An expert in law and finance, Professor Jonathan Chan joined 不良研究所 Law on 1 August, 2024. He served as a lecturer (assistant professor) at University College London (UCL) from 2021 to 2024, and was previously a departmental lecturer at the University of Oxford. His research focuses on corporate law and securities regulation. He holds a Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Toronto and an MSc in Law & Finance and DPhil in Law from the University of Oxford. Prior to embarking in academia, he practiced in M&A and securities with a large law firm in Toronto.
How did you become interested in your field of research?
I distinctly remember thinking to myself, while working on a capital markets file at my former law firm in Toronto: why is this particular corporate governance rule, which has tremendous ripple effects in society, contained in the TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange) Company Manual, as opposed to legislation or some form of public regulation? My curiosity tends towards bigger picture 鈥渨hy?鈥� questions involving corporations and financial markets because of their profound impact on society and the economy. After learning that more structural, system-wide legal questions are usually non-billable in the law firm context, I decided to pursue further graduate studies in law and finance in the UK.
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What鈥檚 a legal question that currently fascinates you?
A legal question that I am currently working on is: how do delisting rules influence the number of companies that join stock exchanges via initial public offerings (IPOs) and leave or delist from them? This is a pressing question because of the decline in the number of publicly traded companies in North America and Europe, and the importance of reversing this trend for the economy and society (e.g., pensions). Securities regulators globally tend to focus more on listing rules (to attract IPOs) than the effects of their delisting rules, but I think that the latter may hold more promise as an under-explored policy lever to stimulate more companies going public.
To begin to answer our question, a co-author and I have created an index to measure the difficulty of delisting in more than a dozen jurisdictions around the world. This allows for comparison between regulatory regimes in some countries that readily facilitate delisting (e.g., Canada or the UK) versus others that effectively prohibit delisting (e.g., France or the Netherlands). In a follow-up paper, we are empirically investigating how the restrictiveness of a jurisdiction鈥檚 delisting regulation affects the number of companies that go public (IPO) and go private (delist) in the jurisdiction.
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Qu鈥檈st-ce qui vous a incit茅 脿 entreprendre une carri猫re universitaire?
C鈥檈st une histoire assez similaire 脿 la fa莽on dont je me suis int茅ress茅 脿 mon domaine de recherche, sauf pour le fait que j鈥檃i eu des mentors qui ont suivi le m锚me chemin et m鈥檕nt rassur茅 qu鈥檜ne carri猫re universitaire ne manquerait pas de stimulation intellectuelle. Apr猫s quelques ann茅es dans le milieu universitaire, je me sens tr猫s reconnaissant d鈥檃voir joint une profession qui me stimule constamment avec de nouvelles id茅es, qui me laisse partager la connaissance, et qui me permet de continuer d鈥檃pprendre des autres. 脌 mon avis, le travail d鈥檃vocat consiste 脿 cr茅er de l鈥檕rdre et de la clart茅 dans le droit afin de faciliter une activit茅 productive et des 茅changes qui enrichissent la soci茅t茅 qui nous entoure. 脢tre professeur est une carri猫re incroyable parce qu鈥檕n a la libert茅 de choisir 脿 quel domaine du droit on aimerait ajouter de la structure et de la clart茅 (nous sommes nos propres clients) et aussi 脿 inspirer et 脿 锚tre inspir茅 par les 茅tudiants qui deviendront la prochaine g茅n茅ration de juristes.
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What鈥檚 your favourite book? What do you love about it?
It is too hard to narrow down to one! I am inspired by the depth of self-reflection when reading autobiographies like Augustine鈥檚 Confessions, Ron Chernow鈥檚 biography of Alexander Hamilton, or Katherine Rundell鈥檚 biography of John Donne. I find that books which allow me to glimpse into the thoughts of those who lived with resolve and purpose in the past often hold encouragement for the present, particularly as they help me live more intentionally and thoughtfully. I also enjoy novels that transport you to another place so absorbingly that you don鈥檛 want to leave, even when the stories told are full of heartbreak, like Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. I find it healthy to focus our gaze less on ourselves and to be immersed in others鈥� stories.
Qu鈥檈st-ce qui vous enthousiasme le plus 脿 l鈥檌d茅e de vous joindre 脿 不良研究所?
Je me r茅jouis de faire connaissance avec toute la communaut茅 mcgilloise : 茅tudiants, personnel, alumni, et professeurs. Je suis enthousiaste 茅galement 脿 l鈥檌d茅e d鈥檈nseigner dans un contexte bijuridique et bilingue, et de voir comment ce cadre unique contribue aux discussions et aux id茅es en 茅tudes juridiques. Montr茅al est une ville facile 脿 adorer, pleine de beaut茅 naturelle et culturelle. En particulier, notre famille a h芒te de d茅couvrir toutes les meilleures boulangeries de Montr茅al, et on est d茅j脿 impressionn茅s !
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