Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) of O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) and the University of Michigan Law School have inaugurated their Joint Centre on Global Corporate & Financial Law and Policy with Justice A.K. Ganguly of the Supreme Court of India. (pictured left to right: Prof. Vikramaditya Khanna, Justice A.K. Ganguly of the Supreme Court of India and Prof. C. Raj Kumar)

The Joint Centre’s first event was on “White Collar Crime and Corporate Malfeasance: Global Perspectives” on February 9, 2011 and was conducted by Professor Vikramaditya Khanna of Michigan Law School and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Jindal Global Law School. Presiding over the event was Justice A.K. Ganguly of the Supreme Court of India who gave the opening remarks and stressed the importance of constitutional governance along with corporate governance.

The lecture discussed the current wave of corporate wrongdoing across the world (e.g. Satyam, Enron, Lehman Brothers), the high social costs of such wrongdoing and the strategies used around the world to regulate this area, including in India.

The second event was a roundtable on “Responses to Legal Impediments to Doing Business in India” and took place on February 11, 2011.

Professor C. Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor of JGU and Dean of JGLS said, “This Centre of Jindal Global Law School is a unique example of Michigan and Jindal law schools working together to promote global legal education. The conference and the public lecture are examples of the Centre’s effort to partner in promoting academically rigorous initiatives”.

Professor Vikramaditya Khanna said, “The Centre is off to a fantastic start with four events in a span of two months exploring important issues in corporate and financial law and policy, both within India and globally. I’m delighted to see the Centre blossoming in such a manner.”

Participants included leading lawyers, executives and Professors Vikramaditya Khanna (Michigan), Ronald Gilson (Columbia Law School), Curtis Milhaupt (Columbia Law School), and faculty from JGLS. The focus was not on corruption issues, but rather the contracting and other legal methods used to smooth the process of doing business in India.

The Michigan-Jindal Centre will also host a conference on Global and Comparative Corporate Governance on March 3 & 4, 2011. The conference will explore a number of issues including global financial reforms, developments in Indian corporate governance, securities regulation, takeovers, cross listing, and others. The Centre is also planning another Distinguished Public Lecture later in March, by Professor Vikramaditya Khanna on the development of business entities in India.

The two law schools had signed a MoU in November 2010, to establish a global corporate and financial law centre.