18.00-20.00

Welcome Evening Drinks Reception, with Keynote Speaker

Courtyard

08.00-08.45

Registration and Breakfast

Courtyard

08.45-09.00

IFSEA Chair and Conference Sponsor Welcome

09.00-10.00

Opening Plenary Session

Great Hall

Ethical handling of Executive Investigations:  Are sloppy investigations, or overzealous investigations under ‘zero tolerance” policies, potentially ruining careers of good professionals and executives, or are they regarded as the inevitable price of ensuring justice for victims overall? Is dismissal now effectively the default outcome for executives? What are the ethical implications of investigations and what does best practice look like?

Carol Davis KC, Littleton Chambers, UK

Meriel Schindler, Withers, UK

Kristen Prinz, The Prinz Law Firm, Chicago, USA

Claire Cross, Corker Binning, UK

Co-chairs: Lindsey Wagner, Moxie Mediation California, USA & Beth Hale CM Murray UK

10.00-11.00

Plenary Session

Great Hall

Turning up the heat to stamp out harassment: A recent high-profile court decision in Delaware has allowed shareholders to sue the former Global Chief People Officer of McDonalds for alleged breach of his fiduciary duties, in allegedly failing to attempt to prevent systemic sexual harassment at the company. In the UK draft legislation is being considered to introduce a mandatory duty on employers to eradicate sexual harassment and also introducing liability for third party harassment.   What will be the likely impact of these and other developments and what more should executives be doing to ensure effective oversight of their organisations and to protect their people against harassment?

Colleen Cleary, CC Solicitors, Ireland

Cathleen Scott, Scott Law Team LLC, Florida, USA

Andrew Pavlovic, CM Murray LLP, UK

Carl-Fredrik Hedenström, CFH Law Firm, Sweden

Cathy Qu, River Delta Law Firm, Shanghai, PRC

Chair: Sarah Chilton, CM Murray LLP, UK

11.00-11.30

Breakout Session 1

Great Hall

Breakout Session 2

Court Room

Board Pay: Heightened scrutiny of CEO and executive compensation:  Investors on both sides of the Atlantic are looking hard at the rise in CEO and executive compensation, with a more focused lens on whether compensation increases are matched to meeting ESG and other targets.  What impact will the PRA and FCA consultation on proposed removal of existing limits on bonus cap in the financial services sector have on CEO and executive compensation?   

How Executives get the best out of their teams against a backdrop of changing employee cultural and generational behaviours, expectations and the new “quiet constraint”.   

Teresa L. Johnson, Arnold & Porter, California, USA

Dr. Johannes Traut, Seitz, Germany

Chair: Emma Bartlett, CM Murray LLP, UK

Joydeep Hor, People + Culture Strategies, Australia 

11.30-11.45

Coffee Break

Livery Room

11.45-12.30

Breakout Session 3

Great Hall

Breakout Session 4

Court Room

Engaging constructively with the activist workforce:  How do we help business leaders to engage, understand and collaborate constructively with unions, works councils and activist employee, especially in a TikTok world, for the best outcomes for business, the workforce and the public opinion? The strategies and the pitfalls.

Understanding executive equity valuations and handling repurchase/clawback disputes:  Repurchase rights can often be lurking in the fine print of equity grants and can leave executives vulnerable to forfeiture of their equity at diminished valuations, especially on termination. Different valuation methods yield a range of results, and it is important for an executive to know what to ask for upfront, to avoid surprises down the road and also to understand 'Cause' and 'Good Reason' and good leaver/bad leaver clauses in employment agreements, Shareholder/LTIP agreements, Phantom shares and stock options
 

Georgina Calvert-Lee, Bellevue Law, UK

Pål Kvernaas, Haavind AS, Norway 

Carlos Pareja Frade, Augusta, Spain 

Chair: Danny J. Kaufer, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Canada

Amy Shulman, Outten & Golden LLP, NY, USA

Inge Arts, Van Hall Advocaten, Netherlands

Richard Bibby, Alvarez & Marsal Valuation Services LLP, UK

Chair: Peter De Maria, Doyle Clayton, UK

12.30-13.15

Breakout Session 5

Great Hall

Breakout Session 6

Court Room

The Executive Whistleblower – the rights, protections and opportunities for executive blowing the whistle on organisational wrongdoing: Are they ever enough to compensate for the risks, reputational, health and even family consequences of blowing the whistle? What more can executives do now and in the future to protect themselves and also others in their organisation who want to speak out against corporate wrongdoing?    

Founders behaving badly – strategic and diplomatic board games.
 This panel will discuss the options available to the board in common scenarios, when seeking to remove a rogue or dysfunctional founder or executive, who is also a director and shareholder. They will focus on the non-statutory employment law rights of the founder and the risks to which the board are exposed, in relation to perceived unfair treatment.     

