: 12 August 2020
Topic: ESG Regulation for Financial Institutions
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Speakers: Nick O’Donnell (Chair), Tim Alferink, Jennifer Klass and Caitlin McErlane

Date: 29 July 2020
Topic: ESG and the Modern Workforce
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Speakers: Beatriz Araujo (Chair), Jo Hewitt, Jonathan Sharp and Jonathan Tuck

Date: 15 July 2020
Topic: What Is the New European Green Finance Taxonomy, and How Will It Affect Your Business?
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Speakers: Jo Hewitt (Chair), Caitlin McErlane, Anahita Thoms and Sam Gill, Co-Founder and COO of Sylvera

1 July 2020
ESG and the Modern Customer 
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Speakers: Jo Hewitt (Chair), Beatriz Araujo, Nick O’Donnell and David Scott

17 June 2020
Green Finance
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Speakers: Caitlin McErlane (Chair), Michael Doran, Eva Segur-Cabanac, Chantal Thompson and Caroline Escott, Senior Policy Lead (Investment and Stewardship) at Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association

3 June 2020
Introduction to ESG
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Speakers: Beatriz Araujo, Jo Hewitt, Caitlin McErlane, Nick O’Donnell

Author

Tim Alferink is a partner within the Financial Services & Regulation team in the Amsterdam Banking & Finance practice with over 18 years of experience. He focuses on financial markets regulations, financial products and financial markets transactions. Tim primarily works for financial institutions, ranging from international financial conglomerates to fintech start-ups. In his practice, Tim benefits from his broad experience as attorney-at-law, in-house legal counsel and Big Four legal consultant.

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Tania joined Baker McKenzie 2007. She completed her training contract and qualified as an associate in the Energy, Mining and Infrastructure Industry Group in September 2009. Tania has been recognised as a key individual in both the Chambers and Legal 500 2021 directories.

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After graduating in 2011 (LLM degree), he joined the Tax Practice Group of Baker McKenzie Amsterdam in November 2011. Roeland’s main areas of experience includes tax advice for mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, financing transactions, treaty application and EU law. He is part of Baker McKenzie’s US Focus Group.

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Nick is a partner in Baker McKenzie's London office and a member of the M&A and Corporate Finance teams. Before joining Baker McKenzie, Nick was a partner in another international law firm for over 14 years and was the head of Middle East and based in Dubai from 2007 to 2010. Nick spent one year on secondment to a San Francisco law firm between 1999 and 2000.

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Julia Dickenson is an Associate in Baker McKenzie London office.

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Michael is a finance partner in the London office and has deep experience of the international financial markets. Michael has extensive experience across the developed, emerging and frontier markets. His clients include private equity/credit funds, investment banks, multinational corporations, sovereign governments, state-owned entities, state agencies, supranational banks and sovereign wealth funds

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Jeremy Edwards is a partner and the head of the Employee Benefits Group in Baker McKenzie’s London office. He advises on all aspects of employee share plans and employee taxation. Jeremy has over 20 years’ experience as a share plan lawyer and two years’ experience as a corporate lawyer. He is currently serving on the advisory panel of ProShare and is a regular speaker at share plan conferences held in the United Kingdom.

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Brent is an associate in Baker McKenzie's Corporate M&A practice in London. He advises large companies, funds and other financial sponsors on cross-border mergers and acquisitions (both buy and sell side). He also advises clients and the global Baker McKenzie network on corporate governance related matters. He is admitted to practice in England and Wales. Brent has spent six months on secondment with the loan syndications team at Standard Chartered Bank, as well as six months with Baker McKenzie's M&A practice in Tokyo on a virtual basis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Kimberly Everitt is Baker McKenzie's knowledge lawyer for Financial Services Regulation & Enforcement, covering the EMEA region, and brings over a decade of experience to the team in both knowledge and fee-earning roles. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Kim held roles specializing in contentious financial services regulation knowledge, and her fee-earning roles covered non-contentious regulation in the private equity and general financial services sectors.

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Yindi is a partner in the Baker McKenzie Dispute Resolution team based in London, and a member of the Compliance and Investigations group. Yindi’s practice includes a broad spectrum of complex and high-value international and domestic commercial litigation for multinational clients, with specialist expertise in anti-bribery and corruption investigations, compliance and trust disputes.

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Tristan Grimmer is a partner in Baker McKenzie's London office. He is a member of the Compliance & Investigations and the International Trade and Competition practice groups. Tristan joined the Firm as a trainee in March 2004, qualifying in March 2006. He has advised on parallel investigations by authorities in the United States, Switzerland, Brazil, Japan, and has spent time working in Baker McKenzie's Chicago office. Tristan was recently named as a "Next Generation Lawyer" in the UK Legal 500 2017 directory.

