We are very pleased to also introduce Umakanth Varottil as a new member of our blogging team. Umakanth is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, where he has been awarded the Lee Kong Chian Scholarship and the President’s Graduate Fellowship. His research is on ” The Role of Independent Directors in Corporate Governance”, which will focus on the board structure and director independence from an emerging markets’ perspective, and lay particular emphasis on the impact of corporate governance legislation similar to Sarbanes Oxley Act (of the United States) in those markets. Umakanth recently completed his LL.M in Corporations Law from the New York University School of Law, where he was a Hauser Global Scholar.
Prior to his foray into academia, Umakanth was a corporate lawyer in India with 11 years’ professional experience with the leading law firm of Amarchand Mangaldas, where he was also a partner. He has advised several domestic and international clients on cutting-edge transactions in all areas of corporate and commercial law, including foreign investment, mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, securities law, corporate finance, structured finance and information technology. In 2006 and 2007, he was ranked as a leading corporate/mergers & acquisitions lawyer in India by the Chambers Global Guide.
Umakanth has a keen interest in corporate and commercial law with particular focus on India, and would contribute to the blog on current legal developments in India in these areas.
