Global Crosswinds, Stakeholderism and General Counsel

The Lex Mundi General Counsel Summit in Munich brought together senior in-house counsel from over 30 blue-chip companies around the world. Across two days we drilled down on market trends impacting companies and the legal advice they will need, in order to adapt to prevailing global crosswinds – namely, an economic slowdown, geopolitical conflicts, and the energy crisis.

Featuring findings from the most recent Lex Mundi General Counsel Summit, held in Munich, it explores fallout from global crosswinds, such as the global economic downturn, geopolitical conflicts, and the energy crisis. The subsequent report released today finds that the new paradigm of stakeholder governance is fundamentally transforming the GC role.

The report breaks down into three key areas of focus:

• GCs will need to get to grips with a perfect storm of negotiating lender KPIs and regulations that target carbon emissions against the backdrop of rising borrowing and energy costs.
• Across different stakeholder groups examined in the Report, some countervailing trends are surfacing, the exception being regulation which has become both more expansive and defined to include the ‘unwritten rule of law’.
• The combination of global crosswinds, stakeholderism and regulation are causing some GCs to sharpen their focus on bridging external and internal constituencies.

The Report concludes with advice for GCs on how to manage the evolving stakeholder agenda during current global crosswinds, and how to help their companies navigate a myriad of competing stakeholder demands.