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David Hackett advises senior management, legal departments and boards of major corporations and nonprofits on compliance, risk, environmental and sustainability matters. He has exceptional experience managing US and international compliance and environmental projects, including the evaluation and development of effective compliance and sustainability programs. He also has extensive experience litigating major civil and criminal environmental matters. David sits on multiple nonprofit boards and additionally advises many civic and nonprofit organizations across the globe. Following his tenure with the Environmental Enforcement Division of the US Department of Justice, David joined the Firm where he has played a formative role in the establishment of the Firm's compliance, environmental, climate and sustainability practices. At Baker McKenzie, David has served as the managing partner of North America, a member of the Global Executive Committee, and Chicago office managing partner. He has also been the North America Chair of both the Compliance Practice Group and the Banking, Finance and Major Projects Practice Group.

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Jo Hewitt is a partner in the Corporate Department of Baker McKenzie London, and advises clients on a wide range of corporate law matters.

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Don-Tobias Jol is a partner within the Amsterdam Tax practice with over 19 years of experience. He focuses on global compensation and benefits advisory, with particular emphasis on executive and equity-based compensation. Don-Tobias is a frequent author and speaker on a variety of international remuneration issues, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Global Equity Organization (GEO). He has been on international assignments to South Africa (in 2005 and 2006) and Saudi Arabia (in 2012 and 2013) to serve clients of his respective employers at the time. Don-Tobias is a member of Baker McKenzie’s Global Employment & Compensation Practice Group, and heads the Firm’s Dutch Compensation & Benefits advisory team.

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Victoria Kirsch is an Associate in the Employee Benefits Group, part of the Employment Department of the London office of Baker McKenzie. She is a member of the Firm's Global Labour Employment and Employee Benefits Practice Group that provides advice upon related corporate, tax and labour law issues.

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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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Jessica Le Gros heads Baker McKenzie’s Trade Mark Registration practice in London. She has extensive experience in intellectual property enforcement, particularly in trade mark infringement and customs matters. For two years, she served as operations manager for Unilever’s global trade mark portfolio. Jessica is a member of the European Communities Trade Mark Association and a qualified solicitor in New Zealand.

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Joanna Ludlam is a partner in the Dispute Resolution team in Baker McKenzie's London office, where she leads the market-leading Regulatory, Public & Media law team and also co-leads the office's Compliance & Investigations Practice Group. At an international level, she co-chairs the Firm's Global Compliance & Investigations Steering Committee. In 2016, Joanna was named as one of The Lawyer’s “Hot 100” for her practice, and is recognised by Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners.

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Caitlin McErlane is a partner in Baker McKenzie’s Financial Services & Regulatory Group in the London office. Caitlin's practice focuses on advising a range of global financial institutions on complex and high value regulatory matters. She advises banks, major corporates, payment institutions and asset managers on navigating UK and EU financial services regulation. She has particular experience in advising clients on regulatory implementation projects, day-to-day compliance issues, and regulatory issues arising in the context of large-scale transactions. She also expertise in the areas of banking and wholesale financial markets regulation, in particular in the FX and fixed income space, alongside experience advising market infrastructure providers, including major international exchanges, trading platforms, clearing systems and payment services providers, on a variety of compliance issues. Caitlin is also a member of the Baker's ESG and sustainability taskforce, and advises a range of clients on the drafting and implementation of ESG policies and the implications of becoming a signatory to the UNPRI and the Stewardship Code. Caitlin is an authority on regulatory reforms in the sustainability space and sits on a number of trade association working groups. She has recently been interviewed by Climate Action on her work and is a frequent speaker on the subject.

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Ilona Millar is a partner in the Environmental Markets team at Baker McKenzie's Sydney office. Ilona is an environmental and projects lawyer with a diverse range of experience in domestic and international climate change, carbon markets, environmental law and policy, and a strong background in all aspects of water management, planning and projects. She joined the Firm in 2008 from the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development, and International Institute for Environment and Development, in London. Ilona regularly writes, teaches and presents on environmental topics — she has lectured on environmental law, environmental markets and international climate change law at UNSW, Sydney University and University College London and for the past six years has co-coordinated the international climate change law course at ANU where she is a visiting fellow at the College of Law. Ilona's extensive pro bono work includes advising a number of developing country governments and non-government organizations on international climate change negotiations, and advising the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists on water and natural resource management law. She is listed among the best lawyers for Climate Change by Best Lawyers Australia 2016.

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Samantha Mobley is a partner in the EU, Competition & Trade Practice of Baker McKenzie's London office and she is a member of the London office Management Committee. She led the Firm's Global Antitrust & Competition Practice Group for six years. Samantha is recommended as a leading individual for competition law in the Chambers Guide to the UK Legal Profession and Who's Who Legal in 2018. She was featured in the Global Competition Review's 2016 Women in Antitrust Survey as one of the top 150 women in antitrust globally. She is also a Non-Governmental Advisor to the International Competition Network.

