Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense? 

During my time at a previous insurer, I developed a financial product matrix using an Excel spreadsheet to be used by various departments in the business to understand the laws and regulations which applied to each specific financial product within the industry and whether they were a retail or wholesale product within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 and regulations. Due to the complex nature of the products, it was only sometimes easily discernible which category the product fell into. The product matrix not only equipped the relevant business units with the necessary knowledge to fulfil their roles but also significantly minimised the number of repetitive queries the legal team received relating to the same subject matter. This development of the spreadsheet did not come at a considerable expense (the costs were limited to the hours spent developing the tool, which were minimal).   

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?  

As an in-house financial services lawyer, some of the most significant transactions my team has been involved in in Australia and New Zealand have been supporting the business during tenders for new opportunities (to partner with large multinationals to distribute retail insurance products). While I cannot specify the entities, I can say that one was a large airline and the other a primary telecommunications provider. 

What is a cause, business related or otherwise, that you care about, and why  

I have always had a particular interest in the environment, human rights, and corporate social responsibility and how corporations and businesses can play an active role in enhancing the status quo relating to these matters as they play a pivotal role in society and can have significant influence.  

Today, corporate social responsibility is better known as ESG (environment, social, governance), an all-encompassing and multi-faceted term covering everything from climate change social and employment practices to general adherence to local and international laws.  

I have recently been fortunate enough to align my skills in financial services and my interests in the ESG space by taking on the role of senior legal counsel – ESG with the QBE Insurance Group in Sydney.