Book Launch and Panel on Company Directors, Corporate Law and Governance

On Wednesday 8 November 2023, the Corporate Law and Financial Regulation program of the Melbourne Centre for Commercial Law celebrated the launch of two books written by, or in honour of, Professor Ian Ramsay AO:

The books were launched by ASIC chair, Joseph Longo, which was followed by an expert panel discussion of key issues concerning company directors, corporate law and governance.

View the event recording

About the speakers

Joseph Longo commenced as ASIC Chair on 1 June 2021. He has over 38 years’ experience in corporate law, financial services, governance and regulation in Australia and overseas. Before becoming Chair of ASIC he was a senior adviser at Herbert Smith Freehills, specialising in regulatory matters and commercial law. He was general counsel for Deutsche Bank in London and Hong Kong for 17 years, advising on a range of regulatory issues, governance and non-financial risk. Earlier in his career he was a partner at Parker and Parker (now Herbert Smith Freehills). He was also previously the national director of enforcement at ASIC for five years, responsible for coordination of all ASIC enforcement and litigation activities. He holds a Bachelor of Jurisprudence (Hons) and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Western Australia and a Master of Laws from Yale Law School.

Ian Ramsay AO is Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Melbourne Law School. He has published extensively on corporate law, corporate governance and financial regulation issues both internationally and in Australia and has extensive experience as an expert consultant to government reviews and as a member of government advisory committees. Professor Ramsay is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. In 2023 Professor Ramsay was appointed as an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia. The appointment is for “distinguished service to the law, to regulatory bodies, to tertiary education, and to law reform”. In 2022 the Council of Australian Law Deans awarded Professor Ramsay the Australian Legal Research Awards Lifetime Achievement Medal. The Medal is awarded for “outstanding contributions to legal research” and “recognises individuals who have made a significant and enduring contribution to legal research”.

Catherine Walter AM has a distinguished career in service to the Australian community in the corporate, government and not for profit sectors. A practising solicitor for 20 years, a managing partner of the Melbourne office of Clayton Utz, a Commissioner for the City of Melbourne,  she has served on approximately 30 boards in the listed, unlisted, government and not for profit sectors in industries traversing finance, resources, consumer products, medical research, the arts and local government. She holds a bachelor of laws with first class honours, a master of laws and a master of business administration all from the University of Melbourne.

Diana Nicholson is a Senior Partner in the KWM Governance, and Mergers and Acquisitions, practice. Diana leads KWM's Financial Services Sector. Diana’s strong background in governance, securities laws and mergers and acquisitions means Australia’s leading corporations look to her to advise their boards on key strategic decisions and complex directors’ duties issues. She also has extensive experience advising across a broad range of governance matters in respect of Board disputes, general meetings and shareholder activism as well as remuneration reports, annual reporting obligations and termination benefits. Diana is a leading authority in relation to the Bank Executive Accountability Regime and is working with a range of institutions in relation to its successor, the Financial Accountability Regime. Diana has held a range of management positions with King & Wood Mallesons, from Partner in Charge of the Melbourne Office to Board member.  Diana is a member of the Takeovers Panel, and an Acting President, a trustee of Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust and a director of Care Australia. Diana is a member of Chief Executive Women.

Dr Andrew Godwin is acting General Counsel at the Australian Law Reform Commission, a Principal Fellow at Melbourne Law School, a member of the Corporate Law and Financial Regulation Research Program at the Melbourne Centre for Commercial Law and Honorary Associate Director (Commercial law) of the Asian Law Centre. He works and researches in the areas of financial regulation, financial services law, corporate and insolvency law, property law, and the regulation of the legal profession. Andrew is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and a member of the Advisory Board of the Asian Business Law Institute in Singapore.

Book launch chair

Professor Rosemary Langford is Harold Ford Professor of Commercial Law, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, where she is Director of Studies of the Commercial Law Masters and Associate Director, Corporate Law and Financial Regulation, Melbourne Centre for Commercial Law. Rosemary has published widely in the areas of corporate law and corporate governance, including Directors’ Duties: Principles and Application (Federation Press, 2014), Company Directors’ Duties and Conflicts of Interest (Oxford University Press, 2019) and Technology and Corporate Law (Edward Elgar, 2021). She is a member of the Corporations Committee and Not for Profit Law Committee of the Law Council of Australia and of the Law Committee of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, as well as editor of the directors’ duties section of the Company and Securities Law Journal.