40th IBA International Financial Law Conference
7 May - 9 May 2025
Session information
Committee(s)
Banking & Financial Law Committee
(Lead)
Securities and Capital Markets Committee
(Lead)
Description
Soft law instruments, such as guidelines issued by regulators, are a helpful means to guide financial institutions in the application of the law and to ensure its uniform application. However, the multiplication of sources and forms of soft law instruments can create confusion, legal uncertainty and can lead to high compliance costs for supervised entities. The democratic legitimacy of regulators to issue soft law instruments that they consider as binding is questioned by some. There is also an intense debate as to whether financial institutions can be sanctioned by regulators for failure to comply with soft law rules. The application or taking into account of soft law rules by Courts has led to divergent positions among jurisdictions. All the above issues will be analysed and debated by a panel of experts from the regulators, academia and private practice.
Session / Workshop Chair(s)
| Philippe Dupont | Arendt & Medernach, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg; Co-Chair, Banking & Financial Law Committee |
| Elaine Long | Matheson, Dublin, Ireland; Vice Chair, Banking Regulation Subcommittee |
Speakers
| Luigi L De Ghenghi | Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, New York, New York, USA |
| Klaus Löber | European Securities Markets Authority, Paris, France; Strategy Officer, Forum for Government and Public Lawyers |
| Professor Linda Nielsen | University of Copenhagen Faculty of Law, Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Kjersti T Trobraten | Advokatfirmaet Wiersholm AS, Oslo, Norway |