Climate change and sustainability are the defining issues of this decade. The commercial and reputational costs of “getting ESG wrong” are high, but as companies have learned to address ESG requirements in a coordinated way, ESG claimants have also coordinated their approach, and the range of defendants, subjects of disputes and claimants continue to diversify.

In the lead up to COP28 and in the UAE’s “Year of Sustainability”, this session will delve into the vast array of potential sustainability disputes, including climate change litigation, energy transition, investor-state matters, as well as increased consumer and regulatory scrutiny arising from allegations of “greenwashing”.

AML/CFT and sanctions regulations are instrumental in preventing, detecting, and combating money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption, and other crime. The 2009 financial crisis unearthed a myriad of problematic activity and regulatory gaps, which led to a significant increase in government regulation for banks and other financial institutions. 2009 was also (perhaps not coincidentally) the year that Bitcoin, the first decentralised cryptocurrency, made its debut. The increased regulatory environment for traditional banks coupled with the rapid growth of non-traditional (and largely unregulated) digital currencies over the past decade have created the perfect storm for an ever-growing and more elusive corridor of illicit funds, terrorist financing, and money-laundering.

So what does today’s regulatory environment hold for global and regional banks and corporates? How are government regulators enforcing their laws in a globalised, high-tech world? How should businesses address these threats and minimise risk in today’s world? Our panel of speakers will cover these questions from the very different perspectives of regulators, traditional banking institutions, and digital currency providers.