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FSLA newsletter:
March 2008
Dear [NAME]
This is FSLA’s second bi-annual newsletter to members. In these letters we intend to let you know of developments that you may have missed over the previous six months as well as alert you to what’s happening in the year ahead.
Secretary’s note
As the Association nears its first anniversary, it may be worth referring to some of its successes. First, from a standing start, the Association has gained an impressive membership list, both in number and in calibre. Second, the Association has held several high-quality events - not just large-scale panel meetings, but workshops and seminars as well. These have been very well received by those who have attended. Further, the Association has gained 'brand-recognition', with FSLA being referred to in several legal and national publications.
For any new association, a key challenge is to maintain the energy and excitement associated with its launch into subsequent years. Its ability to do so partly depends on the freshness of its ideas. This highlights one of the reasons why the continued active involvement of its members is so important to FSLA. Your ideas as to how the Association should develop will be crucial if FSLA is to continue to be a vibrant and relevant association for financial services lawyers.
I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Ross Cranston QC and William Blair QC on their appointment to the High Court (both QBD). FSLA is very proud to now have three members of the High Court bench on our Advisory Board.
The newsletter refers to other challenges and opportunities for FSLA to continue with the momentum that it has built up. Your support for the Association has been instrumental to its success to date and is very much appreciated. We look forward to seeing you at the events planned over the coming year.
Carlos Conceicao
Secretary, FSLA
Membership
As you know, FSLA was launched last April. We now have over 600 members and that number is still rising at a steady rate.
A number of employees of corporate members have not yet signed into the website in order to get user-names and passwords. Signing individuals up via the website is important as this is how event bookings are made, and where most FSLA resources are located. To encourage colleagues to sign in, we have produced a corporate members poster explaining the simple three-step process. Please feel free to email the poster to colleagues, or print it out for noticeboards to maximize your organisations’ benefits from membership.
Events
We plan to hold a variety of events in future, aimed at different audiences. In particular, we plan to hold events aimed at in-house lawyers, with a particular emphasis on retail matters. Most events will be open to FSLA members only and booking will be via the website. Take a look at what we have planned, you will find the full list in our online events diary. Also note that we have included relevant events held by some of our members and their organisations in the diary, including a British Japan Law Association lecture on Japan's new Financial Instruments and Exchange Law on 16 April, and an FSA Enforcement Conference to be held on 18 June. If you would like to advertise an event of interest to members in this way, please sent details to events@fsla.org.uk and we will add them to the website.
Highlights of FSLA events include:
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Our ongoing series of workshops
- Student Essay prize-giving and panel presentation on bank charges (see below for details)
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Panel presentation on insurance regulation
- Upcoming seminars including: (1) regulatory and common law principles of fiduciary duty (2) MiFID, and (3) the Retail Distribution Review
AGM
You may also want to leave the afternoon/early evening free on 20 May. This is the planned date of our Annual General Meeting. The theme of this year’s AGM will be ‘Changes, Challenges and Opportunities’. Given the events that took place in late summer 2007, we thought that many members would be interested to hear from the Tripartite Authorities about the legal aspects of the planned changes to the current set-up and have therefore arranged for presentations from the head lawyers/General Counsel from the Treasury (Stephen Parker), Bank of England (Dame Juliet Wheldon) and FSA (Andrew Whittaker).
Further details, including the names of other speakers and timings, will be posted on the website in due course.
Students
The involvement of students and young lawyers is a key objective of FSLA. We have held workshops and an essay competition to pursue this objective.
The essay competition has received a good response with 33 entries received by the deadline on 4 January. Our judging panel consisting of Eva Lomnika, Andrew Whittaker and William Blair QC, have chosen the four winning essays.
The winners of the prizes, including a paid summer internship at the FSA and money prizes, will be announced at a FSLA event to be held on:
Thursday 13 March at 6pm
Hosted by King's College, London in the Chapters Room
A panel of speakers will talk on the topic: "Bank Charges: legal issues and industry implications"
Leading our panel discussion will be:
- Laurie Rabinowitz QC of One Essex Court Chambers, who represented RBS in the recent High Court case between the OFT and the banks, and who led for the banks on several submissions, but who will be speaking in his personal capacity on the legal issues rather than on behalf of RBS or the banks in general.
- Tom Brennan, a barrister who was in the press in 2007 for bringing one of the first claims against banks for alleged illegal charges.
- Megan Murphy, Law Courts Correspondent for the Financial Times
There will be drinks after the talks as usual. The event on 13 March will be an open event; we have advertised to and encourage the attendance of students (whether or not FSLA members). We also hope that the event will be well attended by practitioners, including FSLA members. Booking is open online.
Website
The FSLA website continues to grow and has become the hub for all our activities and information. It has had over 6,000 visits, and 45,000 page views since last summer, registered over 600 individual members, handled over 700 event bookings, and delivered 8 email newsletters. Regular improvements are being made. When you get a chance please have a look at the exclusive members’ features including: the list of corporate members, the members’ directory, the library (which holds copies of event presentations), the glossary and website links.
Of particular note is the development of a careers forum. If your organisation would like to advertise any vacancies, including secondments and internships, you can now do so yourself online. For those of you looking for an opportunity, this is the place to start.
Best regards
FSLA Executive Committee
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