Manchester Centre for Law and Business

We're contributing to legal scholarship and discussions which influence everyday lives.

The Manchester Centre for Law and Business replaces the Private and Commercial Law Hub.

About the centre

The Centre for Law and Business was established in 1989 in the Faculty of Law of The University of Manchester by Professor David Milman (later Dean of the Faculty of Law, presently Professor of Law at Lancaster University and presently the Centre’s external founding member).

Earlier projects included extensive knowledge exchange work with the legal profession and an externally funded project reviewing national corporate law regimes across Europe. The Centre acquired a reputation for providing a forum for interacting with the legal community and academic scholarship regionally, nationally and internationally.

The Centre presently encompasses a wide range of business-related areas. Research within the Manchester Centre for Law and Business sits at the intersection of critical social and economic debates, tackling legal, regulatory and policy questions. Many LLM modules and LLM streams cover aspects of commercial, corporate, and financial law, and are delivered by members of the Centre.

Recent activities (initially under the aegis of the Private & Commercial Law hub) have included a number of high-profile conferences, among which, in 2016 on the Insurance Act 2015, sponsored by DAC Beachcroft; in 2017 on the ten years of the Companies Act 2006, sponsored by Trowers & Hamlins and by QMUL; in 2020 on the impact of LegalTech on the legal profession, sponsored by Exchange Chambers and by the Northern Business & Property Courts Forum.

The Centre was revived in 2020 by Dr Vincenzo Bavoso and Professor Geraint Howells (acting as co-directors). The Centre’s aim is to be a world renowned brand among academic institutions, practitioners and policy-makers. Current partners include the Sheffield Institute of Corporate and Commercial Law (SICCL) at the University of Sheffield, the Hong Kong Commercial and Maritime Law Centre (HKCMLC) at City University of Hong Kong, Labour Business and Regulation at NUI Galway, the Manchester Business and Property Courts Forum, Grant Thornton LLP Manchester.

In September 2021 the Centre took over the editorship of the prestigious outlet Law and Financial Markets Review (Taylor & Francis), with Dr Vincenzo Bavoso, Dr Michael Galanis and Professor Geraint Howells acting as editors in chief, and Professor Orkun Akseli, Dr Nicolette Butler, Dr Joseph Lee and Dr Jasem Tarawneh as associate editors.

Twitter: @ManchesterCLAB

Areas of expertise

  • Contract Law;
  • Tort Law;
  • Property Law;
  • Commercial Law;
  • Consumer Law;
  • International Trade Law;
  • Banking Law;
  • Insurance Law;
  • Corporate Law;
  • Corporate Finance Law;
  • Secured Transactions Law;
  • Insolvency Law;
  • Corporate Governance;
  • Intellectual Property;
  • Competition Law;
  • Securities Law;
  • Financial Regulations;
  • Arbitration and Mediation;
  • FinTech;
  • Law and Technology;
  • Money Theory.

People

Co-directors

  • Dr Pinar Oruc (IP Law)
  • Dr Alan Cunningham (IP Law; Technology Law)

Internal members

Teaching & Scholarship Members

  • Mrs Margaret Cunningham (Contract Law; Tort Law)
  • Dr Philip Drake (Legal Advice Centre)
  • Mrs Ruby Hammer (Contract Law; Tort Law)
  • Mrs Harriet Lipkin (Property Law)
  • Dr Annette Nordhausen-Scholes (Commercial Law; Consumer Law)
  • Dr Rachael Ntongho (Corporate Law; Corporate Governance)
  • Mrs Gillian Ulph (Property Law)
  • Mrs Joanne Urmston (Property Law)

Affiliated Members

External members

List of doctoral students

  • Nishadi Thennakoon
  • Abir Al Mahdouri
  • Shirin Khawjah
  • Ameena Zainal
  • Rahaf Alshneikat
  • Ahlam Alasmir
  • Rougang Li
  • Zeng Fan
  • Adaeze Aniodoh
  • Bonheur Minzoto
  • Yang Xu
  • Sumayah Alsahafi
  • Hala Arabi
  • Mousa Alfaifi
  • Aditi Singh
  • Xiaonan Ren
  • Madan Pokhrel
  • Dilara Tunc