Jessica Riggin, Rukin Hyland & Riggin, California, USA

Neil Swift, Peters & Peters, UK 

Elaine Banton, 7BR, UK

Chair: Gareth Brahams, BDBF, UK

Brian J. MacDonough, Sherin and Lodgen Boston, USA

Andrew Katzen, Hickman & Rose, UK

Eleanor Rowswell, Farrer & Co, UK

Chair: Ivor Adair, Fox & Partners, UK

13.15-14.15

Lunch Break

Livery Room

13.30-14.00

Lunch & Learn Discussion Groups 

Session 1

Session 2

14.15-15.15

Afternoon Plenary Session

Great Hall

Women, Age and the C Suite: A discussion on the sex/age discrimination intersection, and the use of individual and class actions, pay transparency and pay audits, and regulatory intervention to address widespread bias against women executives in pay and promotions. To what extent does the menopause impact women executives’ careers too? And what positive action and initiatives are available to support career progression and re-entry after periods of absence?

Miranda Pode, Spencer Stuart, UK 

Rosamund Browne, ABB, UK 

Robert B. Stulberg, Stulberg & Walsh, LLP, New York, USA

Veena Gopalakrishnan, Trilegal, India 

Chair: Merrill April, CM Murray LLP, UK

15.15-15.45

Breakout Session 7

Great Hall

Breakout Session 8

Court Room

Executive Relationships at work – ban, boundaries or blind eye?  Can relationships with colleagues, clients, vendors or competitors ever be appropriate or safe. How can employers manage the workplace risks and conflicts of interest? What should workplace relationship protocols and policies look like to reflect reality, and how far should they go to ban or place boundaries on workplace romance? 

Anatomy of a transaction - Key issues for Executives and Founders selling their business and what protections are worth fighting for?     The critical issues inherent in the sale of a business from the employment perspective –financing, engaging with corporate counsel and retaining and protecting other employees in preparation for a transaction. How involved is the senior team in choosing its new company, in due diligence and determining the business and employment deals?      How can they negotiate their own employment and equity agreements while maintaining their duty of loyalty?     

Terese Connolly, Barnes & Thornburg, Chicago, USA

Linky Trott, Edwin Coe LLP, UK

Chair: Pooja Dasgupta, CM Murray LLP, UK

Doug Mandell, Withers, California, USA

Chair: Wendi S. Lazar, Outten & Golden LLP, New York, USA

15.45-16.30

Breakout Session 9

Great Hall

Breakout Session 10

Court Room

Business Protection: The Top 5 things You Need to Know Right Now on Restrictive Covenants and Confidential Information. This discussion will include an update on the proposed US Federal Trade Commission ban on non-competition covenants in US employment agreements and the potential significant impact on senior executives and founders, and their businesses, in the USA and around the world.

Founders succession planning – passing on the business to the next generation: whether the next generation consists of the children or employees, what are the top issues and options founders should consider when planning to move on, hand over the reins and pass ownership to the next generation?

Jennifer Millins, Mishcon de Reya, UK 

Jeffrey E. Goodman, Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP, Canada

Inge Derde, Van Eeckhoutte, Taquet & Clesse, Belgium

Chair: Mark Risk, Mark Risk, P.C., New York, USA

David Yewdall, Evelyn Partners, UK

Christoph Rechsteiner, MME Legal & Tax, Switzerland 

Dhana Sabanathan, Michelmores, UK 

Chair: Corinne Staves, CM Murray LLP, UK

16.30–16.45

Coffee & Drinks Break

Livery Room

16.45–17.45

Closing Plenary Session

Great Hall

The Plague of the Narcissistic Leader: What is the Damage? Is there a Cure? 

An interactive audience discussion in a Samoan Circle format.

What traits do we look for in our corporate leaders? Ask someone what distinguishes a forceful leader in business, and they’re likely to mention self-confidence, charisma, strong-will and boldness. But, frequently, such traits may also exist side-by-side with far less palatable ones. The role that a CEO’s personality plays in determining outcomes, including stock-price performance, is a topic of considerable interest to researchers, the media, and the public.  Leveraging the research and expertise of organizational psychology and engaging the audience’s views too, this session will examine the damage narcissistic leaders can inflict on corporations in terms of strategic choices, governance quality, ESG, ethical standards, and executive turnover, and explore the potential solutions to it. 

Co-chairs & facilitators:

Lori Deem, Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Chicago, USA

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Anchor Speakers: 

Trisha Daho, Empowered Leadership Cultivation, Chicago USA

Matt Meyer, Mishcon De Reya, UK

17.45-19.30

Closing Remarks & Evening Drinks Event 

Courtyard