China’s 14th five-year plan suggests that the country will remain committed to sustainable development over the next five years. In this session we discussed China’s Green agenda, what China’s Green commitments mean for business and how the increasing foreign ownership of Chinese assets will help introduce the international standards on ESG.

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Our panel looked at what the next 12 months holds for international fintech regulation, including key reforms and areas of focus for regulators in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, the UK and the US. Our specialists – Simon Crown, Lena Ng, Marc Benzler, Jennifer Mbaluto, Steven Gatti and Kimi Liu discussed the impact of recent political developments, and the effect they are expected to have on regulation in the short and longer term for key fintech products including cryptoassets and payments.

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Businesses are increasingly seeking opportunities to reduce the emissions intensity of their supply chains in order to achieve net zero targets. At the same time, governments are exploring a range of domestic and international policy options for accelerating the transition to a more sustainable economy – particularly in the lead up to COP26 in Glasgow. Our panel explored some of the barriers faced by businesses seeking to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and the role that international trade and regulatory policy can play in alleviating these barriers.

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When Covid-19 emerged, companies that had robust plans in place were able to adapt quickly, protect their business, employees and clients, and minimise their risk. One year on, what have we learned? Our specialists – Kate Scott, Steven Fox, Christopher Ingham and Nick Grafton-Green – outlined the regulatory landscape for listed corporates and regulated financial institutions, and shared the legal lessons learned, including future proofing contracts, insurance coverage, cyber and operational resilience and more.

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The latest session in our Brexit series looked at what’s next for financial services. Featuring Sarah Hall, Professor of Economic Geography at the University of Nottingham and Senior Fellow with The UK in a Changing Europe, our panel explored the implications of the Memorandum of Understanding on financial services, the status of equivalence decisions and the future of financial services regulatory cooperation between the UK and EU.

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With the deadlines for IBOR retirement looming, Clifford Chance partners Charles Cochrane, Caroline Dawson, Louise Keary, Gareth Old, Kate Scott and Jeremy Walter assessed the current status of IBOR transition and honed in on some of the most challenging areas remaining for market participants in the loan, bond, derivatives and structured products markets.

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In this session, Global Knowledge Partner Kate Gibbons was in conversation with Anand Menon, Director of the UK in a Changing Europe, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s College London and well-known political commentator and broadcaster. Anand shared his views on what to look for in the pandemic world post-Brexit.

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The development of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) – a digital representation of fiat money issued by a central bank – has been accelerated by Covid-19 and the resulting shift to digital payments, as well as the ongoing regulatory concern around proposed private global stablecoins such as Facebook’s Diem (formerly Libra). In this session, our international panel considered the different approaches being taken by central banks globally, including the digital euro, renminbi and dollar, what practical adoption of CBDCs may look like and the legal structures that might be employed, and the consequences for businesses.

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Many governments around the world have turned their attention to the perceived threat of hostile investors owning or controlling critical businesses or infrastructure which have national security implications. The UK Government is following this trend and its National Security and Investment Bill is currently making its way through the legislative process. It will provide the UK Government with wide powers to scrutinise and intervene in investments to protect the UK’s national security. Our panel – Mark Fisher, Chandra Ghosh, Daniel Harrison, Praveen Jagadish and Lindsay Mann – reviewed the UK Government’s proposed new powers and assessed their potential to impact a wide variety of investments and financing transactions.

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Jeff Berman and Celeste Koeleveld discussed the key themes underlying the development of financial regulatory policy in the Biden Administration, including the influence of Democratic majorities in Congress and the ways that financial regulation intersects with climate, socially responsible investing, racial justice, and other social and environmental policy priorities.

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Stablecoins – privately issued cryptocurrencies designed to have limited price volatility – have received growing attention since Facebook’s announcement of its proposed global stablecoin Diem (formerly Libra) in 2019 and the resulting regulatory backlash. Advocates hail them as an unmatched tool for financial inclusion and limiting financial crime, by linking payments to identity, while critics have concerns around regulatory standards and financial stability. Our global panel considered how the international regulatory response is evolving, how stablecoins can be successfully issued across key global financial centres and the risks and regulatory challenges to be aware of.

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In the wake of the social media fuelled trading interest in GameStop and other assets, the focus of regulators is turning to whether this might have involved any breach of securities or commodities laws and whether increased regulation may be required around payments for order flow. In this session, Caroline Dawson, Steven Gatti, Kelwin Nicholls and Ben Peacock discussed these issues in the context of UK and US regulation of market behaviour, looking at key differences and what future regulation might involve.

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The theme of 2021 International Women’s Day is #ChooseToChallenge. In association with Clifford Chance’s gender parity group Accelerate >>>, Chinwe Odimba-Chapman discussed with Lauren Livingston, General Counsel of CVC Capital Partners, her personal perspective on challenging perceptions in work models and leadership, bringing your whole self to work, and building back better post Covid-19.

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The UK has historically been an important part of the European securitisation markets. Following the end of the Brexit transition period, there are new regulatory and market realities to be dealt with – including some questions around how cross-border deals can best be facilitated in the future. In this session, we discussed some of the challenges that have come up in the first months of the new regime, some of the challenges on the horizon and the solutions market participants are finding to deal with those challenges.

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In this webinar, we discussed the latest trends in US, EU and UK policy on economic sanctions and trade controls, including compliance and enforcement risks and issues, and key potential changes under the Biden Administration. Our panel explored efforts to roll back Trump-era US secondary sanctions on Iran; current US trade controls on China; US, EU and UK sanctions on Russia; the prospects for an easing of sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela; Europe’s new human rights sanctions and the impact of the existing US Magnitsky sanctions; and post-Brexit UK sanctions.

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