Professor Jaap Winter

Jaap Winter (47) is Professor of Corporate Governance at the Duisenberg school of finance in Amsterdam. He was the first Dean of the Duisenberg school of finance, setting up the school in 2008-2009. He is also Professor of International Company Law at the University of Amsterdam. He was visiting professor at Columbia Law School in New York in 2003. He is partner at the law firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek in Amsterdam. His practice areas include corporate governance, M&A and corporate litigation.


Since 2001 Jaap Winter has been actively engaged in shaping the corporate governance systems in Europe and the Netherlands. He was chairman of the High Level Group of Company Law Experts set up in 2001 by the European Commission to advise it on a modern regulatory framework for company law in Europe. The Group in January 2002 first advised on issues related to takeover bids. The final report of the Group on a Modern Regulatory Framework for Company Law in Europe was published on November 4, 2002, which includes extensive recommendations on corporate governance regulation in the EU. He is now a member of the European Corporate Governance Forum set up by the European Commission in 2004 to advise it on corporate governance developments in Europe.


Jaap Winter was a member of the Dutch Corporate Governance Committee chaired by Morris Tabaksblat that has drafted the Dutch Corporate Governance Code of December 2003.


In 2004 Jaap Winter received the International Corporate Governance Network Award from the International Corporate Governance Network.


Jaap Winter has published widely on issues of company law and corporate governance and has given numerous academic and policy presentations in Europe and the US.


Jaap Winter was a member of the Supervisory Board of the Dutch securities regulator AFM from 2005 until 2009 and is a member of the Market Participants Consultation Panel of CESR.