Past events

  • The Northern Business and Property Court Forum, together with the University of Manchester (Centre for Law and Business), “The impact of legaltech on the legal profession”, Manchester, 14 November 2020 (around 150 attendees).
  • Business Law PGR Mini-Conference, Law School, University of Manchester, 15 March 2021 (around 40 attendees).
  • Manchester Centre for Law and Business / City University of Hong Kong, Joint research Workshop, November 2020 (around 20 attendees).
  • Research Seminar, Professor Steven Schwarcz “Regulating Digital Currencies: Towards an Analytical Framework”, 22 April 2021.
  • Research Seminar, Professor Marc Moore “Measuring Dual Class Stock Compatibility: An Inter-Exchange Analysis”, 5 May 2021.
  • Research Seminar, Dr Vincenzo Bavoso and Dr Jasem Tarawneh “Phoenix Companies and the Abuse of Corporate Brands”, 19 May 2021.
  • Research Seminar, Professor Geraint Howells “Online Platforms and Consumer Protection”, 3 November 2021.
  • Research Seminar, Professor Tham Chee Ho “The Assignability of Arbitration Clauses”, 16 November 2021.
  • Grant Thornton LLP & Manchester Centre for Law and Business “Forensic Accounting, Insolvency Law, and Legal Practice”, 1 December 2021.
  • Research Seminar, Professor Andrew Johnston “From Universal Owners to Hedge Funds and Indexers”, 9 March 2022.
  • Manchester Business & Property Court Forum with Manchester Centre for Law and Business “Commercial Law in Times of Covid19, featuring Sir Julian Flaux (Chancellor of the High Court), Professor hugh Beale, chaired by Mr Justice Fancourt”, 18 March 2022.
  • Manchester Centre for Law and Business / Sheffield Institute of Corporate and Commercial Law, joint research workshop, 23 April 2022.
  • Research Seminar, Professor Donna Nagy “ESG Disclosure and the Role of the SEC”, 28 April 2022.
  • Symposium, featuring Professor David Milman and HH Judge Mark Cawson QC “Recent Trends and Developments in UK Shareholder Protection Law”, 4 May 2022.
  • Research Seminar, Professor Mark Janis, “Virtual Designs”, 18 May 2022.
  • 16 September 2022 - 1st Law & Financial Markets Review Conference - Financial Regulation in the Age of Uncertainty.
  • 16 November 2022 ‘Competition and the Sustainability Gap’.
  • 22 November 2022 ‘Markets in just transition. Role of Competition Law’.
  • 30 November 2022 ‘Competition Law and the Indian Farmers Movement’, Lokesh Bulchandani.
  • 18 January 2023 – Law Department Research Seminar - “Meme stock” speculation in times of financial turmoil: The Challenge for Securities Regulation by Online Platform-led “Short-Squeezes” – Vincenzo Bavoso/Michael Galanis.
  • 25 January 2023 - Ewan McGaughey, Kings College London - Principles of Enterprise Law (joint event with ManReg).
  • 29 March 2023- Professor Nicholas Ryder from Cardiff University, ‘To exchange or not to exchange – that is the question. A critical analysis of the use of financial intelligence and the exchange of information in the United Kingdom’.
  • 3 May 2023 - Dr Christy Chiang from National Taiwan Ocean University. 'The Challenges, Laws, and Practice of Countering Disinformation Online in Taiwan' (joint event with MILC).
  • 7 June 2023- Prof Henry Gabriel, Elon University ‘A Brief History of Security Rights in Personal Property from the Pledge to Bitcoin by Way of UNCITRAL’s Universalization of Principles’.
  • 4 October 2023- Hanif Virji - LDI crisis – exploiting a lacuna in the law, and why the Bank of England really intervened to stabilise the market.
  • 5 October 2023 – Marcos Diaz – Expert determination in ADR.
  • 9 November 2023 - Justice Waksman – Contractual Discretions: Where are we now and where are we going? - organised in association with Manchester Business & Property Courts Forum.
  • 15 November 2023 – Law department research seminar - Rachael Nthongo - Institutional Framework of West African Monetary Integration.
  • 8 February 2024 - International and National Perspectives on Insolvency Law, Judge Cawson KC, Professor David Milman, Dr Riz Mokal and Professor Ignacio Tirado – chaired by Vincenzo Bavoso and Orkun Akseli.
  • (Forthcoming, 3-4 October 2024) "Current Trends, Developments and Challenges in Transnational Commercial Law regarding Financial Inclusion, Sustainability and ESG" 15th Transnational Commercial Law Teachers Meeting.

Research Outputs (2022-2023)

For more details, please check individual staff profiles:

  • Qinqing Xu, Collective Management of Music Copyright: A Comparative Analysis of China, the United States and Australia (Routledge 2023).
  • Amber Darr, Competition Law in South Asia: Diffusion and Policy Transfer (Cambridge University Press 2023).
  • Lee J, Zuma M ‘The Future of Japanese Corporate Governance: Participation, Sustainability, and Technology’ (2023) Journal of Japanese Law (Max Planck Institute), accepted;
  • Lee J, Serafin, A, Courteau, C ‘Corporate Disclosure, ESG, and Green FinTech in the Energy Industry’ (2023) Journal of World Energy Law and Business (OUP).
  • Geraint Howells, “The Contribution of Consumer Law to the (Re)shaping of European Private Law” in The Future of European Private Law A. Janssen and R. Schulze (eds) 267-284, 2023.
  • Geraint Howells, “Ireland” (with Fidelma White) in Harmonizing Digital Contract Law A. de Franceschi and R.Schulze eds 373-395, 2023.
  • Geraint Howells, Lessons for Asia from the European Private Law Harmonisation Process”, in G. Low and M. de Visser, Convergence of Commercial Laws in Asia: Methods and Drivers (Cambridge University Press) (with M. Durovic). 135-152, 2022.
  • Geraint Howells “Interconnectivity and Liability: AI and the Internet of Things” (with C. Twigg-Flesner) in The Cambridge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence (DiMatteo, Poncibò and Cannarsa eds) 179-199, 2022.
  • Geraint Howells “Introduction to Asian Consumer Law” (with H. Micklitz) in 2022 Consumer Protection in Asia (with H. Micklitz, A. Janssen and M.Durovic (eds)) 3-16, 2022.
  • Geraint Howells, “Hong Kong” (with A. Janssen and M. Durovic) in Consumer Protection in Asia (with H. Micklitz, A. Janssen and M.Durovic (eds)) 45-68, 2022.
  • A. J. Hannay, ‘W. R. Prest, The Inns of Court under Elizabeth I and the Early Stuarts, Cambridge, 2023’ (2023) The Docket: Law and History Review (Forthcoming) (September 2023).
  • Vincenzo Bavoso, "The LDI (Liability-Driven Investment) Debacle, Derivatives and Systemic Risk: There you go again!", under review.
  • Gabriel Garcia and Qinqing Xu (Corresponding Author), 'China’s International Cooperation: Assisting Developing Countries to Build Intellectual Property Systems' (2023) 13(1) Queen Mary Journal of Intellectual Property 52-74.
  • P. Oruç, ‘Rethinking who ‘keeps’ heritage: 3D Technology, Repatriation and Copyright’ (2022) 71 (12) GRUR International 1138.
  • P. Oruç, ‘Documenting Indigenous Oral Traditions: Copyright for Control?’ (2022) International Journal of Cultural Property 29(3) 243.
  • Alan Cunningham, Otherworldly Properties, Law & Critique, forthcoming.
  • A. Yekini, ‘The Effectiveness of Foreign Jurisdiction Clauses in Nigeria: An Empirical Inquiry’ (2023) 19 Journal of Private International Law 67- 91.
  • C. Okoli, A.Yekini & P.Oamen, ‘Igiogbe Custom as a Mandatory Norm in Conflict of Laws: An Exploration of Nigerian Appellate Court’s Decisions’, (2023) 31 African Journal of International and Comparative Law (forthcoming);
  • John Picton, ‘The Charities Act 2022 and its Dissuasive Effect on Donors’ 2023 Modern Law Review 86(4), 1011-1034.
  • Lee J, ‘New Horizon for Financial Law and Policy: Non-Fungible Tokens in the Metaverse’ in O Pollicino and F Di Porta (eds) ‘NFTs and Metaverses versus Law’ (Springer, forthcoming).
  • Lee J, Li Rougang ‘Law and Regulation for Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs)’ in J Lee & JY Lee ‘Web3 governance: Law and Policy’ (2024 Routledge).
  • A. J. Hannay, ‘The Statute of Richard III (1484) & the Emergence of Beneficial Ownership in Freehold Land’ in C. Mitchell and D. Foster eds., Essays in The History of English Equity (Hart Publishing, 2023) (Forthcoming, October 2023).
  • A. J. Hannay, ‘The Origins of the Statute of Uses’, in N. Dawson et al eds., Law and Constitutional Change: Essays in Legal History’, (Cambridge, 2024) (Forthcoming).
  • Michael Galanis, "Corporate Law Coasting in Neutral: From Egalitarianism, to Sustainability, to Extinction?" forthcoming in Christopher Bruner and Marc Moore (eds), A Research Agenda for Corporate Law (Edward Elgar 2023).
  • A. Yekini and Adeola Adedeji-Adeyemi, ‘Enforcement of Punitive Damages in Commonwealth Africa’, in Cedric Vanleenhove and Lotte Meurkens (eds), The Recognition and Enforcement of Punitive Damages Judgments Across the Globe: Insights from Various Continents (The Hague, Eleven International Publishing, 2023) pp113-128.
  • A. Yekini and C. Okoli, ‘The HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention: Prospects for Africa’ in M. Weller, J. Ribeiro-Bidaoui, M. Brinkmann, & N. Dethloff (eds.), The HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention: Cornerstones, Prospects, Outlook (Hart Publishing, 2023).
  • Vincenzo Bavoso, "Regulatory Arbitrage and the Basel III Endgame: The Regulator Strikes Back", The Company Lawyer, forthcoming.
  • Vincenzo Bavoso, "The Application of EU Law after Brexit: The Case of CJEU Decisions", The Company Lawyer, 44:4, 2023.
  • Marta Iljadica; Pinar Oruc; Giulia Dore; Laura di Nicola; Ignmar Pastak; Helen Eenmaa; Marta Arisi , ‘D5.9 Policy report for stakeholders: Inhabiting Culture: Digitization, copyright, and place-making' (2023) Project deliverable for reCreating Europe (Horizon 2020).
  • