Staff Profiles

Professor Ian Ramsay

Harold Ford Professor of Commercial Law

Director of the Centre for Corporate Law and Securities Regulation

Ian Ramsay is the Harold Ford Professor of Commercial Law in the Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne where he is Director of the Centre for Corporate Law and Securities Regulation. He has practised law with the firms Sullivan & Cromwell in New York and Mallesons Stephen Jaques in Sydney.

Other positions Ian currently holds or has previously held include:

Associate Dean, Melbourne Law Masters, Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne (2005 to date)
Dean, Faculty of Law, The University of Melbourne (2002 - 2003)
Member of the Takeovers Panel (which is the main forum for resolving takeover disputes) (2000 to date)
Deputy Director of the Federal Government's Companies and Securities Advisory Committee where he wrote a number of reports including a report on directors' and officers' insurance (1991 - 1992)
Head of the Federal Government's inquiry on auditor independence (2001)
Member of the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (which is the Federal Government's main corporate law reform advisory body) (2002 to date)
Member of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission External Advisory Panel (2009 to date)
Member of the Federal Government's Implementation Consultative Committee for the Financial Services Reform Act (2001 - 2005)
Member of the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia (1990 - 1999)
Member of the National Law Committee of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (1995 to date) and the Corporations Law Committee of the Law Council of Australia (1995 to date)
President of the Corporate Law Teachers Association (2000 - 2001)
Member of the International Federation of Accountants taskforce on rebuilding confidence in financial reporting (2002 - 2003)
Consultant to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and author of the report for ASIC on disclosure of fees and charges in superannuation and other managed investments (2002)
Director of the Audit Quality Review Board (2006 - 2009)
Member of the Federal Government's Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board (2004 to date)
Member of the Appeals Commission of the Federation of International Basketball Associations (2002 to date)
Consultant to the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) and author of the report for the ABA on reform of the ABA's enforcement powers (2004)
Member of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's Corporate Governance Roundtable (1998 - 2002)
Consultant to the Australian Law Reform Commission for its managed investments project (1992)
Member of the Australian Law Reform Commission's Advisory Committee for its civil and administrative penalties project (2000 - 2002)
Consultant to the Victorian Government on corporate law reform (2000, 2003 and 2007)
Consultant to the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee, Parliament of Victoria (2008)
Consultant to the Parliament of Australia House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public Administration (2004)
Visiting Profesor, Faculty of Law, The University of Paris (2008)
Distinguished Visiting Professor, Faculty of Law, The University of Toronto (1997)
Distinguished Visiting Professor and Professorial Fellow, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong (2001)

Ian has published extensively on corporate law issues both internationally and in Australia. His books include: Ford's Principles of Corporations Law - which is Australia's leading corporate law book - (co-author, 13th edition, 2007); Commercial Applications of Company Law (co-author, 10th edition, 2009); Varieties of Capitalism, Corporate Governance and Employees (co-editor, 2008); Commercial Applications of Company Law in Singapore (co-author, 3rd edition, 2008); Commercial Applications of Company Law in Malaysia (co-author, 3rd edition, 2008); Commercial Applications of Company Law in New Zealand (co-author, 2nd edition, 2005); Company Directors: Principles of Law and Corporate Governance (co-author, 2005); Experts' Report in Corporate Transactions (co-author, 2003); Key Developments in Corporate Law and Trusts Law: Essays in Honour of Professor Harold Ford (editor, 2002); Company Directors' Liability for Insolvent Trading (editor, 2000); Securities Regulation in Australia and New Zealand (co-editor, 1998); The Corporate Law Economic Reform Program Act Explained (co-author, 2000); The New Corporations Law (co-author, 1998); Corporate Governance and the Duties of Company Directors (editor, 1997); and Education and the Law (co-author, 1996).

In addition, he has published approximately 140 research reports, book chapters and journal articles.

His publications have been cited by the High Court of Australia, the Federal Court of Australia, the Courts of Appeal of the Supreme Courts of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, as well as by the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia.

Ian is well known for his policy related research which has been undertaken for the Australian Government, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the Australian Law Reform Commission and other organisations. This research has resulted in important regulatory changes.

Ian is one of Australia's most successful academic lawyers in terms of competitive research grants.

Ian is a respected commentator in the media on corporate governance and corporate law. He is regularly interviewed in the financial press and has been interviewed for international newspapers including the New York Times. His research has been reported in international newspapers including the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal. Ian has been interviewed on major TV programs such as the 7.30 Report and Lateline, as well as radio programs including the Law Report and various current affairs programs.

Many of Ian's publications are available on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN)