What You Need to Know About the IFA Legal Symposium
The IFA Legal Symposium 2025, a biennial event, collects the best minds in the international law industry. Many of our previous keynote speakers can be found leading large European law firms and Fortune 500 corporations today. Although we like to mix things up, there is a consistent focus on what is going on with the law and the practice of law.
Attending will help you stay engaged for your own purposes. Whether that purpose is to get ideas for your practice or to network with your existing network, you will have the chance to do both.
From the start, one of the main goals of the symposium was to provide a place for lawyers to speak in an informal setting about ideas that they might simply take for granted. The other goal was to bring together the global legal community. There are few events of this type , and when they do happen, they are often cliquish. The IFA Legal Symposium brings people from all over to speak at a level that is universally understood.
Over the years, the conversation has stayed cutting edge. Speakers are chosen for their big picture thinking and ability to cover several areas of law. We are not just talking about legalese or issues that affect only one small niche group. The aim of the symposium is to give participants a chance to learn the information they need to stay ahead in the industry.
IFA Legal Symposium 2025 is designed to give you great networking opportunities. Everyone there will be hand-picked, and you will be able to make connections that can last a lifetime. You can also gain visibility with leaders in your field.
Main Topics for 2025
On the docket for discussion in 2025 are topics central to the future of the transfer pricing landscape. The impacts of OECD and EU regulatory activity stimulate ongoing discussions in playshops and workshop sessions, such as the Impacts of Pillar Two: The Global Minimum Tax on Transfer Pricing, Advanced Pricing Agreements and Audit Strategies post-Pillar Two (Workshop B) and Recent European and US Developments That Could Impact Pillar Two (Playshop C). The symposium will also provide users varying perspectives on the latest developments in the secondary adjustment debate (Playshop A).
With the CbCR compliance burden continuing to expand, Germanys implementation of its Form 01 style CbC compliance model through its revised trade and corporate tax return, and the future of digital disclosures and how to standardize them among tax jurisdictions up for debate, your key transfer pricing management personnel have much to gain from this years playshops and workshop sessions addressing Data Consolidation for CbCR (Playshop D), the Digitalization of CbCR: Future Perspectives (Playshop B), and Digital Services Turnover Tax: Scope and Compliance Challenges (Workshop A). In addition, a focus on sharing strengths from IBFD and finance and legal professionals, and exploring how to sustain an increasingly business centric compliance-focused approach in a competitive landscape, should prove fruitful in future operational practices.
Prominent Speakers and Discussions
Notable speakers and panels for its 2025 symposium include Mark Schneider, executive director of the Institute for Corporate Governance. Mark will be handling the In-House Counsel Roundtable, including a truly impressive group of corporate counsel. The panel will focus on best practices for mini-tender offers and alternatives to them. As a bonus, Mark will also be giving us a current update on proxy access.
Jennifer S. Owings, a past IFA Chairman, and Erin Sandel, an outstanding anti-trust lawyer, will be doing a hot topic panel on marketing agreements, outlining the most common arrangements and when they run afoul of anti-trust law, and how to avoid those pitfalls. They will also discuss how supplier agreements are helpful in complying with FTC guidelines for marketing agreements.
Also on the anti-trust front will be Janet Fritsch, who heads an antitrust practice group at Fasken Martineau, one of Canada’s largest law firms, based in Toronto. Janet will be updating attendees on the current status of Canadian anti-trust law as it pertains to franchising and distribution.
Our international panel will include Thierry Briel, the legal counsel for 8,700 Dickey’s Barbecue Pit locations in China, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Last year, we saw the publication of the updated CFA Code. The Code is an important ethical statement that will have a continuing impact on the Franchise Industry for the foreseeable future. Stephen Marcus (a previous National Franchisee Association and International Franchise Association president) will be moderating a panel on the Code through the lens of multi-unit operators. He has lined up truly first class multi-unit franchisees from two well-known international restaurant brands.
Connections and Networking
The symposium is an ideal platform for legal professionals to engage in networking opportunities that transcend the ordinary. From product launches and invite-only previews to panel discussions and interactive workshops, the event is an opportunity for legal and compliance professionals to connect with their peers and counterparts from across the globe. One of the most significant networking opportunities at IFA 2025 will be the event’s many panel discussions on the legal issues facing financial institutions. IFA 2025 will bring together various perspectives on major issues, giving participants insight into what their counterparts are experiencing worldwide and how their competitors are responding . This knowledge can prove invaluable to legal professionals trying to keep up with their competitors’ actions. In addition to participating in the symposium’s panel discussions, attendees may benefit from making their own industry connections. Attendees can use the event’s website to work on identifying and contacting speakers and respondents even before arriving at the symposium. Some of the best connections may be found while on site. Springtime in Washington, D.C., coincides with cherry blossom season for the Washington National Cherry Blossom Festival, which means the sights and sounds of spring in D.C. can make a captivating backdrop for conversations among event attendees.
How to Attend IFA Legal Symposium 2025
The IFA Legal Symposium 2025 is slated to take place February 9-11, 2025, at the Boston Marriott Copley Square in Boston, Massachusetts. With its prime location in one of the most vibrant and historical cities in the United States, the symposium promises to be not only a meeting of innovative legal minds but a unique networking opportunity with other industry professionals from around the world.
Registration is now open at the International Franchise Association’s website (www.franchise.org), along with a back-end member login and member directory for other tools and educational resources. Details about the 2025 event, including travel, transportation, general tips and other logistics are also available on the IFA’s website.
The Effect on Tomorrow’s Legal Landscape
The dialog and outcomes of the IFA Legal Symposium are expected to have an enduring impact on future legal practices, particularly in matters related to international tax law compliance within a franchise system. Factors such as the enforcement of compliance with new indirect tax regimes in an increasing number of countries, and the imposition of penalties for "non-compliance" within this context, continue to rise. These can add significant tax costs to the franchise corporate/legal department; in addition to fines or even legal actions for failing to accrue and process indirect taxes in accordance with local legislation.
While legislative changes happen rapidly, the nature of these rapidly evolving tax codes tend to be to harmonise as opposed to the traditional model of implementation of complex tax codes which require the use of third-party experts to remain compliant. The result is that an increasing number of the larger jurisdictions around the world are moving towards a standard norm , which continues to evolve but is far more static and predictable than it has been in the past. The meaning of compliance also becomes apparent when we factor in "nationability". While tests for nationability have long been common even based on "jurisdictional nexus", it is the notion that just because you have nexus does not make your business "locally" compliant.
The anticipated outcome of the IFA Legal Symposium therefore is a mixture of the writers observations and initiatives that will impact the Franchise Tax System and how corporations may implement and manage this new framework. The IFA has already announced they are looking at hosting additional global sessions in 2023.