Martin Petrin delivers Kwa Geok Choo Distinguished Visitors Lecture

On 22 August 2023, Professor Martin Petrin delivered a lecture titled “Impact of AI and New Technologies on Corporate Governance and Regulation” at the Wee Chong Jin Moot Court located in NUS Law’s Bukit Timah Campus.

Against the backdrop of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies increasingly influencing the business models and structures of corporations, the lecture focused on what those changes mean for selected aspects of corporate theory, governance, and regulation.

Professor Petrin’s lecture first engaged with intra-corporate effects of technology and whether AI may take over corporate management, subsequently turning to impacts on external relationships between corporations, markets and individuals.

Technology contributes to a world where corporate boundaries are increasingly blurred. This poses a challenge to traditional models for conceptualising “firms” and leads to several practical implications for governing and regulating business in technology-dominated environments, including policy-making for AI and online platforms.

The Kwa Geok Choo Distinguished Visitors Programme was launched in 2012 as one of several initiatives to pay tribute to the late Madam Kwa Geok Choo, wife of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Since its launch, the Programme has enabled NUS Law to regularly bring in leading law academics to teach an intensive course and to share their perspectives on highly topical issues with our students, faculty and the wider legal fraternity. We are honoured that this Programme serves to uphold Madam Kwa’s remarkable legacy, by continuing her commitment to Singapore being an outward-looking country with a thriving legal discourse. Past Distinguished Visitors include Gary Born, Christine Chinkin, Matthew Harding, Ran Hirschl, Michael Klausner, Peter Mirfield, Francis Reynolds, Cheryl Saunders, Mark Tushnet, Donal Nolan and Jane Ginsburg. The lectures given will also be published in the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies.

About the Speaker

Martin Petrin is the Dancap Private Equity Chair in Corporate Governance at Western University, jointly appointed to the DAN Department of Management and Organizational Studies and the Faculty of Law. He was previously a Professor of Corporate Law and Governance at University College London Faculty of Laws (UK), where he also served as Vice Dean for Innovation & Enterprise.

Professor Petrin’s research interests are in corporate, corporate governance, and business law, often from a comparative perspective. Most recently, his research has focused on corporate regulation and liability, corporate theory, and the impact of new technologies. He has published widely in his areas of expertise and is a regular speaker at international conferences.

Professor Petrin has practised law with a leading international business law firm and has been admitted to the Bar in New York and Switzerland. He has also served as Distinguished Fellow and Visiting Professor at the Notre Dame London Law Program, Visiting Professor at NYU London, and Visiting Scholar at both the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and Private Law. In addition to his academic work, Professor Petrin acts as a consultant and policy-advisor for public and private sector parties.