“The best arguments in the world won’t change a person’s mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story.”
Whether it be a judge, a regulator or commercial counterparty, we inevitably deal with humanity on the other side. The best way to secure an advantage with the human ego is to tell a good story — not only one that is believable but one that is both persuasive and moving.
We must have visibility of both the trees and the forest.
Forest. The big picture tells us where we may find avenues for arbitrage; over-specialisation leads to tunnel vision and loses commercial value.
Trees. Legal and financial ecosystems are a complex web of various specialties intimately connected to each other. Failing to understand any one of their intricacies leads to action bearing unforeseen adverse consequence.
For this reason, we take pain to learn each field and to leverage the expertise of our better peers.
It is a gross mistake to imagine that the law – as it is – is in its ideal state and form; only an authoritarian dictator holds to such false belief.
It is therefore our moral conviction that higher beauty, truth and goodness not only justifies the search for regulatory arbitrage but demands that we actively seek it.