The Allen & Overy Podcast archive

Introduction to the Metaverse

What is the metaverse, who controls it and what does it look like?

In this podcast, members of A&O’s international IP group, Victoria Pied, Elise Romelly, Laetitia Nicolazzi and Beverley Potts, discuss the fundamentals of the metaverse and how it is quickly evolving to mimic reality.

ESG in the funds industry: outlook on the French, Luxembourg and UK markets

In this podcast, Codrina Constantinescu (Counsel, Luxembourg), Tamara Cizeika (Counsel, London) and Benjamin Lacourt (Counsel, Paris) discuss SFDR and taxonomy challenges and opportunities in the funds industry.

Market Horizons podcast: Digital Bonds – are they the future of capital markets?

In this episode of Allen & Overy’s Market Horizons podcast series, partners in A&O’s Debt Capital Markets team, Daniel Fletcher (London), Hervé Ekué (Paris), Salvador Ruiz (Madrid) and senior associate Philippe Noeltner (Luxembourg) look at what the future may hold for the capital markets. Together, they discuss Digital Bonds – which some are calling the future of debt capital markets – and look at some of the potential benefits and challenges of adopting these new structures.

Glossary: 

• Digital Bond / Blockchain Bond - a wholly dematerialised bond that is issued, registered, settled, transferred and custodied natively using DLT.
• DLT / Distributed Ledger Technology  -  a set of protocols which enable data to be securely and accurately created and stored on a shared, de-centralised database, generally using cryptography. New information – representing records of transactions – is recorded on the distributed ledger only after validation by multiple computers (referred to as nodes) using a pre-agreed consensus mechanism. 
• Blockchain -  the most common example of DLT, and is so-called because each new transaction or bundle of transactions is recorded in a new ‘block’ of data which, once validated by the system, is added to the end of the existing sequential blocks of information (like adding links to a chain). 

Digital Finance Series: Emisia tokenizovaných dlhopisov

Čo prinesie nové nariadenie o DLT pilotnom režime? Aké sú výhody a riziká DLT emisií cenných papierov a mohli by nájsť využitie aj v podmienkach slovenského trhu?

Vypočujte si prvú epizódu z našej série EU Digital Finance, v ktorej  Peter Jedinák a Lukas Ljubovič diskutujú nielen o týchto otázkach, ale prinesú aj postrehy z praxe Allen & Overy v zahraničí, kde sme už radili ohľadom viacerých emisií dlhopisov na verejnom blockchaine.

SEC climate-related disclosure proposal: Implications for SEC registrants and foreign portfolio investors

In this episode, Diana Billik, head of our Paris Capital Markets practice, and New York-based Capital Markets partner Justin Cooke give a concise overview of the proposed climate disclosures put forward by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that SEC registrants (both domestic and foreign) would be subject to.

They discuss: corporate governance and risk management in relations to a climate focused framework; climate related impacts to financial statements; greenhouse gas emission under the proposal (Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 disclosure mandates), including companies’ own emissions and their supply-chain emissions; and how the proposal could apply to current net-zero carbon emission goals.

Perspectives on the future of banking: Transforming finance for a sustainable future

In the third episode of our podcast series featuring topical conversations with leading figures in the global financial services industry, capital markets partner Tim Conduit speaks to Christian Leitz, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Corporate Historian at UBS, Duncan Lee, Director of Investment ESG at AIA and Jenn-Hui Tan, Global Head of Stewardship and Sustainable Investing at Fidelity International, about what sustainability means for a bank, insurer and asset manager. 

The group discuss the evolving landscape of sustainable finance, the future of a net-zero economy, the role boards and senior management should play in moving the industry in the right direction, and the position of financial institutions in driving meaningful collaborative change. 

This episode was recorded in February 2022.

Kanceláriu vymenili za Vyšné Nemecké

Od vypuknutia vojny u našich východných susedov ubehol už mesiac. Pomocnú ruku Ukrajine mnohé spoločnosti, jednotlivci a dobrovoľníci. Dvaja z našich kolegov taktiež strávili vo Vyšnom Nemeckom niekoľko dní ako dobrovoľníci. 

O tom, čo na tomto hraničnom priechode robili a ako to tam vyzeralo sa porozprávala naša marketingové koordinátorka, Monika Nagyovová spolu s Pro Bono právnikou Barborou Brunovskou a Dávidom Mikušom, právnikom bankového oddelenia.

Twenty years after Sarbanes-Oxley: what will be Luxembourg employers’ obligations to protect whistleblowers?

Twenty years ago, as a reaction to an unprecedented series of major corporate and accounting scandals, the U.S. enacted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which provides for a specific whistleblower protection.

In this podcast, Maurice Macchi (counsel) and Julian Kisslinger (associate), members of the Luxembourg Employment Law team, discuss the Luxembourg Bill implementing the EU 2019 Directive on the protection of individuals (“whistleblowers”) who report violations of EU law. They also address the major points and obligations for Luxembourg employers arising thereof.

Keen to learn more? Then listen to the newest A&O Luxembourg Podcast.

What is driving the financing market in the alternative investment space?

In this podcast Fiona Cumming (Partner), Bénédicte Kurth (Counsel), Hannah Gates (Senior Associate) and Andreas Hommel (Counsel) discuss hot topics, trends and practical insights across asset classes and financing products, ranging from fund-level financing, fund guarantees and equity commitment letters to leveraged finance and direct lending products.

Lesson learnt from Hydrogen projects the Middle East and AsiaPac

In this three part series, Industry and climate change partner Jochem Spaans sits down with energy projects partners Michael Diosi and Matthias Voss to talk about their experiences with hydrogen projects in the Middle East and AsiaPac. What can we learn from these projects and how do these compare with the market in Europe?