Biography
Caroline Ruellan is the founder and head of SONJ Conseil, an independent firm that supports economic players, French and international, in corporate governance, strategy and shareholder relations.
SONJ advises listed and private companies, family businesses, investment funds and shareholders to design tailor-made strategies for value creation, as part of governance and management assessments, board of directors and shareholder conflicts, activist vulnerability analyzes. At the heart of market considerations, SONJ provides its customers with a forward-looking perspective on regulatory developments and market trends.
Caroline Ruellan is also a member of ARDIAN France’s supervisory board, member of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers’ Consultative Commission on Retail Investors (AMF) and member of the Adam board.
Furthermore, she chairs and leads the Cercle des Administrateurs (CdA), an association of board members and executives sponsored by the INSEAD, The Wharton School and the Harvard Business School.
She is the author of « Droit commercial – Notions Générales » (Dalloz 2017, 17th ed.), of a monthly column in Forbes France, of numerous press articles (L’Agefi, Décideurs, Les Echos, Le Monde, Analyse financière) and legal doctrine articles.
She contributes to the public debate, taking part in parliamentary hearings (PACTE Law, Parliamentary Commission presided by Eric Woerth) and televised interviews (BFM Business). She regularly hosts debates and participates in various forums (L’Agefi, INSEAD, Kepler Chevreux…) and work groups (Haut Comité Juridique de la Place Financière de Paris, Paris Europlace, EY, Club des juristes), notably on the topics of activism, corporate governance and strategy.
Holder of a PhD in private law from University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas, graduate of Harvard Law School (Master of Laws), she began her career as a Law Professor in universities in Paris (University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas), Amiens (Université Jules Verne Picardie), as well at Ecole des Mines de Paris, while exercising her skills for the Adam on governance and minority shareholder protection matters.
She then joined AIG Group, worldwide leader on financial risk insurance. Appointed Regional Claims Specialist in Financial Lines for Europe, she provided counsel to directors, board members and issuers during legal liability or crisis management situations, before being appointed Head of Innovation and Leadership Development in Financial Lines for France.