Conference programme

This session, popularly known as the M&A café, is dedicated to international M&A lawyers looking to hone their craft and meet new M&A contacts from around the world. It will involve 10 roundtables and five topics, with moderators knowledgeable on each topic guiding the conversation at the table. Unlike panel discussions, the format is highly interactive and conducive to engaging in meaningful conversation, sharing the experiences of peers and exchanging contacts, with or without coffee. Every 30 minutes, participants will rotate to another table, providing the opportunity to discuss two topics of interest, meet at least 30 new M&A lawyers from around the world and build their network.

Table topics:

1. Evolution of the due diligence exercise
2. Current trends in FDI and merger control in cross-border M&A
3. Impact of AI on dealmaking
4. How is geopolitics shaping the M&A market?
5. Current trends in private equity transactions

This session will examine how activist investors increasingly shape shareholder litigation and corporate governance. Panellists will explore the strategies activists use to influence legal action, challenge management decisions and drive governance reforms. The discussion will also address key ethical and regulatory considerations – such as transparency, alignment of shareholder interests and litigation financing – along with the resulting market and corporate impacts. Attendees will gain practical insight into the evolving role of activism in high-stakes litigation and its implications for global legal practice.

A discussion regarding the state of international law, norms and institutions under the stress of a world shifting towards multi-polarity and great power rivalry.

Inspired by the words of former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Rosalie Abella at the opening of the IBA Annual Conference in Toronto, this session will consider how lawyers and the law can be used as tools of authoritarianism and how justice must inform and infuse the rule of law.

A look at the weaponisation of the legal process against perceived political opponents in various jurisdictions and the implications for the rise of populism and the rule of law.