Global Regulatory Forum 2022 – Session 2: the Global Sustainable Finance Agenda

Richard Barber

Member

International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)

Richard Barker was appointed as a full-time member of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) in June 2022, effective 8 July 2022. Before joining the ISSB, he served as deputy dean and professor of accounting at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, UK. In this capacity, he led Oxford Saïd’s sustainable business initiatives. He has published a wide range of academic research papers on accounting and sustainability disclosures. He has chaired the expert panel of Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) and served as a member of several committees and bodies focused on corporate reporting in the UK and Europe, including the UK Corporate Reporting Council (UK accounting standard-setter), the Financial Reporting Advisory Board and the European Accounting Association’s Accounting Standards Committee. Professor Barker served as a research fellow at the International Accounting Standards Board from 2001 to 2007. He has a Bachelor’s degree in history and economics from University of Oxford and a PhD from University of Cambridge, UK.

Michael Duignan

Executive Director

Securities and Futures Commission

Mr Michael Duignan is a member of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). He is also an Executive Director responsible for the Corporate Finance Division. The Division supervises the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in the performance of its listing regulatory function. It handles initial public offering (IPO) transactions and post-IPO market activities conducted by listed companies, as well as overseas takeover transactions including the administration of the Codes on Takeovers and Share Buy-backs. Mr Duignan has extensive experience in financial regulation. He joined the SFC in 2014 in the Corporate Finance Division before moving to the Enforcement Division as Senior Director of its Market Misconduct Team. Prior to joining the SFC, he was Director of Securities and Markets Supervision at the Malta Financial Services Authority. Before that, he was Head of Market Supervision at the Irish Stock Exchange, after working at the UK Financial Services Authority.

Vassiliki Lazarakou

Chair

Hellenic Capital Market Commission

Vassiliki Lazarakou is the Chair of the HCMC and member of ESMA’s Board of Supervisors. On 16/12/2020, Vassiliki Lazarakou was elected member of ESMA’s Management Board for the time period from 1/1/2021-30/6/2023. She has been elected, by the Boards of the three ESAs (ESMA, EBA & EIOPA), as chair of the ESAs Joint Committee Securitisation Committee.She is a lawyer, admitted to both Athens Bar (Supreme Court Lawyer) and New York Bar, USA. She is an expert in capital markets, banking and finance law as well as in M&As and has led a large number of international and domestic business transactions. She has a Doctorate in Law (JSD) from New York University School of Law, New York, U.S.A. and her Doctoral thesis was on “Greek privatizations in International Perspective”. She was a Α’ Vice-Chair of the HCMC from September 2012 until the end of December 2015. During her term, she achieved the political agreement for the adoption of the Regulation and Directive on “Markets in Financial Instruments” (MiFID II/ MIFIR) as Chair of the relevant Council’s Working Group in 2014. She continued working on MIFID II / MIFIR regulatory framework, by chairing, until May 2016, the Ministry of Finance’s Committee in Greece for the transposition of MiFID II into Greek law. She also chaired the Council Working Group for the draft Regulation on European Long Term Investment Funds (ELTIFs) and managed to achieve the Council’s general approach for aforementioned Regulation in June 2014. She was a Head partner of several law firms in Greece (including, L&L Law Firm and KLC Law before her appointment as Chair of the HCMC) while, she was working from 1996 until 2012 (before her appointment with the HCMC as Vice Chair) as a lawyer of Zepos & Yannopoulos Law Firm, one of the most prominent Greek law firms and member of Lex Mundi, being also for many years Senior Partner and Head of the Capital Markets, Banking and Finance Group of as well as co – Head of the Real Estate Group of such Firm. In 2000 and for one year she worked at the legal department of the Athens Stock Exchange. She also has an LLM in International Legal Studies from New York University School of Law and Bachelor in Law from the Athens University, School of Law.Vassiliki Lazarakou has participated in a large number of Seminars by teaching several capital markets and banking issues (indicatively, corporate governance issues of financial institutions, MIFID II/ MIFIR, AML, etc.). She is the author of several articles in newspapers relating to capital markets issues (such as, implementation of MiFID II issues, SMEs, ELTIFs, Power Market in Greece, etc.) and co-author of several legal publications (on issues such as takeover bids, listed entities’ obligations, etc.).