ACC EUROPE'S 17th Annual Conference

Sunday 30 May – Tuesday 1 June 2010, Intercontinental Hotel, Vienna, Austria

Programme Click here for printable version

Programme open to in-house counsel and by special arrangement compliance / ethics specialists, please refer to Delegate Registration for further information

Sunday 30 May
15.00Registration Opens
 
17.00Exhibits Open
 
17.00 - 19.00Welcome Reception
 
18.45 – 19.45Tasting of Austrian Wines with Weingut Pittnauer
 
19.30Registration Closes
 
Monday 31 May
07.30Registration Opens
 
07.30Exhibits Open
 
07.30 - 09.15Breakfast
 
09.30 - 11.00 101 – Opening Plenary - "Gouverner c’est prévoir" or the Art of Strategic Management: How Does Management See Our Role?

Moderator: David Bernick, Senior VP and General Counsel, Philip Morris International

Speakers: Michael Lucas, Group Head of Risk, Wolseley plc

Daniel Shook, Chief Financial Officer, Borealis AG

Dr Detlef Hass, Partner, Hogan Lovells


Dir. Dr. Hilmar Kroat-Reder, LL.M. OMV Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Sustainability (Corporate Office; Corporate Social Responsibility; Health Safety Security Environment; Corporate Legal Advisory)

Ideally an in-house counsel must search his/her radar screens constantly for the appearance of strategic risks that may threaten their companies’ business and or reputation. How do we take our eyes from our in-box and the possibly low risk daily legal service demands we are bombarded with, and spend more time identifying and mitigating the larger risks facing our companies? What is the lawyers’ role in strategic risk management? How do our senior management colleagues see our role and our performance? How is the role of the in-house counsel widening and integrating with that of other functions such as internal audit and integrity and compliance?
 
11.00 - 11.30Coffee Break
 
11.30 – 12.30 Concurrent Breakout Sessions
11.30 - 12.30 102 – Enterprise Risk Management, Integrated Assurance and the Role of In-House Counsel

Speakers: John Lowe, Qioptiq

Dominique Golsong, Goodyear

Jonas Deroo, Belgian Institute of Company Lawyers and De Post – La Poste


An introduction to risk management approaches such as ERM and integrated assurance. The nuts and bolts as well as a discussion on what these approaches mean to the in-house counsel and his/her relationship to Integrated Assurance, Risk Management and Compliance.
11.30 - 12.30 103 – The Counsel’s Role in the Global Ethics and Compliance Programme

Moderator: Sally March, Acting Head of Risk Advisory, BBC Worldwide

Speakers: Carolyn Herzog, Symantec

Enrique Aznar, Nokia Siemens Networks

Vivian Robinson QC, General Counsel, Serious Fraud Office

Dr Stefan Heissner, Ernst & Young


Companies often struggle with questions regarding the structure of their ethics and compliance programmes, such as:

  • Do structural elements undermine ethics and compliance in your company?
  • How to ensure everything is pulling in the same direction, partnering with other functions
  • Reporting lines, do they matter?
  • The role of the CCO vs. the GC in supporting the CEO and Senior Management in driving ethics and compliance
  • Personal liability for the CCO – recent German Case
  • Values based ethics – how to implement?

Exchange ideas on these and other perplexing issues with GCs from large and small companies and share their views and experiences.

11.30 - 12.30 104 – The Legal Risk Profile and Specific Challenges Facing Companies in Central and Eastern Europe

Speakers: Denise R Hamer, BAWAG P.S.K.

Jeffrey Mcghie, OJSC Vimpel-Communications

Peter F. Hoffmann, Partner, Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati


This session will explore the challenges and risks for in-house counsel in fast moving economies. It further focuses on the issues caused by political legacies and quick moving legal environments and answers if doing business in Central and Eastern European countries is a bigger challenge than doing business in Western Europe. Or are companies simply exposed to a different mix of perils? This session shall provide practical solutions to help you to operate in this region.
 
12.30 - 13.45Networking Buffet Lunch
 
14.00 – 15.00 Concurrent Breakout Sessions
14.00 - 15.00 105 - Mitigating Strategic Risks – Case Studies and Best Practices

Speakers: J.B. Simko, Philip Morris International

Grainne Brankin, Yahoo! SARL

Nick Holland, Partner, Field Fisher Waterhouse


Case studies will be presented that show how strategic risks have been identified and managed successfully in a preventative manner.
14.00 - 15.00 106 – Developing and Implementing an Integrity Management System for Your Company: a Challenge and an Opportunity

