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Event information

Date: Wed 29 Nov 2023 Time: 1.30pm-7.00pm Venue: The Widder Hotel, Rennweg 7, 8001 Zürich, Switzerland

The GC Summit Switzerland is tailored to address the specific challenges and opportunities faced by in-house legal teams, covering a spectrum of legal, regulatory, and strategic matters. Against the stunning backdrop of Switzerland, the GC Summit will foster dynamic discussions and collaborative networking, making it a pivotal event for legal professionals in the corporate sphere. At the heart of the GC Summit Switzerland are cutting-edge debates on critical legal trends, corporate governance, risk management, and compliance strategies. Esteemed GCs will converge to share their expertise throughout the panels.

Themes will encompass the evolution of legal technology, navigating intricate global regulations, maximizing the impact of legal departments on overall business strategies, and promoting ethics and sustainability within corporate environments. The summit’s emphasis on practical insights ensures that attendees depart with actionable knowledge to bolster their roles as strategic advisors within their respective organizations. Beyond the informative sessions, the GC Summit Switzerland offers a unique opportunity for professionals to establish connections within an exclusive community of peers.

The event encourages candid discussions, idea exchange, and collaborations, enabling participants to glean insights from diverse perspectives. This unparalleled networking atmosphere, combined with the picturesque Swiss setting, creates an ambiance conducive to fostering lasting relationships and partnerships. As the legal landscape continues to evolve in complexity, the GC Summit Switzerland remains an essential platform for in-house legal leaders to equip themselves with the tools and strategies necessary to navigate the challenges of tomorrow.

Agenda

1.30pm – 2.00pm Registration & Lunch

2.00pm – 2.10pm Opening remarks

  • Margherita Birri, research editor, The Legal 500

2.10pm – 3.00pm Navigating Joint Ventures – Benefits and Pitfalls.

In the realm of business collaboration, joint ventures (JVs) epitomise a legal framework where multiple entities combine their resources, expertise, and liabilities to pursue a mutually agreed business objective. This approach enables the parties involved to mitigate risks and achieve shared objectives while maintaining a separate legal entity. Typically, joint ventures are formalised through contractual agreements that outline the rights, responsibilities, and financial arrangements of the involved parties. These agreements cover aspects such as governance structure, capital contributions, profit and loss distribution, decision-making processes, transfer of shares and dispute-resolution mechanisms. Crafting a comprehensive agreement that aligns with the venture’s objectives is crucial for legal clarity and compliance. However, Joint ventures come with challenges, notably the potential for conflicts and disagreements among partners due to differing organisational cultures, conflicting interests, varied management styles, and insufficient long-term commitments. Proactive mediation and conflict resolution mechanisms are vital to address these concerns and maintain a successful partnership. The objective of this panel is to delve into the complexities of joint ventures, fostering a deeper understanding of how they can effectively drive business endeavors.

  • Oliver Künzler, partner, Wenger Plattner
  • Nicolas Burgener, secretary general & chief governance officer, executive committee member, AUDEMARS PIGUET
  • Federico Piccaluga, general counsel, Duferco Group
  • Natascia Rubinic, senior vice president, chief counsel M&A, ABB

3.00pm – 3.50pm Carve-out transactions

In an increasingly complex M&A environment, carve-out transactions have become an attractive option [not only for financial but also strategic investors]. Given that carve-outs tend to be more challenging than an acquisition of stand-alone businesses, the panel will discuss the key structuring considerations as well as practical and legal issues that must be overcome. The panel will also focus on the planning, due diligence and documentation of carve-out transactions, and touch upon selected issues regarding effective integration

  • Daniel Raun, Partner, Advestra
  • Ingrid Sollerer, general counsel and global head legal, executive committee member, Sandoz
  • Beda Kaufmann, Partner, Advestra
  • Daniel Burkhard, legal counsel M&A, ABB

3.50pm – 4.05pm Coffee Break

4.05pm – 4.55pm ESG and (Internal) Investigations – recent trends and what to expect

This panel discusses latest developments and future trends of (internal) investigations, with a particular focus on the new ESG-legislation. The new disclosure and due diligence rules require corporates to increasingly scrutinize their internal processes and their supply chain. This will necessarily bring to light facts that may need to be further investigated. Our two panelists, both legal experts and industry thought leaders, will shed light on the challenges of ESG-linked investigations. They will examine recent cases, enforcement actions, and regulatory shifts that are impacting Swiss corporates and provide answers on how to best tackle the challenges that lie ahead.

