You are cordially invited to attend the virtual annual Kaplan Lecture, delivered by Sir William Blair.

Lecture (Hong Kong time): 6:00PM - 7:15PM 

Registration fees: Complimentary but the following fees apply for CPD applications:

• HK$100 (HKIAC Users Council)
• HK$200 (Non-member)

CPD points pending approval.

Sir William (Bill) Blair is a former Judge of London's Commercial Court whose expertise is in commercial and financial law and dispute resolution. He is considered a leading international expert in the law of banking and finance.

Professor of Financial Law and Ethics at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, he served as a High Court Judge in England and Wales for nearly ten years, and was Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court from 2016. He helped to establish the specialist Financial List, and the Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts. He was the first President of the Board of Appeal of the European Supervisory Authorities until 2019.

In 2017, Sir William rejoined 3 Verulam Buildings as an Associate Member, having previously practised from these chambers as a commercial QC before appointment to the bench.

Sir William sits as an arbitrator and has had LCIA, HKIAC, ICC and ICSID appointments as Chair, sole arbitrator and party-appointed arbitrator. He is a member of the LCIA and is listed on the Panel of Arbitrators of the Beijing Arbitration Commission (BAC), the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA), the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and HKIAC's Panel of Arbitrators and Panel of Arbitrators for Financial Services Disputes. The section for Sir William's arbitration experience is below.

He gives consultative and independent advice, expert evidence on English law, and is a CEDR qualified mediator.

In 2018, he was appointed Chair of the Bank of England's Enforcement Decision Making Committee (EDMC).

In 2018, he was appointed to the International Commercial Expert Committee of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China.

He has served on missions for the World Bank, the IMF, and the Asian Development Bank.

His current research interests include monetary law, fintech, financial crime and financial inclusion. He has an interest in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and chairs the Law and Ethics in Finance Project, an informal group concerned with raising standards in the financial sector.