The Allen & Overy Podcast

Beyond the Hype, The Future of Digital Assets

In the last couple of years, European co-legislators have worked to design a harmonised and comprehensive regime designed to both incentivise an efficient digital transformation within the Union, as well as to ensure market stability and adequate investors protection in the area of digital assets.

In this podcast moderated by Judith Bremer, associate in the financial regulatory team in Frankfurt, Emiliano La Sala, head of domestic capital markets and Fintech group coordinator in Italy, provides an overview on the current situation and the latest regulatory developments in Europe, from the DLT Pilot regime to MiCAR. 

Women in Funds: A Conversation with Heather Henyon, Founding Partner of Mindshift Capital

In the next episode of the Women in Funds series of interviews, funds & asset management partner Zeeshan Ahmedani (Los Angeles) discusses topical diversity, equity & inclusion (DE&I) and industry trends with Heather Henyon, Founding Partner of Mindshift Capital, a venture fund based in Dubai that is investing in early stage women-led technology companies in the Middle East and globally.

The conversation explores a number of topics, including market and DE&I trends in gender-lens investing, an investment strategy that takes into consideration gender-based factors throughout the investment process with a view to promoting gender equality.

Women in Funds is a series of video and audio interviews launched in celebration of Women’s History Month where our funds and asset management lawyers speak with senior female professionals in the asset management industry. The series focuses on topical diversity, equity & inclusion issues and the challenges our interviewees have overcome as they have built their successful careers.

About the speaker

Heather Henyon is the Founding Partner of Dubai-based venture fund Mindshift Capital. She is also the founder of the Women’s Angel Investor Network (WAIN), the first and largest women’s angel group in the Middle East. Heather has over 100 direct and fund investments in the US, Europe, and the Middle East. She started her career on Wall Street and has almost 20 years of experience in finance, technology and strategy in emerging markets, including as founding CEO of Grameen-Jameel Microfinance Ltd.

Heather is a member of the Investment Committee of US-based Next Wave Impact Fund and is a founding member and former Board and Investment Committee member of Dubai Angel Investors. She serves on the Board of Directors and is Chair of the Risk & Audit Committee of the Sekem Holding Group in Egypt and is a Board Member of Sarwa, Little Thinking Minds, NeedsList, and Localized. She is also a member of the Cartier Women’s Initiative MENA Jury.

Scaling up science: how to grow your life sciences venture

How and when do life sciences entrepreneurs decide whether to raise more funds, partner with big pharma, or exit their company? What strategies and tactics do they apply? And what are the key lessons and challenges along the way? In our latest life sciences podcast, Tine Carmeliet and Juno Hautekiet interview two CEOs who have chosen very different routes for growing their biotech ventures.

Tim Knotnerus of Agomab Therapeutics, one of the most promising therapeutics companies in Europe and one of 2022’s “Fierce 15” honorees, shares how to create optionality and how he recently secured a USD 114 million Series B financing. Claudine van der Sande, former founder and CEO of Xinvento, a biotech aiming to improve the lives of those with Congenital Hyperinsulinism, reveals why she instead decided to sell her company and how she managed to do this with the company still in its preclinical development phase.

Join us on this podcast as we explore their motives, priorities and advice for future biotechs.

The Quincecare duty - what does it mean for payment service providers?

In this podcast we discuss the Quincecare duty, first recognised over 30 years ago, discussing what the duty is and how it applies to payment service providers. We explain why payment service providers should be thinking about the duty and how it fits within their existing regulatory and legal obligations.

Topics covered in this podcast include:

• What the Quincecare duty is and why it was established
• How the Quincecare duty fits with a payment service provider’s duty to comply with authorised payment instructions from a customer
• How the courts approach the Quincecare duty and some recent litigation examples
• Which category of customers the Quincecare duty applies to
• Practical implications of the Quincecare duty: what issues should payment service providers should be thinking about, both contractually and in practice?

For further information and some of the most frequently asked questions about the Quincecare duty, read our most recent update.

Selecting your Fund Domicile - Mauritius

In this episode of Selecting your Fund Domicile, A&O Middle East Funds & Asset Management Partner Kamar Jaffer and our guest speaker Bhavna Ramsurun, Partner at BLC Robert & Associates, discuss current legal and regulatory trends in the funds sector in Mauritius. In particular, the discussion focuses around: 

• types of funds that are being set in Mauritius
• types of vehicles that are currently used in the region, including, among others, the Variable Capital Company (VCC)
• key regulatory structuring considerations and requirements applicable to private funds
• the economic substance requirements and the ecosystem in Mauritius
• topical fund finance, ESG and sustainable finance trends.  

Selecting your Fund Domicile is a series of video podcasts that focuses on manager considerations for setting up a fund and choosing the most appropriate domicile. Featuring leading offshore law firms and A&O experts, this Q&A series will explore some of the benefits and legal and regulatory considerations for each offshore location, including the British Virgin Islands, the Channel Islands, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Ireland, Luxembourg and Mauritius. We will also cover FAQs on how to choose a domicile for your fund and why offshore jurisdictions have become a key choice for global alternative investment funds. 

