The Freshfields Podcast

There’s never been a better time to shape the debate on digital identity. As the pandemic has accelerated digitalisation for all, digital identity is high on the agenda at a government level, an international level and regulator level. Done properly, digital identity systems could unlock the potential for greater financial inclusion, enable frictionless payments and mitigate the disruptive effects of COVID-19.

In this podcast, part of our 'Fintech in focus' series, Matt O’Callaghan (Head of financial services Asia and co-head of Asia fintech), Cyrus Pocha (Co-head of global fintech) and Theresa Ehlen (Principal Associate specialising in the TMT sector) look at what digital identity could mean for businesses and consumers that are crossing borders, discuss the danger of bias, highlight the importance of data privacy and protection, and consider what firms can do now to make sure new AML systems and regulations strike the right balance.

In this podcast Georgia Dawson, Meredith Kotler, Tom Clark and Elisabeth Weber comment on a few trends in US securities class actions of importance to financial institutions around the world, discuss the impact of regulator-led redress and ADR on mass claims (using the UK as an example), and set out some considerations when using technology to help manage mass claims. These points were covered in our recent webinar on emerging risks and strategic considerations for financial services firms, which is part of our global webinar series on class and mass claims challenges.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on the startup financing landscape. In the latest episode of the Freshfields digital podcast, Nigel Gleeson, David Schwintowski and Andrea Basham discuss the additional risks founders and investors now face when raising capital around the world.

This is the first in our series of Essential Antitrust Asia podcasts with our StrongerTogether partner firms in the region, this time focusing on Singapore. This episode features Freshfields partner Alastair Mordaunt and Singapore law firm Allen & Gledhill partners Daren Shiau, co-head of its competition and antitrust practice, and Scott Clements, a leading competition law specialist.

They explore the current competition law landscape in Singapore, giving an overview of the merger control regime and the local competition authority’s current enforcement levels, as well as offering some practical tips on what clients should look out for when navigating through the competition arena.

In the second of a series of regular updates from our team in northern California, Boris Feldman, Sarah Solum, Maj Vaseghi, John Fisher and Doru Gavril take a look at three of the hottest issues in tech and life sciences – diversity, exit options and board pay.

In the first of a series of dispatches from our team in northern California, Boris Feldman, Sarah Solum, Maj Vaseghi, John Fisher and Doru Gavril explore the impact of the COVID crisis on everything from shareholder activism to securities litigation.

The economic hardship caused by COVID-19 has resulted in an increase in firms in financial distress looking for a path forward through M&A. Jenn Mellott speaks with partners Alastair Chapman, Mary Lehner and Tone Oeyen to discuss how enforcement agencies view distressed firm transactions, how the agencies have responded to the unique financial conditions caused by the pandemic and what policies have been introduced to prevent hostile foreign takeovers of critical assets and technologies.

Employers are considering keeping the working from home set-up for some time to come, and (in some cases) possibly for good. There has been a lot of discussion about what that might mean from an oversight perspective, and how it might change employers’ risk profile. 

In this session, Ben Morgan, Caroline Stroud, Holly Insley and Olivia Radin consider how companies are approaching their compliance and oversight arrangements and the impact of the new working environment on whistleblowing. They also discuss the possible approach of regulators when it comes to evaluating oversight standards, as well as the challenges that the new working environment holds for in-house lawyers and compliance officers.

Data protection and cybersecurity are gaining more prominence in international arbitration and we expect this to continue, not least because the threat of significant fines has proved real.  Welcome industry guidance has recently been published, and we should see increased awareness of personal data and cybersecurity issues as well as heightened efforts to ensure compliance. 

In this podcast, partner Patrick Schroeder in Hamburg, and principal associates Niamh Leinwather and Désirée Prantl in Vienna, examine how the proliferation of modern data protection regimes has added complexity to cross-border disputes, pushing arbitration users to increasingly consider data protection obligations in arbitration proceedings.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in rapid changes to the global foreign direct investment landscape as governments re-evaluate which assets will be critical to national security in the future. Many of these changes are here to stay.

Jenn Mellott speaks with partners Michele Davis, Aimen Mir and Hazel Yin about the most significant changes across Europe, the United States and Asia and discuss what deal-makers can do to navigate through this increasingly complex global regulatory landscape.