  • Simone Nadelhofer, Partner, LALIVE
  • Daniel Lucien Bühr, Partner, LALIVE
  • Christina Börner, head of legal and compliance, head of legal EMEA, Aon, Enterprise Clients
  • Philippe Huber, senior vice president, group general counsel & chief compliance officer, SIG Group AG

4.55pm – 5.50pm Algorithmic Fairness

Ensuring fair treatment is the underlying objective of current legislative projects dealing with artificial intelligence (AI). There is a broad consensus that companies developing, marketing or using AI systems need to embed fairness in their AI governance. Fairness includes avoiding bias, balancing interests, and meeting legitimate expectations in a transparent manner. However, defining the contours of fairness as a legal concept is not easy. Is it a process or a desired outcome? From what perspective should fairness be assessed? Does it require human intervention, or should humans rather be kept out of the loop? How can trade-offs with other objectives, such as accuracy or efficiency, be managed? The workshop aims to provide a set of tools that will help to address algorithmic fairness as a legal requirement in organizations.

  • Michael Isler, partner, Walder Wyss
  • Richard Magnan, general counsel ‑ chief information officer ‑ chief of cybersecurity, Rising Tide
  • Elisabeth Bechtold, head of AI, Zurich Insurance Group

5.50pm – 6.00pm Closing remarks

  • Margherita Birri, research editor, The Legal 500

6.00pm -7.00pm Drinks and canapés

Speakers

Simone Nadelhofer, Partner, LALIVE

Simone Nadelhofer joined LALIVE in 2009 and is a partner in the Zurich office litigation team. She specialises in complex domestic and cross-border proceedings and investigations, including fraud and white-collar crime, asset recovery, international mutual assistance in criminal and tax matters and international sanctions. She advises clients on crisis management, compliance and remedial action and is regularly retained by corporate clients to lead large-scale domestic or multijurisdictional internal investigations. She also advises clients on conducting investigations into harassment allegations (#MeToo), business and human rights and ESG-related disputes.
Simone Nadelhofer is ranked among the 100 Women in Investigations 2021 worldwide by Global Investigations Review. She is Anti-Corruption Committee Liaison Officer of the IBA’s Business Crime Committee, Past Chair of the Anti-corruption and the Rule of Law Committee at the Inter Pacific Bar Association (IPBA) and a member of the advisory board of the Master Economic Crime Investigations studies at the Lucerne University. In January 2021 she was elected to the pool of presidents of the arbitration court of the Swiss Bar Association and the Swiss Notaries Association. Simone Nadelhofer is a member of several professional associations, including the Advisory Board for the project of the Swiss National Scientific Fund “Assessing the nature and impact of transnational corruption through the lens of Swiss Businesses,” the ACi ISO Subcommittee for the new ISO standard on internal investigations, the Swiss Association of Experts in Economic Crime Investigation, the Zurich and Swiss Bar Association and the European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA). Simone is a regular speaker at conferences and publishes in her areas expertise. She recently co-authored the leading Swiss book on internal investigations published in 2022.
Before joining LALIVE, Simone Nadelhofer practised in Zurich as an attorney with renowned law firms, as a foreign attorney with an international law firm in New Delhi, India (2002-2003) and as legal counsel with a major Swiss bank (2001-2002).
Simone Nadelhofer holds a PhD., summa cum laude, from the University of Lucerne, for which she was awarded the Professor Walter Hug prize and the Universitätsverein Lucerne prize in 2008. She also holds a Master of Advanced Studies in Economic Crime Investigation from Lucerne Business School (MAS ECI, 2007). She trained with a major law firm in Zurich (2001-2002) and graduated from the University of Freiburg in 1999 (lic. iur., bilingual, summa cum laude). She was a lecturer on Criminal Law at Lucerne University.

Michael Isler, partner, Walder Wyss

Michael Isler is a partner and member of the management board at Walder Wyss active in the firm’s technology and intellectual property group. He regularly advises in complex outsourcing, technology transfer and platform projects from the conceptual and negotiation phase to dispute settlement. He further enjoys a broad experience in copyright, trademark and patent law. A particular focus of his work is dedicated to the life sciences and health sector, where artificial intelligence plays a crucial role. Michael Isler regularly publishes and lectures in his practice areas and takes an active role in several professional organizations.

Daniel Raun, Partner, Advestra

Prior to joining Advestra, Daniel was a partner at a leading Swiss law firm. Daniel’s work focuses on advising private and public companies on acquisitions and disposals, investments, joint ventures, spin-offs and other carve-out transactions and other M&A transactions. He further advises on capital market transactions, corporate and securities laws, including corporate governance.

Ingrid Sollerer, general counsel and global head legal, executive committee member, Sandoz

Ingrid Sollerer has been Group General Counsel at Sandoz since February 2019 and is a member of the Sandoz Executive Committee. She is responsible for all aspects of legal affairs across the company.
Ingrid joined Novartis in Austria in 1998, followed by seven years in the Novartis Group M&A and Antitrust teams in Basel. She joined Sandoz in 2007, heading Legal for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and taking on global legal responsibility for for anti-infectives, oncology injectables, and biopharmaceuticals. In 2016 she joined Novartis Oncology in the US as Global Head Legal Oncology Strategy and Business Development, and Cell & Gene.
Ingrid holds a PhD in Law from Leopold-Franzens University in Innsbruck, Austria, during which she spent a year on an Erasmus exchange at the University of Seville, Spain. She has additionally completed courses in Finance from the Harvard Business School and in Healthcare Systems from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Since 2019, Ingrid has been a Board Member of Medicines for Europe. She also chairs the Board of Stiftung Menschen für Menschen Karlheinz Böhm Äthiopienhilfe, an organization providing aid for self-development in Ethiopia. In her free time Ingrid enjoys opera, running, skiing and sailing.

Beda Kaufmann, Partner, Advestra

Prior to joining Advestra, Beda was an associate at a leading Swiss law firm, including a secondment to a magic circle firm in London, and an in-house legal counsel at a Swiss payment services provider. Clients retain Beda for his advice on international and domestic private M&A transactions, investments and joint ventures in various industries, including asset deals. Beda also frequently advises financial sponsors on all types of transactions.

Daniel Burkhard, legal counsel M&A, ABB

Daniel Burkhard has been a legal counsel M&A at ABB Ltd since 2018. He is a member of the M&A legal team which manages the execution of all acquisitions and divestitures in ABB on behalf of the business areas or the group. Prior to ABB, he spent many years in private practice and subsequently worked as a legal counsel in the capital markets finance team of a major reinsurance company. Daniel is a Swiss qualified lawyer and has obtained legal degrees from the University of Zurich (lic. iur.) and King’s College London (LL.M.).

Oliver Künzler, partner, Wenger Plattner

Oliver Künzler is a partner in the practice group Corporate and Commercial. He deals primarily with international and national M&A transactions, restructurings and reorganisations, private equity and venture capital transactions and financings. He also advises shareholders and companies on all aspects of contract, commercial and corporate law.
He further specialises in advising small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly with respect to business succession and structuring.
Oliver Künzler regularly publishes and speaks on topics of contract, commercial and corporate law. He is active in several national and international professional organisations and serves as an expert on business succession.

Nicolas Burgener, secretary general & chief governance officer, executive committee member, AUDEMARS PIGUET

Nicolas Burgener graduated from the University of Fribourg in 1999 and completed his studies in Tuebingen. He was admitted to the Geneva Bar in 2002. He is also a Certified Tax Expert. Before joining Audemars Piguet in 2006, he worked for one of the Big Five and a major law firm in Geneva. After an assignment in the US as Head of Legal for the Americas in 2009 and 2010, he became Group Chief Legal Officer and Secretary to the Board. Over those 13 years he managed the Group Legal Affairs Department, he developed cross-practice competencies and in-depth knowledge of relevant fields and issues, allowing him to anticipate issues and exposures internationally. His main areas of focus included mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate law, competition law, intellectual property, sponsoring and distribution. He is a recipient of many in-house awards.
On January 1, 2023, he took up a new role and was appointed to the position of Secretary General & Chief Governance Officer. He also sits on a number of Board of Directors.

Federico Piccaluga, general counsel, Duferco Group

Federico Piccaluga is the General Counsel of Duferco Group and a qualified lawyer with international in-house experience, in particular in energy law.
He is also in charge of Duferco Group Sustainability activities. In 2019 he has been appointed Non-Executive Board Member of Wesii, an Italian start-up operating worldwide, that provides cutting-edge multispectral inspection services in the energy sector.
Federico is graduated in Law from University of Genoa, where from 2001 to 2004 he has been Assistant to Professor of Civil Law. He is a member of the Swiss Bar Association.
Federico is a Founding Member and Vice-President of Swiss Energy Law Association (SELA). He also actively participates in different organizations including the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), in which he holds the role of Country Representative for Switzerland.

