Professor Hiroyuki Watanabe

Hiroyuki Watanabe is a Visiting Scholar at the University of London (IALS), Professor of Law in Japan (2009-2023). His research areas include corporate law, securities law and finance law. His current main interest is the fundamental structural changes in capital markets and corporate governance in Japan in recent times〔takeovers, activism, private equity and multi-stakeholderism ("three-way good"), etc.〕.

He is one of the co-authors of “Comparative Company Law - A Case Based Approach” (2nd edn, Hart Publishing, 2018). The book is edited by Mathias Siems (European University Institute) and David Cabrelli (Edinburgh), with co-authors including Pierre-Henri Conac (Luxembourg), Gordon Smith (BYU), Martin Gelter (Fordham), Marco Ventoruzzo (Bocconi) and Irene-marié Esser (Glasgow) etc. He has published numerous articles in Japanese and English in the fields of corporate, securities, and finance law, etc. He has also carried out a number of studies on a variety of issues at the intersection of 'trust' and 'company / finance'.

He completed the Master's Programme in Law and Politics at the University of Tokyo and was appointed as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, Waseda University, during his doctoral studies at the Faculty of Law, Waseda University. He then worked as an Associate Professor at Waseda University from 2003 to 2009 (Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Tokyo from 2006 to 2008) and Professor at Waseda University from 2009 to 2021.

Since 2022, he has been conducting research activities in the UK (University of Oxford and University of London) while working as an invited scholar at the Centre for Business and Finance, Waseda University. He has visiting links with several other universities and institutions, including the University of  Luxembourg, University of Geneva, University of Edinburgh, and Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law etc.