The Financial Services Lawyers Association (FSLA) provides a forum for the open exchange of views and the dissemination of knowledge and ideas relating to financial services law and regulation. It creates opportunities for financial services lawyers, students and those training for a legal career to meet each other at a variety of educational and social events which take place throughout the year. The aim of FSLA is to foster co-operation between the various financial services stakeholders including lawyers and policy experts in industry, academia, regulators and government.

We are delighted to announce that the 2023 FSLA Essay Competition is now open. As you may know, we run this competition on an annual basis to give students, trainees and pupil barristers the opportunity to look in detail at a financial services topic which might be outside of their usual studies, with the aim of fostering interest in financial services law as a potential career choice. This year, the essay title is: "Can the risks and opportunities of AI in financial services be managed by fine-tuning existing regulation, or is a new approach required?"

The details of the competition, rules, and prizes are here. The deadline is midnight on 6 October 2023. The first prize (the Chris Stallard Memorial Prize) is £1,500 plus a legal internship at the FCA. A second prize of £750, and third prize of £500 are also available. Prizes will be presented at a FSLA social event (likely in December).

The winners will be decided by an illustrious panel (TBC), chaired by Professor Eva Lomnicka of King's College, London. Previous panellists have included Upper Tribunal Judge Tim Herrington, and Sir William Blair KC.