Dive into the latest episode of The Aquest Podcast, Autumn-Winter 2025 Season, Episode 2: "Love Languages of a Financial Regulator"! 🎙️ Join co-hosts Daniel Lawlor and Dáire Lawlor as they adopt their "agony aunt personas" to tackle frequently asked questions about engaging with financial regulators. This episode explores effective strategies for firms to build relationships of mutual trust and benefit with regulators, offering invaluable insights and practical tips. Key takeaways from this episode include: •Understanding how to foster effective communication and trust with financial regulators. •Practical advice on organising engagements to ensure they are as effective as possible. •Essential tips for firms seeking authorisation, emphasising clarity, honesty, and thorough preparation. Whether you're navigating regulatory complexities or seeking to optimize your firm's interactions, this episode provides a unique perspective on achieving a harmonious relationship with your financial regulator. Don't miss out on expert guidance that can help you avoid common pitfalls and enhance your regulatory engagements. Listen now and gain a deeper understanding of the "love languages" that resonate with financial regulators!

The Aquest Podcast is back for a new season! We are excited to launch the first episode of our Autumn/Winter 2025 season, titled "I'm a Funds Lawyer... Get Me Out of Here!" This season, we're introducing a new format. Join hosts Danny Lawlor and Dáire Lawlor as they take on the role of industry "agony aunts," tackling the pressing questions and challenges faced by professionals in the funds industry. In this episode, we explore: · How to start and build a successful career in the funds industry. · Navigating career progression and the convergence of tech and finance. · Practical advice on managing stress and avoiding burnout. Whether you're just starting or are a seasoned professional, this conversation offers valuable insights and honest perspectives on life in the funds industry. Listen to the full episode on your favourite podcast platform.

I'm joined by Bernadette Nulty, VP International Financial Services at IDA Ireland, for this episode of The Aquest Podcast.

I was interested to learn about the types of financial services firms which are exploring the possibility of establish a presence in Ireland at the moment and the trends that IDA Ireland is seeing. I also wanted to understand the key factors that cause firms to choose Ireland and the ways in which IDA Ireland can support these firms on their journey.

Bernadette and I discuss the continued support that IDA Ireland provides to inward-investing firms that set-up in Ireland and the areas of focus that are attracting their attention as they seek to grow and thrive here. Needless to say, AI, R&D and training are high on the list!

Many thanks to Bernadette for sharing her knowledge and insight.

Enjoy!

The topic for this episode of The Aquest Podcast is a little more out of left field – I’m joined by Shannon Eastman to chat about ‘Nervous System Intelligence’. This is a new concept that explores and tries to explain the impact of long-term exposure to stress on the body and mind and our conversation focuses particularly on busy professionals and their work environment. Nervous System Intelligence also identifies techniques to repair harm and help with much improved health and performance.

Shannon is fluent in both corporate growth and nervous system intelligence—blending business strategy, human behavior, and neurobiology. She’s spent a lifetime exploring: why do we do what we do, why is change so hard for some of us, easy for others, and what does it take to make it last?

Founder of The Nervous System Economy™, she partners with a multidisciplinary team to translate science into plain English—specifically for business. She educates, advises, and works directly with leaders to map nervous system intelligence to commercial outcomes.

Shannon hosts Who Turned The Lights On?, a podcast that hit 100K downloads in its first year, helping high-performing professionals lead, relate, and recover differently. And before her ventures into all things nervous system intelligence, Shannon worked in the financial services industry working with and for the funds industry, fintechs, crypto crime and digital assets.

NervousSystemEconomy.com > www.nervoussystemeconomy.com/resources LinkedIn > https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannoneastman/ Podcast > whoturnedthelightson.com Personal Website - shannoneastman.com

In Episode 3, I’m joined by Andrew Tzialli of Philip Lee LLP as we catch up on implementation of the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCAR) 6 months away from it coming fully into force. We discuss the levels of activity being seen and the potential for Ireland to position itself as the jurisdiction of choice for MiCA firms. We also chat about other developments in the digital assets/digitalisation space, with tokenisation of funds getting some attention. Enjoy!

In Episode 2, I’m joined by Declan Casey and Lauren Andersen of Irish Funds to chat about the EU Savings & Investments Union. We discuss the SIU’s predecessor, the Capital Markets Union, and consider what’s different this time around. We also chat about the EU Commission’s Targeted Consultation on Integration of EU Capital Markets which closes on 10 June 2025 with the Irish Funds team working on a consultation response as we speak. Enjoy! Link to the Commission’s consultation: https://finance.ec.europa.eu/regulation-and-supervision/consultations-0/targeted-consultation-integration-eu-capital-markets-2025_en

Welcome to the first episode of the Spring / Summer 2025 season of The Aquest Podcast. To kick things off, I’m joined by Sam Glynn who is a Security and Regulatory Compliance Advisor to Regulated Firms and Professional Services Providers. Our conversation begins with a catch up on DORA implementation and how the experience has been for regulated firms. We then discuss the potential cyber risks which third party service providers pose for regulated firms and how they go about managing and mitigating these. Our discussion concludes with a view from the service provider’s perspective and how they can go about demonstrating their cyber security and resilience through, for example, ISO 27001 certification. Enjoy.

For the last episode of the winter 2024 season, I’m delighted to be joined by Jennifer Geary. Jennifer hosts a new podcast called The C-Suite Framework and is author of a number of books including How to be a Chief Operating Officer.

Although critically important, the COO role is not much discussed, and the precise scope is often ill-defined. So, I was interested to chat with Jennifer about what it covers and what it doesn't, the habits of people who perform the COO role well and what tends to happen when things go wrong. We also discuss why CCO can be a thankless role that only gets attention when things don’t work as they should.

Many thanks to Jennifer for coming on the podcast and I hope you enjoy.