Agenda: Corporate Counsel Forum Middle East 2019 (CCFME)

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM | Registration & Morning Networking

9:00 AM - 9:10 AM | Chair's Opening Remarks

Joanne Fischlin, Head of Corporate, External and Legal Affairs, Gulf, Microsoft

9:10 AM - 10:00 AM | Opening Keynote: Managing an Increasingly Turbulent Geopolitical Climate

Leading economist, former Chief Economist and Head of External Relations of the DIFC Dr Nasser Saidi will discuss the current global climate and its impact on the GCC over the past year, including recent developments in the USA, Europe and Asia and the outlook for 2019. Topics will include:

Geoecopol landscape and implications for the ME and GCC
Economic wars and implications for the GCC: what does General Counsel need to know?
Doing Business and the Investment Climate: Application of international laws, codes and standards into local markets
GCC transition, transformation & reforms, where are we? Where we heading?

Dr. Nasser Saidi, President, Nasser Saidi & Associates

10:00 AM - 10:35 AM | Understanding How the Tech Revolution will Improve Operational Efficiency and make your Team more Proficient

There has been an enormous amount of hype around AI and the tech revolution, but what can these new software’s and tools do in reality? What can technology do help manage costs and increase efficiency? What can technological developments do to help legal service delivery?

How technology is evolving the in-house team and the services law firms are providing and what role will blockchain have in this?
How can legal departments utilise technology?
Examining document management, productivity tools: What tools are available to increase production in in-house teams?

Francesca Gori, Managing Director, Geography Compliance, Operations, Regulatory & Ethics – EMEA, Accenture Legal Group
Dominik Engel, Regional Senior Legal and Integrity Counsel, ABB

10:35 AM - 11:00 AM | Networking & Refreshment Break

11:00 AM - 11:40 AM | The General Counsel's Role in Risk Management

The session will examine operational and strategic risk assessment that moves beyond the role of legal. As the role of the GC has expanded, so too has its role and relationship with managing company risk and legal interaction with various functions in the company. This panel aims to move the conversation forward on where should risk mitigation be allocated and who should accept liability. What should the lawyer’s role be? How should General Counsel and Chief Risk Officers work together?

Moderator: Yasser Abo Ismail, General Counsel and Compliance Officer, Middle East and North Africa, Schindler Group

Daniel Lima, Chief Risk Officer, HSBC
Salah Mostafa, Head of Legal Middle East & North Africa (MENA), Novartis

11:40 AM - 12:35 PM | Interactive Breakout Sessions

The conference will now go into interactive break out sessions. Please chose from one of the following:

A) Developing and Honing your Negotiation Skills

In this interactive workshop style session, examine the key techniques needed to be an effective and skilled negotiator including compromising, listening and expecting commitment.

Andrew Cooke, General Counsel, Flash Entertainment
Kiran Scarr, General Counsel, DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre)

B) Cloud Integration and Regulatory Framework

As the regulatory framework around technology and various tools and software’s being brought into companies becomes more structured, companies are increasingly being encouraged to integrate all data and information onto the cloud. But what does this mean for your information and your company? What are the benefits and potential risks of the cloud?

Nasser Ali Khasawneh, Co-Head Global TMT, UAE Managing Partner & Chairman Middle East, Eversheds Sutherland
Bapsy Dastur, General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer at Stolt-Nielsen
Hazar Alzaki, Head of Governmental Affairs, Microsoft Gulf

C) Understanding the Financial Aspects of your Business

In this informative session take away tangible and implementable content on understanding your company’s balance sheet, effective budgeting, how to form financial statements as well as reading accounts. All necessary skills need when managing not just legal, but the business as a whole.

Nabil Azar, Director, Legal and Company Secretary, RAKBANK

12:35 PM - 1:35 PM | Lunch & Networking

1:35 PM - 2:15 PM | Courts & Tribunals of the Future: How Tech will disrupt the Litigation Landscape

As technology continues to advance, new tools are developed and the legal process becomes more efficient – how will the courts arbitral tribunals be impacted? What does this mean for litigation and arbitration? What will the future courts look like?

This panel will examine:

Developments and trends in the arena of international dispute resolution
Impact of AI on the litigation landscape: How AI will handle due diligence, transactions and processing
What role will blockchain have in disrupting the litigation landscape?
Understanding the new solutions and tools available in litigation management

Amna Al Owais, Registrar of the DIFC Courts

Simon Bradford, Director, Microsoft MEA

2:15 PM - 3:00 PM | Interactive Breakout Sessions

The conference will now go into interactive break out sessions. Please choose from one of the following:

A) An update on Saudi Arabia
The Saudi landscape has changed in the past couple of years. The speakers will outline what the domestic political and foreign policy moves mean for you as General Counsel.

Laurent Hensby, Senior Vice President and Head of Legal - Enablement and Dispute Resolution, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)

Khalid AlAseeri, General Counsel, Qiddiya Investment Company

B) Managing your Work-Life Balance
We live in a time where everyone is busy, pressures and stress are higher than ever and people struggle to separate themselves from work. How can you prioritise, better manage your time and ensure you maintain a healthy work-life balance?

Marina Pascolo, Certified EQ Practitioner, MV Coaches

C) Cyber Security: Managing your Company's Reputation through an Attack

Cyber attacks have become the norm and companies need to understand how to react. In this interactive session delegates will share their own war stories, lessons learnt and strategies to manage a cyber crisis: Key topics include:

Creating alertness and mindfulness of cybercrime in your workforce
Strengthening your internal model to protect against a hack
Dealing with the aftermath and managing a crisis: what should be done to protect your company's reputation?
Who should be contracted and how can you mitigate the damage?

Charlie Daalder, General Counsel, GM Africa & Middle East Operations
Daniel Lima, Chief Risk Officer, HSBC

3:00 PM - 3:20 PM | Networking & Refreshment Break

3:20 PM - 4:00 PM | Mitigating Enforcement Action: Understanding Compliance with Local and International Laws

This session will examine the impact of local laws on your companies global mitigation efforts, especially where you are trying to comply with multiple local and international laws on bribery and corruption, economic crime and face multiple triggers for reporting, including possible investigation. What risks are involved and what are the requirements? Gain understanding of the changes in Corporate Governance and UAE's changing landscape, and when possible enforcement action could be taken.

Wafa Derouiche, director legal compliance - Europe, Middle-East & Africa, TE Connectivity

Mohamed el Roubi, general counsel, GardaWorld International Protective Services

Gregor Pannike, group lead of legal, Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group

4:00 PM - 4:30 PM | Balancing the Legal Service Providers: Processing your Legal Department

There has been a lot of discussion on developments in technology and the new solutions and software available to in-house, but with these new solutions comes alternative legal service providers. With all this choice, how do you know which provider is best and what will work for you? What does this increase in choice and the rise of the big four mean for the GCs relationship with the law firm?

Balancing budget vs getting the best service: knowing what to choose
Insourcing vs outsourcing
Operational efficiency and productivity: what legal services can do for your legal team

Moderator: John Malpas, Publishing Director, Legal Week
Bapsy Dastur, General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer, Stolt-Nielsen

Vanessa Abernethy, General Counsel, Emirates International Investment Company

4:30 PM - 4:40 PM | Chair's Closing Remarks & Conference Close