Corporate and M&A Law Committee

About the Committee

Corporate law is central to every modern economy, whether developed or developing.

Internationalisation and globalisation of economic activity make corporate law and mergers and acquisitions issues central to the practice of business law.

The Corporate and M&A Law Committee aspires to be the leading global forum for the education, exchange of know-how and networking of corporate, corporate compliance, private equity and M&A practitioners around the world.

The Committee pursue our goals through three main initiatives:

• The organisation of regular (annual or bi-annual) M&A specialist conferences around the globe.
• The online publication of country-by-country legal guides on important corporate and M&A related topics.
• The offering of a comprehensive programme of interactive panels and events during the IBA Annual Conference, with educational sessions aimed at more junior fellow attorneys, highly sophisticated panels for the more seasoned professional and a committee dinner that regularly draws over 200 M&A practitioners from around the world.

The Committee presents sessions at IBA Annual Conferences on methods of delivering legal education, including skills training and electronic presentation. It also presents programming on other issues of great importance to law schools, such as accreditation, job placement of graduates and the role of law schools in continuing the professional development of their graduates. In addition, the committee organises law book donations to law faculties in developing countries and contributes to the IBA developing bar conferences when appropriate. The committee publishes a newsletter annually.

Committee podcasts

Podcast: Brazilian private equity

How is private equity navigating the current market, with its high inflation and interest rates and with risk aversion being a dominant force in so many markets around the globe? To find out and to assess the situation in Brazil in particular, Camila Goldberg, Secretary of the IBA Corporate Membership Subcommittee, interviewed Rodrigo Boscolo, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer at GP Investments, an alternative investment firm established in 1993.

Forthcoming conferences and webinars View All Conferences

9th Annual Corporate Governance Conference

04 Dec - 05 Dec 2024

Frankfurt , Germany

Merger control in the Middle East and North Africa

15 Jan 2025 1200 - 1300 GMT

Webinar

13th IBA European Corporate and Private M&A Conference

06 Feb - 07 Feb 2025

Paris , France

IBA 6th Silicon Hills Conference – the Tech Epicentre of Texas: from Start-Up to Exit

12 Feb - 14 Feb 2025

Austin , USA

Mergers and acquisitions in India: a key engine to the USD 30 trillion goal

03 Apr - 04 Apr 2025

Mumbai , India

22nd Annual International Mergers & Acquisitions Conference

04 Jun - 05 Jun 2025

New York , USA

Subcommittees and other groups

The Corporate and M&A Law Committee also coordinates the activities of the following subcommittees/working groups.

• Corporate and M&A Law Committee Advisory Board
• Corporate Governance and Activism Subcommittee

  The Corporate Governance Subcommittee of the Corporate and M&A Law Committee is responsible for reviewing corporate governance issues and trends and encourages and promotes knowledge-sharing among its members, through publications and participation in conferences.

• Corporate Membership Subcommittee

  The Current Legal Developments Subcommittee (CLD) of the Corporate and M&A Law Committee provides updates and analysis on legal developments to practitioners and other parties interested in international corporate and M&A law. The focus is on current trends and anticipated changes in the law affecting corporate and M&A practice.

• Private Equity Subcommittee

  The Private Equity Subcommittee (PE) of the Corporate and M&A Law Committee provides updates and analysis on legal developments to practitioners and other parties interested in international private equity law.

Projects and reports

Takeover Guide 2023

This latest edition of our guide on takeovers aims at presenting an overview of takeover rules in 20 countries, divided by jurisdiction. In some jurisdictions, there have been substantial changes in recent years as a result of the influence of prominent authorities, as well as regulatory action, in order to preserve a delicate balance between the interests of various stakeholders.

Foreign direct investment guide 2022

The Corporate and M&A Law Committee has produced a new guide covering the highly relevant topic of foreign investment control across 29 countries. This guide is intended to offer practitioners easy access to the relevant applicable rules, answering, in a consistent fashion across jurisdictions, the most frequently raised questions in relation to foreign direct investment (FDI) rules relevant to M&A transactions. To further facilitate research work, each national report includes an alphabetical index of the key relevant topics. The guide is up-to-date as of mid-2022.

Minority shareholder rights guide 2022

The Corporate and M&A Law Committee has prepared a minority shareholder rights guide with chapters for over 20 countries around the world. This guide is intended as a high-level, practical guide for practitioners who are looking for an introduction to the laws of each relevant jurisdiction relating to the rights of, and protections for, minority shareholders. The guides include a summary of those rights and the percentage threshold at which the various protections become available. The guide has been updated for 2022.

Corporate and M&A Law/Corporate Counsel Forum: Directors’ Duties Checklist

The Directors' Duties Checklist is a joint project of the Corporate and M&A Law Committee and the Corporate Counsel Forum.

The checklist provides a practical perspective on the duties of directors imposed by jurisdictions around the world and includes an overview of the applicable statutory and regulatory regime in each jurisdiction.

IBA Corporate and M&A Law Committee Legal Due Diligence Guidelines

The IBA Corporate & M&A Law Committee, with contributions from a significant number of IBA Committees across various areas of practice, has published a set of guidelines for conducting legal due diligence investigations in the context of M&A transactions.

The objective of these guidelines is to provide useful information on topics that are relevant in M&A legal due diligence, as well as practical guidance for conducting well-organised due diligence processes. In this regard, these Guidelines are intended to serve as an overview and baseline to legal practitioners around the world, promoting a broader comprehension of what would be expected by clients and, therefore, helping to improve the quality of due diligence investigations.

Financial assistance guides 2022

The Corporate and M&A Law Committee has updated its financial assistance guide with chapters for more than 35 countries around the world. This guide is intended as a high-level, practical guide for practitioners who are looking for an introduction to the laws of each relevant jurisdiction relating to financial assistance when purchasing shares.

Negotiated M&A guides 2022

The Corporate and M&A Law Committee has updated its negotiated M&A guide with chapters from more than 40 countries. The negotiated M&A guides deal with negotiated acquisitions of private companies and are aimed at providing a general overview of acquisition structure options and the essential provisions contained in a standard acquisition agreement in each jurisdiction. The material is intended as a high-level, practical guide for practitioners and others who are looking for an introduction to the laws of each relevant jurisdiction relating to negotiated acquisitions.

Join us on LinkedIn

If you are a member of the Corporate and M&A Law Committee, for additional networking opportunities, programs, interviews with fellow members and tips all exclusive to members, join our LinkedIn page at: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12836252/.