Every two years, Baker & McKenzie associates across the Asia Pacific region gather with client representatives from major banking institutions for an intensive six-day learning program conducted by leading Baker & McKenzie partners, university lecturers and industry players.
The program, known as the "Asia Pacific Banking & Finance School," now lies at the heart of professional and client service development for our Banking & Finance lawyers. The program was originally developed to be the core training curriculum for our junior lawyers, and which would be supplemented throughout their careers by other robust professional development programs at the local, regional and global levels. The purpose was and still remains to lay the technical foundations for all banking and finance transactions and enhance our junior associates’ knowledge of the market and commercial factors behind debt finance transactions.
However, in 2007, recognizing the training needs of our banking clients for their junior in-house legal and business staff, we decided to open the school to a number of clients, believing that having a mix of law firm and in-house lawyers would enhance the experience and learnings on both sides as well as foster ties between peers. This dual commercial and technical approach to training continues today and, in the 2009 session in Hong Kong, we welcomed over 20 client participants including our friends from Standard Chartered Bank, SMBC, Credit Suisse, CITIC Ka Wah and ANZ.
"Through the Banking & Finance School we were not only able to gain a better understanding of our clients’ organization, needs and operations, we were also able share valuable learning experiences with each other based on our different working perspectives," says Carmen Chan, an associate of the Hong Kong office and participant at the 2009 School. "From exchange of knowledge and experience in interactive workshops to casual chats at dinners, my fellow associates and I had an excellent opportunity to renew acquaintances and meet new faces. These friendships have continued to grow and my colleagues and I regularly meet with clients we met through the School on a social basis. This kind of friendship enriches the chemistry we enjoy with our clients."
Kieu Truong, an associate of the Melbourne office who also attended the 2009 School says, "A number of clients who attended the school commented to me on the uniqueness of the learning experience and how useful the content was to their professional roles. For me, one of the greatest benefits was how much I learned from clients in terms of their perspective on the legal issues in a transaction and the core issues for their business."