About the speaker

Bhavna Ramsurun is a Partner at BLC Robert and Associates in the Financial Services team.  She is involved in diverse aspects of financial regulatory matters with a special focus on investment funds, capital markets regulation and securities law. Bhavna frequently advises on structuring and establishing funds and alternative private investment vehicles, the establishment of financial services providers and institutions and regulatory compliance. She is also well-honed in securities law and capital market matters including the securities offering, listing of securities on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius, takeover regulation and issuers’ regulatory obligations.

Women in Funds: Conversation with Lorna Brown, CEO at Birchwood Real Estate Capital

In the next episode of ‘Women in Funds’, funds & asset management partner Emma Danforth (London) has an insightful discussion with Lorna Brown, CEO at the newly established Birchwood Real Estate Capital, around diversity, equity & inclusion topics, the value of mentorship and sponsorship in her career and how to thrive in a male-dominated industry. 

 

About the speaker

Lorna Brown is the Chief Executive Officer at Birchwood Real Estate Capital, an alternative lender focussed on providing senior, whole loan and mezzanine financing in the UK and Europe.  

Lorna has over 22 years’ experience across real estate equity and debt. She established Birchwood Real Estate following her role as Head of Capital Markets at Delancey, where she was responsible for raising and deploying their inaugural debt fund as well as sourcing, closing and managing equity transactions and arranging debt for their equity investments.

Prior to this, Lorna held a range of roles including Global Head of Real Estate Debt at Legal & General Investment Management, Managing Director at Blackstone Real Estate and Managing Director at RBS.

OECD Pillar Talk - Domestic Implementation of Pillar Two

Domestic Implementation of Pillar Two is a new podcast that considers the domestic implementation by each of the UK, Dutch and German governments of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Pillar Two rules imposing a global minimum corporation tax rate of 15%.

Pillar Two is the series of rules designed and agreed by OECD Inclusive Framework jurisdictions with a view to setting a global minimum corporation tax rate of 15% on certain multinational groups of companies.

Moderated by tax associate Mitchell Fraser (London), this podcast features senior tax associate Sorsha Reilly (London) and tax associates Charlotte Hoff (Amsterdam) and Christoph Zilgens (Dusseldorf) in a discussions about the implementation of Pillar Two in their respective countries. Specifically, the speakers consider a range of topics, including:  

A brief overview of the Pillar Two rules

• How the effective tax rate for Pillar Two purposes is determined and the different types of top-up taxes
• The OECD’s proposed timetable for jurisdictions to implement these rules
• An update on the implementation of the Pillar Two rules in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany
• Differences between the UK, Dutch and German Pillar Two proposals.

OECD Pillar Talk is Allen & Overy’s new series of webinars, podcasts and publications. The series focuses on global tax changes being implemented as a result of the two-pillar proposals initiated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Blockchain bonds: how legal frameworks are changing – Europe and UK (Part 2)

In the second part of this two-part episode, part of the “Market Horizons” series, we continue to look at blockchain bonds and how legal frameworks are changing around the world to accommodate the issuance of blockchain bonds.

In this part, we focus on (i) the recently adopted EU Pilot Regime and (ii) national legal frameworks in the UK, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Netherlands, Germany and Italy. 

The podcast is moderated by partner Frank Mausen (Luxembourg) who is joined by partners Hervé Ekué (Paris), Salvador Ruiz Bachs (Madrid), Jonathan Heeringa (Amsterdam), Nick Bradbury (London), counsels Daphne van der Houwen (Amsterdam), Daniela Schmitt (Frankfurt), Jason Rix (London) and Emiliano La Sala (Milan) and senior associate Philippe Noeltner (Luxembourg).

Insights for boards and senior management: what it takes to be an effective leader

In this episode, Sally Dewar, CEO of A&O Consulting, talks to Fran Griffiths, an independent senior executive coach and leadership mentor, about the skills, behaviours and attributes needed to be an authentic and empathetic leader.

Sally and Fran share their views on the diverse challenges facing senior business leaders such as the need to nurture a transparent and accountable organisational culture and how to manage a multi-generational workforce in a hybrid environment.

In addition, they discuss the role of the leader in setting the right tone from the top of the organisation and what it takes to communicate a clear and impactful vision.

A&O Consulting Learning Centre

Training, development and coaching of non-executive directors and senior management have continued to be a source of focus for boards and regulators alike.

In response, A&O Consulting has launched the Learning Centre, a global training programme for senior executives focused on the effective management of regulatory change. Topics covered comprise: risk management, governance, financial crime, conduct and culture, regulatory strategy and implementation.

Selecting your Fund Domicile: Ireland

The next episode of Selecting your Fund Domicile covers topical fund trends in Ireland. A&O Middle East Funds & Asset Management Partner Kamar Jaffer moderates a discussion about key legal, regulatory and sustainability trends in the funds space led by A&L Goodbody Partners, Brian McDermott and Stephen Carson.