Legal Risks: Strengthening Governance and Compliance 2023
Legal Risks: Strengthening Governance and Compliance
Legal Risks: Strengthening Governance and Compliance
March 6-9
Live Content sessions held: 8am–12pm (EST) | 1pm–5pm (GMT) | 9pm–1am (SGT)
Chair: Atilla Arda, senior financial sector expert, International Monetary Fund
- What impact will the recent freezing of reserves have on the international monetary system?
- How are CBDCs and climate risk challenging central bank mandates and practices?
- How is the increasing use of technology changing a central bank’s legal and risk profile?
Recent years have seen the legal risk profile of central banks shift, and the scope of legal challenges widen. Three trends are already clear. First, technology-driven change, notably AI, Fintech, and CBDC are disrupting not just firms that central banks supervise but the activities of central banks themselves. Second, climate risk and ESG responsibilities add new layers of responsibility and legal risks for central banks. Third, several geopolitical developments have raised issues of central bank immunity, in particular around freezing of reserves. These come at a time when central banks are still exploring legal risks of unconventional collateral taking for central bank liquidity support and cross-border frameworks notably around bank resolution. This course is designed to equip central bankers to meet these challenges. Each day will feature three hours of expert-led Live Content to ensure a range of perspectives on key topics.
Legal Risks 2023 Agenda
Two weeks prior to your training course you will be emailed access to our content hub with course materials, including a trial to Central Banking if you are not already subscribed. There will be a combination of articles, reports and presentations that will contribute to two hours of preparation time for the live content. Presentations for the sessions will also be held here subject to the speaker approval.
13:00 – 13:30
Legal Risks 2023: Course introduction + welcome
Course introduction session led by the chair
13:00 - 13:30
- Introductions and welcome from the chairperson
- Overview of the training course
- Discussion of the delegate expectations
Atilla Arda is a Senior Financial Sector Expert in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Monetary and Capital Markets Department; prior to this, he was a Senior Counsel in the IMF’s Financial & Fiscal Law Unit. Mr. Arda joined the IMF in February 2007 from the central bank of the Netherlands where he held a Senior Counsel position and was Substitute Secretary to the Board; he also contributed to the workings of the Legal Committee of the European System of Central Banks. Mr. Arda has consulted for over 70 countries, half of which on-site, including for countries as diverse as Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Jamaica, Kosovo, Myanmar, Portugal, Sri Lanka, and Ukraine. Most recently, he was the deputy head for the Switzerland Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), and he led the FSAP crisis readiness teams for the United Kingdom, United States, and euro area. Mr. Arda is specialized in central bank governance and law, financial law, institutional frameworks for macroprudential policy and crisis management, financial safety net arrangements, crisis preparedness, and bank resolution regimes. Mr. Arda undertook his undergraduate at the Amsterdam Academy of Banking and Finance; he is a graduate of both the Amsterdam Law School and the Amsterdam Graduate School of Law of the University of Amsterdam, where he specialized in international economic and financial law. He is a regular speaker at international conferences and has been chairing Central Banking Publications’ course on ‘Central Bank Governance and Legal Risks’ since 2014.
13:30 – 14:15
The interaction of new mandates, autonomy, and governance
14:15 - 15:00
- Overview of changing central bank function and risk profile
- Legal foundations of effective corporate governance
- Comparative analysis of developments in selected jurisdictions
- Discussion: how are legal departments responding to the impact of current disruptive forces?
14:15 – 14:30
Break
12:45 - 13:00
14:30 – 15:30
Effectively mitigating legal risk to central banks from evolving climate mandates
15:15 - 16:00
- Impact of climate change on central banks’ mandates and responsibilities
- Understanding the legal implications of climate change policies
- Examples of national and cross-jurisdictional initiatives
- Discussion: do central banks have sufficient legal powers to effectively contribute to the greening of the financial system? How do they do it?
Diarmuid has spent a considerable part of his career working on and writing about financial resilience and the operational aspects of central banking, and he has worked across the globe with many central banks and national supervisory and resolution authorities.
