Conference programme

Join us for our open business meeting of the IBA India Working Group, where all members and Officers of the Working Group are invited to learn more about the current and upcoming activities and developments.

The IBA Judges’ Forum has once again organised court tours for the IBA Annual Conference. Please note that places are limited. Delegates registered for the conference will be invited to sign up in person at the Conference Help Desk. Attendees are advised to show up 5 to 10 minutes before the start of the tour to make sure there are no delays.
 

Join us for our open forum business meeting where all members and Officers are invited to learn more about the current and upcoming activities and developments of the forum.

This panel will focus on the critical role that arbitral institutions play in shaping international arbitration. As technology evolves and user expectations shift, institutions are at the forefront of innovation-adapting procedures, launching new initiatives, and addressing emerging concerns. Join us for a forward-looking discussion on what’s next in institutional arbitration, the key developments practitioners should be aware of and the challenges that lie ahead.

Since its involvement with the BIC AI project in 2024 and the issuance of the IBA report, the BIC’s working group has been updating and expanding its findings and research. The Working Group report will be issued in 2026, with anticipated recommendations for further commentary to the IBA’s Principles of Conduct for the Profession, as well as guidance for bar associations in issuing their own statements or considering changes to their own ethics rules.

This session will explore how immigration systems are adapting to labour shortages by creating pathways for essential, lower-skilled, workers without degrees. It'll examine ethical recruitment, worker protections, and evolving definitions of 'skilled' labour in modern migration policy.

Aircraft financing is a key factor for the entire aviation sector: it enables the modernisation of airline fleets, sustainable growth and long-term compliance with environmental standards. This panel will analyse the latest developments and trends, at a time when the industry is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the most important convention for aircraft financing, whilst facing unprecedented challenges due to global conflicts and uncertainty.

A panel of recognised experts will discuss the hottest topics, including, among others:

• the Cape Town Convention turns 25: a success or an opportunity for reform?;
• the impact of escalating conflict on aircraft leasing, financing and insurance;
• the process of returning an aircraft to the lessor: key challenges; and
• lessons learnt: Russian leases.

How should we deal with defect notification requirements? Join us for this session where we will discuss.

Several bilateral and multilateral treaties have recently been (re)negotiated to enable access to natural resources, including the US/Ukraine Treaty and others involving Australia, China, and Japan. This panel will analyse how these treaties influence investment, geopolitics, and the global mining landscape.

In a period of extreme volatility across all dimensions, the environment for global dealmaking is as complex and fragmented as ever. Multiple external factors are influencing both the appetite for M&A transactions and their execution. Market participants must navigate a landscape in which transaction timelines, risk allocation and approval processes have become increasingly difficult to predict.

The discussion will examine how companies, investors and their advisers are adjusting their strategies, including shifts in cross-border activity and transaction structuring, approaches to purchase price mechanisms, and the overall impact on deal certainty. It will also address the challenges private equity faces in the current environment and diverging dealmaking conditions across regions, as well as highlight opportunities emerging from these dynamics and how they are shaping M&A activity in 2026.

Tariffs and the realignment of international trade (dis)agreements at the government level have caused multinational companies to rethink their manufacturing and supply chain structures. This panel will discuss the tax issues that arise as companies enter new markets and reorganise trade patterns, distribution networks and manufacturing operations.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions can be significantly affected by sanction regimes, and liabilities resulting thereof, especially criminal liability. The focus should not just be put on acquiring a company that may be exposed to liabilities resulting from existing breaches of sanctions, but rather when the execution of the transaction itself could constitute a breach of sanctions. In said situations, considering the limitations sanction regimes/criminal law pose is a key aspect to set up the right structure for the transaction as well as for adopting the necessary measures to exclude/mitigate said exposure.

