Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS) and EW Barker Centre for Law & Business (EWBCLB) Distinguished Speaker Series with Professor Curtis J. Milhaupt

On 11 September 2018, the Faculty of Law hosted the CALS-EWBCLB Distinguished Speaker Series with Professor Curtis J. Milhaupt from Stanford Law School, who delivered a public lecture entitled, “China as a “National Strategic Buyer: Towards a Multilateral Regime for Cross-Border M&A”. The lecture was followed by a question and answer session chaired by Associate Professor Dan W. Puchniak.

Speaking to an enthusiastic audience made up of over 200 members from the legal fraternity and students, Professor Milhaupt made the case that the entry of China into the global M&A market threatens the fundamental assumptions of the current permissive international regime, which is based on the premise that the prospective buyer is motivated by private economic gain-seeking. Cross-border M&A with China introduces a new dimension: what he calls the “national strategic buyer” (NSB), whose objective is to further the interests of a nation state in the pursuit of industrial policy or out of national security concerns.

To address the NSB problem, Professor Milhaupt proposed the adoption of a new rules-of-the-game structure in the form of a multilateral regime under which firms subject to potential government influence in their corporate decision-making must demonstrate their “eligibility” to engage in outbound M&A, including disclosing their sources of funding for the transaction. He argued why the creation of such a multilateral regime introduces greater stability in the cross-border M&A market and why China should agree to its adoption.

About the Speaker

Professor Curtis J. Milhaupt is a Professor of Law at Stanford Law School. He is an expert on the legal systems of East Asia, comparative corporate governance, law and economic development, and state capitalism. His published works include serving as co-author or editor of seven books including Law and Capitalism: What Corporate Crises Reveal about Legal Systems and Economic Development around the World. His research has been profiled in publications including The Economist, The Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Professor Milhaupt teaches and consults frequently at institutions outside the United States. Representative appointments include Distinguished Visiting Professor at the East China University of Political Science and Law and Visiting Professor at the Duisenberg School of Finance in Amsterdam, where he was twice named Best Teacher in Finance and Law. He has worked with think tanks on policy issues such as the reunification of Korea, and testified before a U.S. Congressional commission on the implications of U.S. Investment by Chinese state‐owned enterprises. He most recently was a Visiting Research Professor at CALS & EWBCLB.

Prior to entering academia, Professor Milhaupt practiced corporate law in New York and Tokyo. He holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame. He conducted graduate studies in law and international relations at the University of Tokyo.