FInsight Baker McKenzie

The emergence in 2022 of generative AI capable of human-like text, that can analyse vast amounts of data and create new content caught the public's imagination. In fact, it’s turbocharged interest in potential AI use cases while heightening concerns over the inherent risks. This FInsight podcast considers whether this all remains just hype and what's actually happening in the financial sector.

In this episode about the impact of artificial intelligence on financial institutions, Bradford Newman, a partner in Baker McKenzie's Palo Alto Office and one of the leaders of the firm’s North America AI practice talks to Richard Powell, global knowledge lead for financial institutions at Baker McKenzie.

Episode 31: Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in Financial Services

Diversity makes business sense from both a financial and consumer perspective, with research in financial services demonstrating a positive link between diversity at senior levels and positive outcomes. Firms are increasingly encouraged by regulators and public, shareholder and employee expectations to introduce new inclusion, diversity and equity (IDE) policies and strategies such as increasing participation by minority groups, collecting data and introducing new policies – but at the same time, financial institutions must not be seen to be going too far and creating unlawful reverse discrimination risks as highlighted by recent court decisions.

In this episode, members of Baker McKenzie’s Employment and Compensation group, Blair Robinson, a partner in New York, and Lorren Martin, a senior associate in London, discuss the issues around IDE faced by financial institutions on both sides of the Atlantic and globally, with Rachel Farr, senior knowledge lawyer.

Episode 30: EU Whistleblowing Directive: Key Takeaways for Financial Institutions

In this episode, Dr. Nicolai Behr (Partner, Munich), Lorren Martin (Senior Associate, London) and Lois Rodriguez Ares (Senior Associate, Madrid) take a closer look at the EU Whistleblowing Directive and the key takeaways for financial institutions. The episode also covers specific developments across different jurisdictions and other challenges that global employers need to consider for their respective organizations.

Quantum computing is still in its infancy, but most experts expect it to reach transformational powers in the next decade, bringing massive technological revolution but also new opportunities for early movers.

In this episode, Mark Simpson (Partner, London) is joined by Elena Strbac (Global Head of Data Science Innovation, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking, Standard Chartered) and Peter Chapman (President and CEO, IonQ) to explore how — and why — the finance sector is gearing up for this monumental shift.

In this episode, Jonathan Peddie, global chair of the Financial Institutions group and a partner from our London office and Amy Greer, co-chair of our North America Financial Regulation and Enforcement practice and a partner from our New York office, go through the findings relevant for financial institutions (FIs) from our new report The Year Ahead: Global Disputes Forecast 2023. The episode examines the expected types of disputes and the external risks for disputes throughout the rest of the year.

The growth of the African fintech ecosystem is driven by the creation of value through solving real problems within large user markets, not just the availability of capital. In this episode of FInsight, Ashlin Perumall, a partner from our Corporate and M&A practice in Johannesburg and Sarah Williams, an associate from our financial services practice in London, discuss the fintech landscape in South Africa and other key markets in Sub-Saharan Africa. They take a closer look at investment drivers and opportunities, current and emerging market segments, and key commercial and regulatory developments affecting the fintech ecosystem in the region.