Diarmuid began his central banking career at the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) and was part of the team that played a key role in the CBI’s response to the Irish financial crisis. Diarmuid has also worked in the market operations area of the European Central bank and spent several years at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in both the central banking and crisis management areas, where he participated in the IMF’s technical assistance and Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) work. Having returned to the CBI in 2018, Diarmuid took over responsibility for Brexit and fintech related banking/payment institution/e-money authorisations and banking contingency planning, establishing a new unit. In 2020, Diarmuid undertook a fellowship program with the Financial Stability Institute at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel focusing on crisis management issues.
In late 2021 Diarmuid commenced a secondment to the EU Commission, where he is now part of the Commission’s team responsible for implementing its published Renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy where his focus continues to be on financial resilience issues.
Diarmuid also co-leads the development and delivery of a dedicated comparative central banking module as part of a new online Global Central Banking and Financial Regulation master’s degree course with Warwick Business School (and in partnership with the Bank of England).
15:30 – 15:45
Networking break
15:30 - 16:00
15:45 – 16:30
Managing a system-wide financial crisis–Ghana’s experience
13:00 - 13:30
- The challenges stemming from the concurrent failure of many financial institutions
- An overview of short- and medium-term steps during a crisis and its aftermath
- The role and responsibilities of the legal department
- Discussion: lessons learned for crisis preparedness and about the role of law and lawyers
Mrs. Elsie Addo Awadzi was appointed 2nd Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana in February 2018, with responsibility for financial supervision, financial stability, and financial integrity, among others. She is the second woman to be appointed Deputy Governor in the Bank’s 62-year history.
Before her appointment as Deputy Governor, she was Senior Counsel of the Financial and Fiscal Law Unit of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Legal Department, based in Washington, D.C. In that role, she helped to assess the stability of financial systems in a number of G-20 member countries, and provided technical assistance to help strengthen financial systems and manage financial crises in a variety of IMF member countries. She also advised on legal and institutional aspects of public financial management, public debt management, and fiscal responsibility frameworks.
16:30 – 15:15
The design and strategies underpinning cross-border bank resolution
16:15 - 17:00
- Key design elements of effective cross-border resolution frameworks
- Overview of strategies used for cross-border crisis management
- Tips for effective cross jurisdiction co-operation and coordination
- Discussion: how to plan for the resolution of internationally active banks?
Eamonn White
Independent consultant
Ardhill Advisory and former Bank of England and Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Eamonn is Director of Ardhill Advisory LTD, an independent consulting firm focused on advising financial institutions, central banks, national authorities and international organisations, including the International Monetary Fund, on financial stability policy. This includes advising on prudential regulation, bank resolution, central bank liquidity and crisis management.
Between 2020 and 2022, Eamonn was a senior advisor to the Bank of England (BoE), leading a resolution planning team for a large UK bank as part of the BoE's Resolvability Assessment Framework, contributing to UK resolution policy development and cross-border cooperation with international authorities on resolution issues.
From 2016 and 2019, Eamonn was Head of the Resolution Office at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). During this time, he was responsible for leading the development of the domestic statutory/regulatory resolution regime for all Hong Kong banks, leading resolution planning for banks in Hong Kong, often in close cooperation with foreign authorities, and contributing to the international cross-border resolution policy framework and resolution plans for global banks through his work as a member of the Financial Stability Board committees and for the cooperative organization of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks (EMEAP).
Before joining the HKMA, Eamonn worked on financial stability topics, including bank resolution at the Bank of England for 4 years. He was also a senior policy advisor to the Chancellor of the Exchequer at HM Treasury (HMT) for 7 years. At HMT he worked at the centre of the UK’s policy and strategic response to the financial crisis, both managing bank failure and the policy response to the Too-Big-To-Fail problem.
In his early career, Eamonn was a diplomat in Washington DC, covering EU foreign policy and trade issues.
13:00 – 14:00
Towards a legal framework for digital currency and crypto assets
14:00 - 14:45
- Taxonomy of digital money: CBDCs, crypto assets and e-money
- What are the key legal aspects for e-money framework based on existing good practices?
- How to establish legal certainty of crypto assets and address legal risks?
- How to achieve a solid legal foundation for any CBDC issuance?
