Partner Matthew Bersani (Hong Kong-Capital Markets), Global Head of Shearman & Sterling’s Corporate Finance Group, spoke at a panel titled “What Every Securities Lawyer Needs to Know About Ethics” at Practising Law Institute’s Corporate & Securities Law seminar on May 19 in Hong Kong. Bersani and the other speakers discussed the recent developments addressing the following issues: 

• Which ethics rules apply to lawyers in global firms?
• Responsibility to prospective clients and “pre-deal” advice
• Managing conflicts of interest for global firms – best practices
• Communications with persons represented by counsel
• Duties of confidentiality and treatment of client information

The two-day seminar (May 18-19) brought together legal practitioners, including in-house counsel with a focus in the Asian, US and UK corporate and securities law areas, along with key government and other regulators and prominent investment bank professionals to offer timely, practical guidance on the most critical issues corporate and securities law practitioners encounter in Asia today.