Christina Börner, head of legal and compliance, head of legal EMEA, Aon, Enterprise Clients

Dr. Christina Börner is a Swiss-qualified lawyer and the Head of Legal & Compliance of Aon Switzerland and the Head of Legal EMEA Enterprise Clients. She has more than 20 years of experience in Corporate / Commercial law and ESG in the banking and insurance industry. Christina holds a PhD from the University of Zurich, was a visiting scholar at Berkeley Law (University of California at Berkeley) and is a lecturer at the University of Zurich and at ETH/SFIT.

Daniel Lucien Bühr, Partner, LALIVE

Daniel Lucien Bühr joined LALIVE in 2011 and is based in the Zurich office. His main areas of practice are regulatory and banking law and white-collar crime and compliance,  focusing on investigations, litigation, ESG reporting and control governance . He also manages complex cross-border legal and compliance projects and monitors corporate compliance remediation projects. Daniel L. Bühr is a founding member of the International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators (IAFCL) and a member of the European Board of the International Association of Independent Corporate Monitors (IAICM). Daniel L. Bühr is also a member of the Swiss Association for Standardization and a member of the Expert Committees on Compliance management systems and on Governance of organizations of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Before joining LALIVE, Daniel L. Bühr was Regional Counsel for a Swiss multinational, responsible for all legal matters in Europe, Russia, the Near East and Africa (2006-2011).

Natascia Rubinic, senior vice president, chief counsel M&A, ABB

Natascia Rubinic has been with the ABB Group since 1998 and held several roles in ABB Switzerland Ltd and ABB Equity Ventures, a division of ABB Financial Services Ltd. Since 2007 she has had worldwide responsibility for all legal aspects of the M&A activities of the ABB Group, including joint ventures, venture capital/tech investments and corporate restructurings. Most recently in her role, she has overseen the divestiture of the global Power Grids business of the ABB Group to a joint venture with Hitachi, Ltd. She holds a Masters degree from the University Paris V,  Paris, France and a LLM from Boston University, Boston, Mass. USA. Before joining ABB, she was an associate with the Paris law firm, Thomas & Associés.

Richard Magnan, general counsel ‑ chief information officer ‑ chief of cybersecurity, Rising Tide

Richard (Rick) Magnan is General Counsel, Chief Information Officer, and Chief of Cybersecurity for Rising Tide, Switzerland. He is a computer scientist and lawyer with experience in private industry, government, and international organizations. He teaches data privacy law, cyber security, technology law, artificial intelligence, and block chain at the University of Fribourg Law School, Switzerland.

Philippe Huber, senior vice president, group general counsel & chief compliance officer, SIG Group AG

Philippe Huber is leading the global legal and compliance function at SIG Group AG (SIX: SIGN).  He has extensive experience in corporate, compliance, risk and ESG matters.  Prior to joining SIG, Philippe was the Corporate Secretary, Senior Associate General Counsel and Head of Corporate Governance at Transocean (NYSE: RIG).  Before his in-house career, he spent many years in private practice with a leading Swiss law firm.  Philippe is a Swiss qualified lawyer and holds law degrees from the University of Oxford (MJur) and the University of Zurich (lic.iur.).

Elisabeth Bechtold, head of AI, Zurich Insurance Group

Lisa serves in Group Technology & Operations, Data & Business Intelligence, and is globally responsible for the governance and oversight of Zurich’s artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. As Head of AI Governance, she is driving the implementation of AI and data governance standards and processes in line with international regulations, best practices, strategic and risk management considerations at the intersection of responsible AI and privacy.
Lisa joined Zurich in 2009 and held various positions in the corporate legal department (Corporate Finance, M&A, Corporate Governance), also focusing on policy strategy and digital governance. In 2019, she was appointed Head of Digital Risk Governance & Policy in Group Risk Management, responsible for a broad spectrum of data and technology risks, before moving to Group Technology & Operations as Global Lead AI Assurance & Data Governance in 2021. In 2023, she assumed Group-wide responsibility for the high-quality and responsible use of AI.
Prior to joining Zurich, Lisa worked as an attorney-at-law with both in a boutique law firm in Germany and an international corporate law firm in New York.
Lisa obtained a law degree and a Ph.D. in international law from the University of Cologne, Germany, an LL.M. degree from the University of California at Berkeley (U.S. Business Law) and completed an executive education program at MIT Sloan School of Management (Artificial Intelligence in Business Strategy).

Margherita Birri, research editor, The Legal 500

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