For example, sanction regimes prevent putting assets and/or economic profits at the disposal of certain targeted individuals and the breach of said obligations may entail criminal liabilities. What happens if a sanctioned individual holds, through an affiliated-non-sanctioned-entity, a stake in a multinational company that is looking to be acquired? Can said stake be acquired? Under which circumstances and what measures should be adopted? If said stake is not finally acquired, should the new shareholder establish any kind of mechanism to prevent the payment of dividends up the ladder and into the non-sanctioned affiliated entity?

When considering the answers to these questions, and the decisions that will need to be adopted by the company’s internal bodies, it may be advisable to keep the explanations simple and direct, in case they need to be shared at some point in time with the authorities or even a judge in the criminal jurisdiction. In-house counsels that have faced these kinds of situations acknowledge the multiple challenges resulting thereof, which may be summarised as the encounter of two worlds: M&A and criminal law.

This session will explore alternative approaches to resolving disputes before they reach the bench, focusing on the roles of judges and counsel in mediation, facilitation and negotiation. It will examine how these processes can complement formal litigation and contribute to more efficient and effective dispute resolution.

Discussion of trends current at the time of the Copenhagen conference that affect capital markets.

As workforces become increasingly global, diverse and digitally enabled, traditional compensation and benefits models are being challenged. This session will explore how organisations across industries are rethinking global reward strategies to remain competitive, compliant and aligned with evolving employee expectations.
 
The panel will examine key trends shaping the future of benefits and rewards, including pay transparency, flexible and personalised benefits, ESG and sustainability considerations, the impact of remote and cross border work, and the growing use of data and technology in reward design. Particular attention will be given to the legal, regulatory and industrial relations implications of implementing global or regional reward frameworks.
 
Drawing on practical experiences and comparative perspectives, the session will provide insights into how employers can balance global consistency with local requirements, manage cost and risk, and support attraction, retention and engagement in a rapidly changing labour market.

This session will explore the key factors and strategies needed to increase the representation of women in top leadership positions within law firms. Industry leaders will share insights on the structural, cultural and strategic changes required to achieve true gender parity at the highest levels of decision-making. Join us for an open discussion with managing partners from global firms on what it really takes to make leadership more inclusive.

This very dynamic and well-attended session enables you to select from a menu of hot topics in the Intellectual Property (IP), communications, media and technology sectors and participate in roundtable discussions.

Topics of current interest are selected to stimulate a lively debate. Moderators on each table introduce the table topic, and the participants do the rest. Background knowledge or experience within areas for discussion is not required. Our menu will include hot and 'late breaking' topics in the areas of intellectual property law, internet law and mobile technologies, privacy and data protection, technology contracting and dispute resolution, arts law, media and space law.

Discussion is usually around the interface of law, business, technology and culture, with a global focus. Many topics for discussion are often the subject of considerable public and media interest. In participating in the table topics you will gain a deeper insight into these areas and be able to add your own comments.

The format is interactive networking. The session will provide you with a great opportunity to meet many other lawyers and to discuss topics of mutual interest with them: don't forget your business cards, ecards and contact details to share. We welcome new participants in these discussions.

Our hot topics session is designed to be interactive - the opposite of a ‘talking heads’ format. We will host a series of table where we discuss ‘late breaking’ topics in the areas of international commerce, trade, franchising, and product law. The format is interactive and topics are selected to be of current interest and likely to stimulate discussion and debate. Moderators at each table introduce and briefly discuss the table topic and then participants weigh in with their views.

You will have the opportunity to discuss three topics. We have scheduled turnover times when the participants change tables to move to the next topic of their choice. By participating in the table discussions, you gain a greater insight into these areas and the other participants and table moderators benefit from your comments.

This session will provide you with a great opportunity to meet many other lawyers and discuss topics of mutual interest with them. Many times at our previous sessions, participants have met lawyers from other countries who they kept in touch with for years to come. Each year our table moderators have commented that they ‘learnt as much or more’ from the table participants as they themselves conveyed.

This session will look into a wide range of issues faced by children around the world, eg, war, tracking, grooming, child marriage, slavery, abduction, forcible transfers, FGM and whether the international system is responding appropriately to the needs to the child.