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Grant Murray is the Senior Professional Support Lawyer for Baker & McKenzie’s Global Antitrust and Competition Group based in London. Grant has responsibility for the know-how and training needs of a practice group comprising over 300 competition lawyers spread across more than 40 countries. A central part of his role involves monitoring and updating the group on key developments and trends in EU and global competition law, focusing on the practical implications for clients and lawyers. Grant is a Non-Governmental Adviser to the ICN (appointed by the UK Competition and Markets Authority) and a regular contributor to the work of the OECD through the Competition Committee of the OECD’s Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC).

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Francesca Richmond is a partner in the Baker McKenzie Dispute Resolution team based in London. Francesca joined Baker McKenzie in 2004 and was admitted as a solicitor in September 2006. She attained higher rights of audience to act as a solicitor-advocate in 2009. Francesca has been seconded to Baker McKenzie's offices in Chicago, Washington and Sydney as well as to clients Barclays Bank PLC, the BBC Trust and O2. Francesca was a marshall at the Royal Courts of Justice in 1998 and in 2000 sitting with a High Court judge.

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Gloria Santona is Of Counsel in the Chicago office of Baker McKenzie. Gloria served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of McDonald's Corporation. Since 1977, she held positions of increasing responsibility in McDonald's legal department, serving as US General Counsel from December 1999 to June 2001 and corporate General Counsel from June 2001 until 2017. As a member of the company's executive leadership, she was actively involved in the company's growth strategy. She led the company's worldwide legal, risk, compliance and regulatory function. Widely respected in the legal profession, Gloria was named an Outstanding General Counsel by the National Law Journal and has been recognized as one of America's Top General Counsel by Corporate Board Member magazine. Under Gloria's leadership, McDonald's legal department won numerous awards for its commitment to diversity and pro bono.

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Dr. Ansgar Schott is a partner in Baker McKenzie's Zurich office.Ansgar advises Swiss and international financial institutions and corporations on all aspects of banking, investment and financial markets law. He is also experienced in financial regulatory matters.

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David is a highly experienced Corporate partner based in our London office. He is Co-Head of our Consumer Goods & Retail Industry Group in London, and is a member of the Firm's M&A Practice Group as well as its Consumer Goods & Retail and Healthcare & Life Sciences Industry Groups. David is described in The Legal 500, 2023 as "excellent".

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Eva-Maria is a partner in our Austrian corporate / M&A group and a member of our global sustainability practice. She acts as global lead sustainability partner for our financial institutions industry group, heads Baker McKenzie's capital markets practice in Austria and is a member of our EMEA steering committee for capital markets. 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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Jonathan is a partner in the Pensions Department and has over a decade's experience as a pensions lawyer. Jonathan joined Baker McKenzie in 2003 and he has spent three months in Baker McKenzie's Chicago office in their employee benefit department in 2008. Jonathan is a member of the Association of Pensions Lawyers, sits on the Legal Advisory Group of the Pensions & Lifetime Savings Association, and also the PASA (Pensions Administration Standards Association) DC governance working group. Jonathan has spoken at a number of conferences, including the Association of Pension Lawyers' summer conference, for the Pensions Management Institute, and the Association of Member Nominated Trustees.

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Ben Smith is a Partner in Baker McKenzie’s London office and a member of the firm’s Compliance & Investigations and International Trade practice groups. Both these practices are ranked Tier 1 by Legal 500 UK. Ben joined the London office of Baker & McKenzie in September 2007. He has also worked in Baker McKenzie's San Francisco and Brussels offices, as well as on secondment to the legal and compliance teams at three FTSE 100 UK plcs. The Legal 500 UK ranked Ben as a “Rising Star”, noting “Ben Smith is a pleasure to work with. Professional, knowledgeable and always ready to assist with practical solutions.”

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Graham Stuart is a partner at Baker McKenzie's London office specialising in product regulation and environmental, health and safety law.

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Hannah Swift is a senior associate in the Baker McKenzie employment department with over 14 years' experience in a broad range of employment law issues.

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Anahita Thoms ist Partner bei Baker & McKenzie Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwälten und Steuerberatern mbB

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Jonathan Tuck is a partner in the Baker McKenzie employment department. Jonathan joined the Firm in June 2012 and completed secondments at Google between March and July 2015 and British Airways between July 2015 and January 2016.

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Andriea represents clients on a wide variety of international tax structuring, family office and wider succession planning matters, with a particular focus on advising family-backed businesses on the crafting of bespoke investment vehicles. Andriea advises on the life cycle of such structures including establishment and implementation, as well as ongoing structuring and financing needs of the structure.

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James Wilson leads Baker McKenzie's global Tax Planning, Transactions and Tax Policy group. He has 18 years of experience in advising the world's largest multinational corporations on cross-border tax matters. James is a recommended lawyer for International Tax in Legal 500 USA, in particular for his expertise in advising clients in the consumer goods and retail sector. James is a member of the Firm's Consumer Goods and Retail Industry Group steering committee.

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