Adrian is a Senior Consulting Counsel in the FF Division. A national of Romania, Mr. Dumitrescu Pasecinic worked at the European Commission as Legal Counsel focusing on Monetary and Central Bank Law and Digital Currency. Prior to this Mr. Dumitrescu Pasecinic worked as a Legal Officer in the Legal Department of the European Banking Authority. Additionally, Mr. Dumitrescu Pasecinic held such positions as a Counsellor to the Legal Department, as Head of the European and International Law Unit, Senior Legal Counsel and Legal Counsel at the National Bank of Romania. Mr. Dumitrescu Pasecinic received his Masters degree from the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Law, Romania, and his PhD from the West University of Timisoara, Romania. Mr. Dumitrescu Pasecinic can be contacted via email at adumitrescupaseci@imf.org.
14:00 – 14:15
Break
12:45 - 13:00
14:15 – 15:15
15:15 – 15:45
15:45 – 16:45
Project Mandala: unlocking the potential of programmable compliance
15:45 - 16:30
- A case study of the BIS Project Mandala
- Evolutionary journey of financial, regulatory, and supervisory technology
- How has RegTech and SupTech impacted the financial services industry?
- Examples of applications in regulatory reporting and compliance risk management
13:00 – 14:00
Crisis management, resolution and liquidity facility arrangement
16:30 - 17:00
- Building blocks for emergency liquidity and funding in resolution
- Practical challenges around central bank liquidity support in resolution
- The experience of the Irish banking crisis
- Country developments around the world
Diarmuid has spent a considerable part of his career working on and writing about financial resilience and the operational aspects of central banking, and he has worked across the globe with many central banks and national supervisory and resolution authorities.
Diarmuid began his central banking career at the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) and was part of the team that played a key role in the CBI’s response to the Irish financial crisis. Diarmuid has also worked in the market operations area of the European Central bank and spent several years at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in both the central banking and crisis management areas, where he participated in the IMF’s technical assistance and Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) work. Having returned to the CBI in 2018, Diarmuid took over responsibility for Brexit and fintech related banking/payment institution/e-money authorisations and banking contingency planning, establishing a new unit. In 2020, Diarmuid undertook a fellowship program with the Financial Stability Institute at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel focusing on crisis management issues.
In late 2021 Diarmuid commenced a secondment to the EU Commission, where he is now part of the Commission’s team responsible for implementing its published Renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy where his focus continues to be on financial resilience issues.
Diarmuid also co-leads the development and delivery of a dedicated comparative central banking module as part of a new online Global Central Banking and Financial Regulation master’s degree course with Warwick Business School (and in partnership with the Bank of England).
Eamonn White
Independent consultant
Ardhill Advisory and former Bank of England and Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Eamonn is Director of Ardhill Advisory LTD, an independent consulting firm focused on advising financial institutions, central banks, national authorities and international organisations, including the International Monetary Fund, on financial stability policy. This includes advising on prudential regulation, bank resolution, central bank liquidity and crisis management.
Between 2020 and 2022, Eamonn was a senior advisor to the Bank of England (BoE), leading a resolution planning team for a large UK bank as part of the BoE's Resolvability Assessment Framework, contributing to UK resolution policy development and cross-border cooperation with international authorities on resolution issues.
From 2016 and 2019, Eamonn was Head of the Resolution Office at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). During this time, he was responsible for leading the development of the domestic statutory/regulatory resolution regime for all Hong Kong banks, leading resolution planning for banks in Hong Kong, often in close cooperation with foreign authorities, and contributing to the international cross-border resolution policy framework and resolution plans for global banks through his work as a member of the Financial Stability Board committees and for the cooperative organization of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks (EMEAP).
Before joining the HKMA, Eamonn worked on financial stability topics, including bank resolution at the Bank of England for 4 years. He was also a senior policy advisor to the Chancellor of the Exchequer at HM Treasury (HMT) for 7 years. At HMT he worked at the centre of the UK’s policy and strategic response to the financial crisis, both managing bank failure and the policy response to the Too-Big-To-Fail problem.
In his early career, Eamonn was a diplomat in Washington DC, covering EU foreign policy and trade issues.
14:00 – 14:15
Break
12:45 - 13:00
14:15 – 15:15
Immunity from execution of central banks assets
14:00 - 14:45
- International legislative and judicial trends in strengthening central bank immunities
- The policy and operational factors behind these trends
- Discussion: expectations for further developments in this are considering current affairs
15:15 – 15:30
Networking break
15:30 - 16:00
15:30 – 16:30
Managing legal risks of taking non-traditional collateral
14:45 - 15:30
- Overview of the legal risks associated with collateral taking
- Strategies for the due diligence process of collateral taking
- Dealing with the legal risks in taking raw loans
- Discussion: different collateral risks in home jurisdictions
Joseph works in the Central Banking Legal Division of the Bank of England. His work focuses on the bank's market operations, including the bank's standing facilities under the Sterling Monetary Framework.
