Due diligence: Being a director on a regulated financial services board

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Please note this event is now booked out. If you wish to be added to the waiting list, please contact the Events Team. We will try our best to get you a place if space allows.

Overview

Key legal insights and duties for non-executive directors in financial services

Are you currently in or considering applying for a non-executive role in a financial service regulated entity? Are you aware of the additional duties and obligations this role entails? Book your place at this event to learn more. Taking place from 8:00am - 11:15am at The Spencer Hotel, Dublin 1, on Wednesday, 9th October 2024.

This event will provide the latest legal updates, including your obligations as a director and important considerations. We will discuss learnings from recent legal cases and feature a panel of non-executive directors who will share their advice and insights on their recent PCF application process.

Our guest speakers include:

Ronan Kennedy SC
Deirdre O’Reilly, Independent Non-Executive Director
Valerie Bowens, Independent Non-Executive Director
Niamh Sterling, Independent Non-Executive Director
David Dalton, Independent Non-Executive Director
Caroline Spillane, Chief Executive Officer, IoD Ireland
James Roche, Director, Public and Regulatory, Fieldfisher Ireland LLP
Dr Margaret Cullen, Governance Advisor, IoD Ireland.

This event is in partnership with Fieldfisher Ireland LLP.

Ronan Kennedy SC

Ronan is a Senior Counsel and member of the Law Library whose practice as a barrister comprises a mixture of civil, criminal and regulatory work. Ronan has very extensive experience in advising on and representing parties in fitness to practice and regulatory cases before various tribunals and the courts at all levels. He has been involved in many high profile cases over the years.

Deirdre O’Reilly Independent Non-Executive Director

Deirdre O’Reilly has over 25 years financial services sector experience in banking, capital markets and asset management. She has worked on several asset management sector independent non-executive director positions with international firms including London Stock Exchange Group plc, Legal & General Group plc and Macquarie Bank. Prior to this she worked in the Central Bank of Ireland for several years in the investment firms, funds and fund service provider supervisory teams and as a policy advisor to the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland. She also worked as a regulatory consultant for a professional advisory services firm. Deirdre is CBI approved and has been a Chair of boards and board committees and is FCA approved for a UK based global benchmark administrator. She is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland (FCA) having trained as a banking auditor with PwC. She is a Certified Investment Fund Director (CIFD) and a Licentiate of the Compliance Officers in Ireland (LCOI). She is a member of the Institute of Directors, a member of the Irish Fund Directors Association and a member of the Dublin committee for 100Women in Finance, an international body to promote gender equality in financial services.

Valerie Bowens Independent Non-Executive Director

Valerie Bowens is an Independent Non-Executive Director. She has served and serves on a range of boards over more than 10 years, including public sector, regulatory bodies, and regulated financial services firms. She has chaired a U.S. certification body, Audit and Risk Committees, and is also a member of a disciplinary tribunal and a conduct committee. Valerie has extensive senior management experience in the areas of Compliance, Risk, Governance and Regulation, with a career in the financial services industry spanning more than 30 years. She has held senior roles with a range of market participants, including Senior Regulator with the Central Bank of Ireland with responsibility for regulating a portfolio of fund service providers and investment firms, Director of Regulatory and Compliance in a leading law firm, Director of Compliance/Chief Compliance Officer and Central Bank PCF-approved roles with a range firms – from asset managers, administrators, depositary/custodian, banks and MiFID firms. Valerie is a member of the Irish Fund Directors Association, the Institute of Directors, Institute of Bankers and the Compliance Institute. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Master of Business Studies, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Financial Services Law, and, recently, an Advanced Diploma in Risk Management, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Sustainability for Compliance Professionals, all from UCD, as well as an Institute of Directors’ qualification.

Niamh Sterling Independent Non-Executive Director

Niamh co-founded Interact, Ireland’s leading FM company, and H2O Solutions, an advanced water management firm. Both companies were acquired by the multi-billion Euro company Bidvest in 2021. Additionally, Niamh served as a Board Member of the Tier 1 engineering firm LeoLynch, which was acquired by the US private equity house Cathexis in 2022. She is a Central Bank Approved PCF-2B Non-Executive Director. She is an INED for BVP - a multi-asset investment platform. Niamh is currently the Entrepreneur in Residence at Dogpatch Labs, where she works as part of the senior management team, leveraging her extensive executive and investment experience. Prior to her current role, Niamh spent over five years as a Senior Business Consultant for Furthr and Consulting Partner in Furthr VC.