Speakers: Wolf Frenkel, BearingPoint

Dr. Alexander Neumann, Sorin Group

Tami Lyn Azorsky, Partner, McKenna Long Aldridge


The General Counsel is often asked to spearhead the development of an “integrity management” program for the company. Whether this takes the form of ethics and compliance or corporate responsibility there are certain simple principles that will help you know where to start and how to be successful if you are called upon to implement such a program. This session will provide practical, implementable suggestions that will allow you to lead this process confidently.
14.00 - 15.00 107 – Risks Associated with Litigation and Enforcement of Judgments in Central and Eastern Europe – Case Studies

Moderator: Dr. Annette Schueller, Tetra Laval International SA

Speakers: Yves Heijmans, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP

Christoph Liebscher, Partner, Litigation and Arbitration, Wolf Theiss

Patrick Deane, Nestle’s Group Legal Department and Chairman, International Mediation Institute


Some countries that have joined the EU have effective judiciaries, others do not. Can we generalize about litigation risks in Central and Eastern Europe? This panel will highlight differences within the region, addressing:

  • Litigation in local courts vs. arbitration
  • Validity and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards or judgments
  • Costs of duration of proceedings


 
15.00 - 15.30Coffee Break
 
15.30 – 17.00 Concurrent Workshops and Roundtable Sessions
15.30 - 17.00 501 – WORKSHOP – Managing Commercial Risk in Eastern Europe, including Russia.

Facilitator: Jeffrey Mcghie, OJSC Vimpel-Communications

Speaker: Cécile Angulo-Henry, Lagardère Active

15.30 - 17.00 502 – WORKSHOP – Effective Communications: Gaining Interest and Knowledge Retention on Complex Legal Issues

Facilitators: Carolyn Herzog, Symantec

Elaine Hutton, Legal Director, Institute of Practitioners in Advertising

John Lowe, Qioptiq


15.30 - 17.00 503 – ROUNDTABLE – How to Increase the Legal Department’s Efficiency: Do More with Less
Open only to in-house counsel

Moderators: Daniel Lucien Bühr, Schindler Management Ltd (Concept: Reduce the legal department's workload by empowering business to deal independently with standard points of law)

Sabine Brumme, BearingPoint (Concept: Increase efficiency through state of the art use of IT and online networking)

Daniel Schenck, IBM (Concept: Improve the legal department's organisation through outsourcing and rightsourcing ... and anything in between).


The participants in this session will have the opportunity to discuss all three concepts (three round tables will be arranged). The session will conclude with roundups by the moderators to the plenum and a joint discussion of essential topics.

 
19.15Depart for Gala Dinner
 
19.45 – 23.00Evening Gala Dinner at the Liechtenstein Museum
 
Tuesday 1 June
08.30Registration Opens
 
08.30Exhibits Open
 
08.30 - 09.15Breakfast
 
09.30 - 10.30 Concurrent Breakout Sessions
09.30 - 10.30 108 – Useful Tools for Legal Risk Management

Moderator: Dirk Tirez, Belgian Post

Speakers: Daniel Lucien Bühr, Schindler Management Ltd

Tony Wales, Interim Director of Legal Affairs, The British Standards Institution, London


Here is your chance to enhance your ability to be an effective in-house counsel in today’s corporate environment. A panel of experts will share with you practical tips to help and assess your legal and compliance risks, conduct employee training and help implement other controls to mitigate them. After this session, you will be a leader and understand your role as in-house counsel in being a gatekeeper and enabler.

  • Role of in-house counsel and legal risk in ERM and best practices in risk assessment techniques
  • How to improve legal risk identification and prioritization
  • Heighten employees ‘ awareness of key compliance issues, how to get more out of legal training that is generally poorly focused and offering a low return
  • Communicate risk exposure to Management and the Board: What they expect from in-house counsel
  • Focus on preventive efforts and assessment of your team’s legal crisis readiness
  • Practical tips to prioritize compliance activities


09.30 - 10.30 109 – Corruption Risks in Central and Eastern Europe

Speakers: Walter Soelle, Head of Siemens Regional Compliance Office Central and Eastern Europe

Dr. Franz Hofbauer, Member of Transparency International Austria’s Advisory Board

Dr. Maximilian Burger-Scheidlin, Executive Director ICC Austria, International Chamber of Commerce


This session will highlight and discuss the real issues facing companies who do business in Central and Eastern Europe while trying to comply with anti-corruption laws in their home country.

09.30 - 10.30 110 - Employment Law in Central and Eastern Europe

Speakers: Axel Viaene, Starbucks Coffee EMEA B.V.

Valeria Pavlukova, Anheuser-Busch InBev nv/sa

Hon.Prof. Georg Schima, Dr.Iur., Partner, Kunz Schima Wallentin


This session will focus on various employment law aspects in particular on restructuring, redundancy, works council and the involvement of governmental agencies in employment matters. Furthermore it will highlight the role of a Code of Conduct and the potential legal benefit.

