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The day opened with a well received speech by Mr Justice Henshaw, the latest member of the judiciary to take over the running of the London Commercial Court. Financial transactions dispute jurisprudence adds to the body of common law, with judicial rulings on mis-statements, reliance and the role of the regulatory bodies governing financial transactions playing their part in shaping the rule of law. Henshaw J discussed recent case law as well as commentary on the outlook for banking litigation expertly moderated by Mr Bob Pickel, chair of P.R.I.M.E. Finance.

Rick Grove, member of the P.R.I.M.E Finance Management Board, CEO of Rutter Associates, New York and a Finance Expert with P.R.I.M.E. moderated the next session: Market Developments and Geo-political Tensions: Potential Sources for Disputes. The attendees heard from Dr Nigel Gould-Davies^[1] who identified a current retraction from the past 40 years globalisation trend towards retraction of state participation in global industry as a minor participant, with many sovereigns reverting to national ownership models, with attendant asset ‘grabbing’ on sovereign lines. Dr Sharon Brown-Hruska^[2] commented that amongst the obvious tensions of war, the impact of the Chinese economy slowing down in recent years on globalisation had yet to be felt. Franck Risler ^[3]  observed that not surprisingly these trends had resulted in a growing marketplace for private credit.

A lively and timely debate on the role of Ethics in the financial industry moderated by Habib Motani of Clifford Chance accompanied by Helen Fletcher, General Counsel at BNP Paribas left the audience with key  takeaways  about the continued role of lawyers to consider their own professional duties – over and above contracts of employment where in-house or as advisers, as well as the ethical considerations for in-house counsel in light of the British Post Office scandal.

After the coffee break the audience were reminded that arbitration is rapidly becoming the preferred choice of dispute resolution for global financial transactions.  Georges Affaki^[4], moderator, noted  the latest figures from the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and other international institutions, which marked  a steep rise in the number of banking and financial disputes handled.

The arbitration panel, composed of Hannah Ambrose^[5], Adrian Beltrami KC^[6], Professor Loukas Mistelis^[7], Dr Mathias Wittinghofer^[8] and Bryce Williams^[9], engaged into a lively discussion on the more technical aspects of the  updated P.R.I.M.E. Finance Arbitration Rules and  its suitability  for cross-border banking and finance disputes. The panel’s discussion was  centred  on the following features of the : expedited proceedings (art. 17), interim measures (art. 24), emergency arbitration (art. 25), joinder (art. 31), consolidation of arbitrations (art. 32),  and early determination (art. 35). The panel concluded that  the updated  P.R.I.M.E. Finance Arbitration Rules offer a competitive advantage ±¹¾±²õ-à-±¹¾±²õ other arbitral institution rules in this niche field, not least given the involvement of industry experts in the drafting of the rules and the vetted list of banking and finance experts readily available to their users.

Lunch was sponsored by Travers Smith followed by a session led by Ida Levine^[10] on Fiduciary Duties and Sustainability.   Valuations, disclosure requirements, anti-greenwashing, litigation trends, conformity, misrepresentation and compliance issues  were key topics examined. The â€˜naming’ of new ‘green’ products  and  the difficulty for the industry  to   remain  compliant with fiduciary duties  while   investing in a way that ensures that products prosper (and pension funds grow) as well as keeping abreast of ESG developments, were identified as central  challenges. Jonathan Gilmour^[11], Samallie Kiyingi ^[12] and  Heikki Cantell^[13] each provided insight into these  challenges â€“ noting that new sustainability requirements for developing markets were developing at a faster pace.

The Senior Technical Advisor in the Legal Directorate of the Bank of England – Mr David Geen, also a P.R.I.M.E.  Finance Expert moderated an informative session on Fintech and the Geopolitical Dimensions of Cross-Border Payments. What exactly are digital assets – legally speaking? What laws and regulations apply? These are questions that many in the industry have been grappling with over the past 15 years (along with harmonisation / recognition of laws governing blockchain, smart contracts and intermediated securities). Professor Sarah Green^[14]  elucidated the international legal recognition / conflicts of laws issues arising in this emerging digital frontier, where new forms of ‘property’/’asset’/’money’ etc that are now flooding markets and forming part of global trade and where sovereign based recognition and application of domestic law(s) to a truly international phenomena is on ‘catch up’ mode as new technologies appear. Dr Scott Farrell^[15] and Mathew Elderfield^[16] added practical insights to Professor Green’s able summarisation.

The conference ended with an excellent cocktail reception sponsored by White & Case, a super recap of the work of P.R.I.M.E. Finance Experts  around the globe by Jeffrey Golden KC (Hon)^[17] accompanied by P.R.I.M.E.  Finance Experts Joseph Bauman and Carolyn Jackson who both left a lasting impression on the audience of the sheer volume and significance of the work that P.R.I.M.E. Finance Experts do around the globe in their training of judiciaries and lawmakers on developed financial industry concepts, particularly derivatives. Big thank you to the organisers and donations to the P.R.I.M.E.  Finance Foundation encouraged. Contact  Senior Legal Officer/ Manager Deannie Yap (d.yap@primefinancedisputes.org) for further information on the work of the P.R.I.M.E. Finance Foundation.