Daniel works in the Central Banking Legal Division of the Bank of England. His work focuses on the bank's market operations, including the bank's standing facilities under the Sterling Monetary Framework.
13:00 – 14:00
14:00 – 14:15
Break
12:45 - 13:00
14:15 – 15:00
Financial authorities’ legal liabilities in multilevel regulatory systems
15:15 - 16:15
- Multi-level regulatory system of the banking union
- Enforcement of administrative decisions
- Liability of resolution authorities
- The “distribution” of the liability and the degree of discretion
Pier Mario Lupinu
PhD candidate in banking and finance law, faculty of law, economics & finance,
University of Luxembourg – Universitá Degli Studi Roma Tre
Pier Mario Lupinu is a PhD Candidate in Banking and Finance Law jointly at the Universities of Luxembourg and Roma Tre (Italy). He is a Young Researcher at the European Banking Institute and he has been a Visiting Scholar at the Columbia Law School in New York and a DAAD-funded visiting researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE at the Goethe University Frankfurt. Currently, he is a visiting researcher in Bank Insolvency at UNIDROIT. Ahead of the PhD, he worked for the European Commission, the European Investment Bank and the Single Resolution Board.
15:00 – 15:45
Role of lawyers in crisis preparedness and management
This session will be an interactive workshop with the opportunity for participants to interact and engage.
14:15 - 15:15
Atilla Arda is a Senior Financial Sector Expert in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Monetary and Capital Markets Department; prior to this, he was a Senior Counsel in the IMF’s Financial & Fiscal Law Unit. Mr. Arda joined the IMF in February 2007 from the central bank of the Netherlands where he held a Senior Counsel position and was Substitute Secretary to the Board; he also contributed to the workings of the Legal Committee of the European System of Central Banks. Mr. Arda has consulted for over 70 countries, half of which on-site, including for countries as diverse as Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Jamaica, Kosovo, Myanmar, Portugal, Sri Lanka, and Ukraine. Most recently, he was the deputy head for the Switzerland Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), and he led the FSAP crisis readiness teams for the United Kingdom, United States, and euro area. Mr. Arda is specialized in central bank governance and law, financial law, institutional frameworks for macroprudential policy and crisis management, financial safety net arrangements, crisis preparedness, and bank resolution regimes. Mr. Arda undertook his undergraduate at the Amsterdam Academy of Banking and Finance; he is a graduate of both the Amsterdam Law School and the Amsterdam Graduate School of Law of the University of Amsterdam, where he specialized in international economic and financial law. He is a regular speaker at international conferences and has been chairing Central Banking Publications’ course on ‘Central Bank Governance and Legal Risks’ since 2014.
Bruce Hickey is Senior Counsel in the Complex Financial Institutions Section of the FDIC’s Legal Division (Resolution & Receivership Branch). His work focuses on resolution planning and domestic and foreign coordination of crisis management activities. Prior to joining the FDIC, Bruce was a litigator for over a decade with Sullivan & Cromwell, where he represented numerous U.S. and non-U.S. banking organizations. He holds an AB from Princeton, a BA and MSt from Oxford, and a JD from Harvard.
15:45 – 16:15
Legal Risks: closing remarks and delegate action plans
Concluding session led by the chair
13:00 - 13:30
- Summary of the course
- Discussion of the observed trends and case studies
- Application of learning points in the delegates’ home organisations
- Preparation of action points
16:15 – 16:30
Feedback forum
We will send a link in this session to the feedback form and would kindly ask that you help us improve the training product by completing the survey. We would also welcome any verbal feedback in this session.
09:00 - 09:15
Learning outcomes
At the conclusion of the training, participants will be able to:
- Assess the effect of recent sanctions on international finance
- Gain insights into the implications of climate risk for central bank law and mandates
- Understand the impact of CBDCs and stablecoins on legal and regulatory frameworks
- Analyse the legal implications of AI and machine learning in financial services and supervision
- Understand how Fintech is challenging and changing legal standards and practices