RiskWatch

Randy Bullard, partner in Morrison Foerster’s Corporate Department and Latin America Desk co-chair, joins the RiskWatch podcast to discuss ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investing in Latin America. This conversation covers:

00:46 - 01:49 Randy’s work at Morrison Foerster

01:50 - 02:46 Green energy observations

02:47 - 05:16 Overlooked markets and points of entry for investors

05:17 - 06:41 Due diligence’s role in Randy’s work

06:42 - 07:58 Compliance and reputational risks for ESG investors

07:59 - 09:02 The COVID-19 Pandemic’s impact on ESG awareness

09:03 - 11:19 Investor concerns surrounding sustainability-linked and green bonds

11:20 - 12:57 Monitoring political and regulatory movement

12:58 - 14:39 Upcoming elections in Colombia, Chile and Brazil

14:40 - 15:48 Regional events to watch

15:59 - 17:16 Resumption of in-person deal making

17:17 - 19:00 Rising interest in ESG and sustainable investing

19:00 - 20:23 Morrison Foerster’s LATAM and ESG practices

In this episode of the podcast, we spoke with former US Ambassador Luis C.deBaca who is currently the Senior Fellow in Modern Slavery at Yale’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition. Prior to this, Ambassador C.deBaca coordinated the U.S. government’s activities in the global fight against modern slavery as head of the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons during the Obama Administration. We discussed the issue of modern slavery in corporate supply chains and the steps companies can take to combat and prevent it.
The show host is Alex Sorin, a Director at Vcheck Global.

Evan Abrams, an Associate at Steptoe LLP, came back on the show to discuss a new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to regulate connected vehicles linked to China and Russia. Evan advises clients on issues related to anti-money laundering and anti-corruption, and recently co-authored this blog post on the Steptoe website detailing the proposed regulation. Here is a link to Evan's bio if you’d like to get in touch.

Mike Blankenship came back on the show to discuss the IPO underwriting process, the role of due diligence and the state of the IPO market. Mike is a Managing Partner at the Houston office of Winston & Strawn and focuses his practice on corporate finance and securities law, including securities offerings, public company advisory, special purpose company offerings, among others. You can find a link to Mike's bio and contact information on the Winston & Strawn website here as well as a link to the Underwriting Process presentation that the firm published in May here.

The 38th International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is underway, and to highlight the event Vcheck Global’s RiskWatch podcast co-host Seth Harlan interviewed some of the featured speakers at this year's conference.
He asked each speaker about critical risk and compliance issues, including affects from the pandemic, the growing prominence of Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) compliance in the U.S., and the prevailing attitude toward the FCPA and other globally relevant Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption (ABAC) statutes.
Tune into this interview with Kimberly Parker, Partner with WilmerHale.