David Dalton Independent Non-Executive Director

David Dalton is a board director and advisor focussed on Financial Services, Fintech and Digital Assets. He serves on the boards of HSBC Security Services Ireland and Rehab Group and is on the advisory board of a number of early-stage firms. Prior to retiring as a partner in Deloitte, he was Deloitte Ireland’s Chief Strategy Officer and member of Deloitte Irelands Executive Committee. He previously was the firm’s Financial Services Industry leader in Ireland. He has been the Global Investment Management consulting lead and also the North South Europe Investment Management sector leader. David co-leads the EMEA Grid Blockchain Lab which was set up in Dublin. David has over 30 years of strategy, innovation and transformation consulting experience. David’s professional experience is focussed on business strategy development, operating model design and large-scale transformation programmes. He has served as a member of the Irish Government’s Industry Advisory Council for International Financial Services.

Caroline Spillane CDir Chief Executive Officer, IoD Ireland

Caroline Spillane CDir is Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Directors Ireland. She commenced the role in July 2022. Caroline has held several senior leadership roles including most recently as Director General of Engineers Ireland, the all-Ireland professional body for engineers, CEO of the Medical Council of Ireland, the independent statutory regulator of over 25,000 medical practitioners and Assistant National Director of the Health Services Executive. Caroline is an experienced Non-Executive Director serving as a board member of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), ESB Networks and Irish Manufacturing Research. She is also a member of the Advisory Group to Balance for Better Business, an independent business-led Review Group established by the government to improve gender balance in senior leadership in Ireland. Caroline's qualifications include a BA from UCC and an MA from TUD. She is currently undertaking a Doctoral programme with SETU.

James Roche Director, Public and Regulatory, Fieldfisher Ireland LLP

James Roche is a Director in Fieldfisher Ireland's Public and Regulatory Department. James works with a range of regulators and public bodies, advising on all aspects of their statutory functions and powers. In addition, James has particular expertise in regulatory investigations in the financial services sector, advising individuals in relation to a range of Central Bank of Ireland investigations. James regularly appears before all courts, and a host of administrative and quasi-judicial bodies in relation to regulatory matters.

Dr. Margaret Cullen Governance Advisor, IoD Ireland

Dr Margaret Cullen holds a PhD in governance from University College Dublin (UCD). She is a specialist in the areas of corporate, bank and investment fund governance. Margaret is a governance adviser to the Institute of Directors (IoD) in Ireland, an experienced Board Assessor with IoD’s Board Evaluation Service and and member of IoD’s faculty for the delivery of customized governance education and workshops. Margaret is Programme Director of UCD Smurfit Executive Education’s Diploma in Corporate Governance. She lectures on the programme in the areas of governance paradigms and practice, role and responsibilities of the board, sustainability and stakeholder management, investor stewardship, behavioural aspects of boards and executive remuneration and incentives. Margaret is Academic Director for the Institute of Banking’s (IoB’s) Certified Bank Director Programme on an associate basis and lectures bank governance on the programme. She is a fellow of the IoB.

Fieldfisher is an international law firm with market leading practices in many of the world's most dynamic sectors. We are an exciting, forward-thinking organisation with key sector specialisms in energy and natural resources, technology, financial services, and life sciences. Among our clients, we count major energy suppliers, social media players, pharmaceutical, life sciences and medical devices companies, banks and technology leaders.

We have over 1,700 people spread across 23 locations, all providing highly commercial advice based on an in-depth understanding of our clients' needs. Our clients trust us with work that can have a huge impact on their business or organisation.

We are a law firm built around people with all their diversity and we strike a healthy balance between legal excellence and a down-to-earth practical approach to our clients' needs. Clients choose to work with us because we deliver commercial, pragmatic and innovative solutions through our legal expertise and experience, on time and on budget. Our collaborative approach across sectors allows us to offer clients not just a selection of subject matter experts, but also a cohesive and formidable team.

Our Dublin office is full service and specialises in the major practice areas of law, with a particular focus on regulation, including financial regulation. Visit the Fieldfisher Ireland LLP website.

Is this eligible for CPD?

Dimension Covered: Governance
Eligible Hours: 1 hour of CPD

This session may be eligible for other professional body CPD. Check with your relevant professional body.

How do I attend?

To reserve your space, click the ‘Book Now’ button. Once registered, we’ll send an email to confirm your booking with the option to add the event to your calendar.

The event will take place in The Spencer Hotel, International Financial Services Centre, Dublin 1.

Want to connect with fellow members?

Before the event, you will receive a list of the names and companies of all the attendees.

Take the opportunity to connect.

• Reach out via the IoD Members’ LinkedIn Group.
• Email the Events team we will make this happen on your behalf.

For GDPR reasons, we cannot provide contact details on the attendee list. Photography will also be taken at the event for marketing and promotional purposes. For further information, please contact the Communications team.

Questions?
Get in touch with Anna Hannigan, Events Manager, IoD Ireland.