Events Search and Views Navigation
October 2020
AFLA’s Annual Meeting and “The Hunt for Unicorns: How Sovereign Funds are Reshaping Investment in the Digital Economy and the Regulatory Backlash it has Engendered”
Speaker: Winston Ma, Paul Downs
The emergence of unicorns, startups with valuations in excess of $1 billion, has attracted billions of dollars of investment from sovereign wealth funds and government employee pension funds. The capital from these trillion dollar investors has not only fostered the explosive growth of the digital economy worldwide but has triggered a regulatory backlash with reverberations worldwide. Ma and Downs provide insight into the transformation of these vast funds into sophisticated investors of the digital champions of tomorrow and the regulations…
Find out more »June 2020
Crossborder M&A in the Middle East – The UAE as a Regional Hub, Headwinds Notwithstanding
Speaker: Hessam Kalantar, Kalantar Business Law Group
The rapid growth, developmental vision and adaptability of city states such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi over the years has resulted in the UAE becoming the standout leader when it comes to Middle East M&A, mainly because of its ease of doing business and ever-evolving legal framework that facilitates raising and deploying capital, and deal-making in general. Despite the progress, economic challenges remain, and have arguably amplified in the face of COVID19. Hessam Kalantar will talk about M&A in the…
Find out more »March 2020
CANCELLED: Crossborder Private M&A in the Middle East: UAE as the Regional Hub
Unfortunately, this event has been cancelled. Due to protocols regarding the coronavirus, our speaker is unable to travel to the US and our host venue has restricted non-essential meetings. Next week, we will be processing refunds for those that are currently registered for this event. The rapid growth, developmental vision and adaptability of city states such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi over the years has resulted in the UAE becoming the standout leader when it comes to Middle East M&A,…
Find out more »February 2020
Solitary Confinement
Speaker: Kathryn Marshall Ali
Solitary confinement is widely used in the United States. Most prisoners on death row are automatically – and permanently – housed in isolation for 23-24 hours per day, for years on end. As Justice Kennedy noted in a recent concurring opinion: “Too often, discussion in the legal academy and among practitioners and policymakers concentrates simply on the adjudication of guilt or innocence. Too easily ignored is the question of what comes next. Prisoners are shut away—out of sight, out of…
Find out more »January 2020
Immigration in the Age of Disruption
Speaker: Austin T. Fragomen, Jr.
Austin T. Fragomen, Jr. is a partner and chairman of the executive committee of Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen and Loewy, LLP, an AMLaw 100 firm specializing in global immigration law with offices in 25 countries. He earned his law degree from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. Mr. Fragomen serves as Chairman of the Business Advisory Committee to the U.N. Global Forum on Migration and Development and as Vice Chairman of…
Find out more »December 2019
Becoming a Lawyer: Discovering and Defining Your Professional Persona
Professor Toni Jaeger-Fine will discuss her new book, Becoming a Lawyer: Discovering and Defining your Professional Persona. Our success—or lack thereof—is determined largely by a range of attitudes and behaviors over which each of us has complete control. She will discuss foundations of a robust professional persona, followed by elements of professionalism from the inside (self-management) and professionalism with the outside (relationships). The book’s main message is that with the right amount of intentionality and dedication, each of us can achieve…
Find out more »November 2019
Data Protection and Privacy in Canada: What Organizations Doing Business in Canada Need to Know
Speaker: Stephen Burns, Matthew Flynn and Ruth Promislow, Partners, Bennett Jones LLP
This presentation will be a review of the regulatory landscape, including the revisions to the data protection law on the horizon, as well as the scope of exposure under Canadian case law on privacy and data security issues. A review of key aspects of Canadian law that may arise in commercial transactions will also be part of this program. Stephen Burns: Practice focuses on energy, utility and infrastructure related technology, procurement and outsourcing, technology transfers, intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions,…
Find out more »AFLA Members’ Fall Cocktail Reception
The reception is open only to AFLA members and is free of charge. Please note that Law Firm Members include the principal member and a number of other lawyers from the firm according to their membership category. If you are not already a member of AFLA, but would like to join, please use the link below.
Find out more »October 2019
Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights – What You Need to Know
Speaker: Deborah Enix-Ross, Debevoise & Plimpton
The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011, are a set of guidelines for States and companies to prevent, address and remedy human rights abuses committed in business operations. The UNGPs rest on three pillars: States have a duty to protect people from human rights abuses by third parties, including business. Business has a responsibility to respect human rights, which means to avoid infringing on the rights of…
Find out more »September 2019
U.S. Investment Adviser Registration for Non-U.S. Firms
Speaker: Bertrand C. Fry and Shusmita Chowdhury, Pryor Cashman LLP
Non-U.S. asset managers that provide, or are considering providing, services to U.S. clients (or to investment vehicles with U.S. investors) need to be aware of the comprehensive registration regime applicable under the U.S. Investment Advisers Act. This presentation will outline the availability and limitations of the “foreign investment adviser” exemption, as well as other ways that non-U.S. investment advisers may want to consider addressing U.S. regulatory requirements, including “umbrella” registration and Unibanco letters.
Bertrand C. Fry is a partner at Pryor Cashman, where he co-heads the Investment Management and FinTech Groups. Prior to joining the firm, he served for 14 years in the legal department of the D. E. Shaw Group, serving as its acting General Counsel during the first half of 2007. He started his career at Paul, Weiss, and was a senior U.S. counsel in Dechert’s London office from 2001 to 2003, where his clients included both U.S. and non-U.S. investment advisers. Over the course of his career, Bert has launched and advised on a broad array of U.S. and non-U.S. alternative investment vehicles and their managers.
Shusmita Chowdhury is a member of Pryor Cashman’s Investment Management Group, where she advises institutional investors on their investments in domestic and international private equity funds, real estate funds, hedge funds, venture capital funds, fund of funds and other accounts. She also has extensive experience counseling clients on secondary fund investments and assisting fund sponsors on fund formation and ongoing investment matters, having previously worked in-house for a Swiss private equity firm.
Find out more »