 
10.30 - 11.00Coffee Break
 
11.00 – 12.30 Concurrent Workshop and Roundtable Sessions
11.00 – 12.30 504 - ROUNDTABLE- Masterclass in Leadership Skills for In-House Lawyers
Open only to in-house counsel and other risk management professionals.

Facilitators: Ruth Steinholtz, ACC Europe Board Vice-President

James Jackson, Philip Morris International


11.00 – 12.30 505 - WORKSHOP – Learning from a Crisis - How to Prepare and Sell an Ethics and Compliance Programme

Speaker: Paul Smith, Partner, Eversheds LLP

This session will look at lessons learned from various crises and specifically the true costs of compliance breaches. These lessons will be used to consider how to prepare a compliance programme, the various risk factors, establishing clear compliance measures and goals with focused KPIs, helping you to sell a compliance programme and obtain an increased budget. There will be an opportunity to work in teams to apply these lessons and put together your proposal.

11.00 – 12.30 506 - WORKSHOP – Conducting Corporate Investigations

Facilitators: Nicole Cambré, Chemviron Carbon, European Operation of Calgon Carbon

Benoit Taymans, Borealis AG

Stephen J. Hirschfeld, founding partner in the San Francisco office of Curiale Hirschfeld Kraemer LLP and founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Employment Law Alliance


This workshop will take you through the steps of an internal investigation starting with who should conduct the investigation and what is the role of the other stakeholders; maintaining professional privilege; employees' rights and employment procedures; are the US FCPA and EU Privacy laws compatible?; the minefield of collecting employee data and conducting e-mail searches in compliance with data protection and privacy rules; writing the report; discipline and other remedial measures.

 
12.30 – 13.45Networking Buffet Lunch
 
14.00 – 15.00 Concurrent Workshop and Roundtable Sessions
14.00 – 15.00 111 - Protecting IP rights in the Internet Age and the New Media

Speaker: Iohann LeFrapper, Alcatel-Lucent

Sally Shorthose, Bird & Bird LLP


There are no risk-proof businesses, and sometimes risks materialize and you need to ring-fence the effects and mitigate consequences on the company's reputation and protect the brand. Current technologies can spread news incredibly fast, and bad news spread even faster. Learn the strategies of effective risk mitigation. Familiarize yourself with the New Media possibilities. The internet is not the Far West with regard to IP. Neither brands nor contents should be unprotected in the digital world. Become aware of the various ways of protecting your content and your works, even while making them available for wider use: when and how you so decide, not otherwise.

14.00 – 15.00 112 – How to Thrive and Win in a Risky World

Speakers: Axel Viaene, Starbucks Coffee EMEA B.V.

Craig C. Thorburn, Partner, Blake, Cassels & Graydon

Orijit Das, Genpact


This session focuses on the business opportunities for in-house counsel to operate in a risky world. It explores ways and tools to use the strategic legal risk management as a competitive advantage and how your role and performance can be aligned to strategic risk. It further focuses on the opportunities of widening your role and to provide tailored legal services based on the specific risk profile to your senior management.
14.00 – 15.00 113 – Central and Eastern Europe: Risks associated with M&A Transactions

Speakers: Marco Kerschen, Polo Ralph Lauren Europe SARL

Bill Waite, Risk Advisory Group Plc


Most countries in Central and Eastern Europe have new legal frameworks for M & A transactions; many are untested. How do in-house counsels guide their companies in countries with very different political and legal traditions? In addition to the risk of the commercial "environment", this session will address:

  • Political risks in the region
  • The importance of local know-how and relationships
  • Bureaucratic hurdles
  • Role of agents and intermediaries
  • Due diligence
 
15.00 - 15.30Coffee Break
 
15.30 - 17.00 114 – Closing Plenary - The Role of the General Counsel: Evolution or Revolution? The transformation of the role of the chief legal officer in today’s global company.

Moderator: Gabe Shawn Varges, Finma

Speakers: Cheryl Solomon, Gucci Group Services Limited

Ruth Steinholtz, ACC Europe Vice President


  • Where are we going?
  • Are we prepared?
  • Will someone get there before we do?
 
17.00Conference Ends
 
ACC Europe wishes to thank the 2010 Annual Conference Advisory Board for their guidance in developing this program:
Ruth Steinholtz, - ACC Europe Vice President (Chair)
Daniel Lucien Bühr, Regional Counsel Europe, Schindler Management Ltd
Ulrich Eisenring, Senior Counsel, Amgen (Europe) GmbH
Gefion Hauer, General Counsel – Head N.V. Group
Marco Kerschen, Vice-President & Head of European Legal Division, Polo Ralph Lauren Europe SARL
Sally March, Acting Head of Risk Advisory, BBC Worldwide
Benoit Taymans, Legal Counsel, Borealis AG