Straight Talking From Hogan Lovells

Join Bryony Widdup and Chris Ford from R3 as they tackle how the blockchain can address scarcity, waste, and other circularity issues in pursuit of a better, more sustainable future.

In the first 2023 episode of HL PensionsPod, Pension partners Katie Banks and Duncan Buchanan look at the year ahead for defined benefit pension schemes, discussing the changes in the political and regulatory landscape, and what is to come for trustees and administrators including pensions dashboards, new DB funding code, TCFD reporting and more.

Ivan is joined by Tim Bergreen and Ches Garrison, members of the firm’s Government Relations and Public Affairs team, to discuss the 2022 midterm election results and what they could mean for the House and Senate.

Listen to Dr. Jochen Biedermann, Managing Director World Alliance of International Financial Centers, in conversation with our partner Leopold von Gerlach as they discuss the future success of financial centers, digital Euros and Yuans, and how regulation can incentivize innovation.

Join Roeland Van der Stappen of crypto.com and Hogan Lovells consultant Lavan Thasarathakumar as they dive into whether crypto is the “new fintech,” how to foster trust in the crypto space, and how the crypto, fintech and digital banking agendas may merge.

In this episode of HL PensionsPod, Hogan Lovells Pension partner Duncan Buchanan is joined by special guests Peter Rennalls and Richard Seymour from the Pensions Transfer Team at Pension Insurance Corporation to investigate just how much work goes on behind the scenes to reassure policyholders as to what happens when their scheme arranges a buy-in or a full buy-out and transfers the scheme to a new provider.

The 2022 midterm elections had Republicans eagerly anticipating a red wave while Democrats braced for a surge that could hand the GOP up to 40 House seats and controlling majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. That wave never reached shore, and Democrats outperformed expectations and historical midterm elections norms. Listen to Senator Norm Coleman and Ivan Zapien as they discuss their thoughts on the Midterm results and how this will impact legislation, oversight, and the President’s agenda.

Join Siân Jones, senior partner at XReg Consulting and the architect of Gibraltar’s DLT policy, and our partner John Salmon, an award-winning fintech practitioner, as they discuss why and how new regulatory approaches are needed and how industry is solving these challenges.

Listen to Ari Redbord, Head of Legal and Government Affairs at TRM Labs and former U.S. Treasury senior advisor, and our partner Liz Boison, a former U.S. federal prosecutor on the National Crypto Enforcement Team, explore security vs. privacy, threat intelligence, why you can love crypto winter, and more.

Season 6 continues as Andrew speaks to the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Exchange Ltd, Temi Popoola. Temi is passionate about business, collaborative team building, meeting organizational demands, and finance/investment banking. His greatest motivation is leading and guiding others to exceed expectations, and he uses his influence to help organizations exceed short- and long-term goals.   Listen as they discuss the demutualization of the group, and how NGX and other African exchanges are working to achieve their goals despite high levels of volatility in the global economy. They explore what aspects of COVID-19 have been the most challenging in the capital markets space; as well as what it means to get Nigeria’s investment landscape ‘future-ready.' Temi talks about the importance of getting youth involved in trade and investment in Africa as well as getting corporates to take positive actions towards sustainable reporting. 

Ivan and Mark are joined by special guest Simon Rosenberg, President at NDN, to discuss the early votes of the midterm elections, what that could mean for democratic candidates, and more. 

In this episode of HL PensionsPod, Duncan Buchanan, one of our Pension partners, and Charlotte Yeates, one of our Pension senior associates, take a deep-dive into the protections trustees should be thinking about on a scheme wind-up including missing beneficiary, incorrect benefits, residual risk and run-off insurance, policy gaps and exclusions and limitation periods. They also provide lots of practical tips on what trustees can do to minimise the risk of post-wind-up issues and discuss the importance of involving the employer.

Ivan and Mark are joined by special guests Albert Morales, Vice President at GQR, and Andrew Drechsler, President at HaystaqDNA, to discuss the Latino vote, the midterm elections, and more.

In this episode, Faye Jarvis, one of our Pensions partners, and Matthew Bullen, a partner in our Pensions Litigation team, discuss net zero commitments and a recent ESG court case.

Jacky Scanlan-Dyas and Ben Higson talk to Mark Brennan, head of Hogan Lovells’ global Technology and Telecommunications industry sector group and Lead Innovation Partner, about digitalization and what manufacturers should consider when navigating a myriad of jurisdictions and issues in an increasingly digital world.   Jacky Scanlan-Dyas co-heads the Manufacturing and Industrials industry sector, as well as the Conglomerates sub sector at Hogan Lovells. Jacky has over 25 years' cross-border transaction experience across the full range of structures, including M&A, investments, exits, joint ventures, complex commercial contracts, and restructuring and insolvency issues.   Ben Higson co-leads the Conglomerates sub sector group at Hogan Lovells. Ben has extensive experience and knowledge in domestic and international deals, across the full range of structures, including public and private deals, financial investor investments and exits, joint ventures and strategic alliances, and complex commercial contracts.

In our latest episode, Andrew speaks to Solomon Asamoah, CEO of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment (GIIF), an investment vehicle, initially capitalized at $250m, with a mandate to originate, structure, and invest in infrastructure-related projects across Ghana. Solomon is an investment professional with over 25 years of experience originating and executing transactions in both developed and developing markets. He has personally led over $5bn in transactions across the African continent.   Listen as they discuss what GIIF is, what they have done to date, and the areas of focus for the fund in the coming years. They explore how the global pandemic affected the fund’s goals to secure investment and what have been the most challenging aspects of the post-Covid period. Solomon also shares his views on the AfCFTA and what he sees as the possible material benefits for GIIF and other funds on the continent since its ratification, as well as what he considers to be top priorities for investors as the continent looks

Andrew Skipper MBE is joined by Alastair Long, Her Majesty’s Acting Trade Commissioner for Africa based in Cairo. He leads the UK Government's trade and investment activity across Africa, and a team of 130 people dedicated to that purpose in 20 markets. Listen as they discuss sectors of interest for the UK government in Africa, plans for future Africa-focused events like the recent Africa Investment Conference, and how the UK plans to achieve its goal of becoming the partner of choice for African states.

In the first episode of the A Perspective Podcast for 2022, Andrew Skipper MBE is joined by the Hogan Lovells' new Africa Practice co-leads; Arun Velusami and Olivier Fille-Lambie. Both Olivier and Arun have extensive experience and networks on the continent, and are committed to continuing to grow the firm's global Africa practice.

In this episode of HL PensionsPod, Faye Jarvis and Edward Brown, two of our Pensions partners, provide practical guidance on issues they are seeing with the new transfer regulations and share their thoughts on how trustees and administrators might manage the forthcoming stronger nudge requirements.

With any form of disruption comes legal risks, and that’s no different for technology. A lot of innovation is happening right now, and it’s very important that businesses are looking at the legal and practical risks associated with the future of technology. In the last episode of our five part litigation landscape podcast series, our lawyers look into metaverse, and how businesses can ensure they’re staying on top of the risks.