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: Indian M&A

From being global in a true sense, to witnessing the emergence of protectionist regimes around the world, organisations today are more focused on exploring domestic consolidation, the diversification of supply chains and acquiring/ramping up their digital capabilities, all while responding to macro-economic challenges. This represents a paradigm shift for the global M&A landscape.

In this podcast, Naveen Raju, General Counsel & Executive Vice President – Group Legal Services at Indian automotive manufacturing corporation Mahindra and Mahindra, speaks to Rabindra Jhunjhunwala, Membership Officer of the IBA Corporate and M&A Law Committee and a partner at Khaitan & Co’s Mumbai office. They discuss the multiple hats worn by general counsel and the more active roles they must play in helping their organisation become ready for the future, given the reshaped landscape for M&A.

Forthcoming conferences and webinars View All Conferences

Asia Pacific Mergers & Acquisitions Conference

10 Jul - 11 Jul 2023

Tokyo , Japan

The crossroads of international finance and securities transactions: New trends and financing bottlenecks

14 Sep - 15 Sep 2023

Rio de Janeiro , Brazil

IBA Private Equity Transactions Symposium 2023

28 Sep 2023

London , England

Young Lawyers Private Equity Forum

29 Sep 2023

London , England

8th Annual Corporate Governance Conference

07 Dec - 08 Dec 2023

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

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.

Float guides 2017

The Corporate and M&A Law Committee and the Securities Law Committee have prepared a guide to floats with chapters from more than 30 countries. The Float Guides describe the process in each jurisdiction for an initial public offering by a company, and explain the steps involved and set out a typical timetable. 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 floats.

Role of Board of Directors Facing Strategic Transactions 2016

This guide by the Corporate Governance Subcommittee of the Corporate and M&A Law Committee outlines on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis the role of the board of directors in strategic transactions. In many cases, there are no legal/mandatory obligations or duties that are borne by board members (exceptions include the US). However, soft law is developing rapidly and more recommendations are being put forward to entice boards to take a more proactive role when facing strategic transactions.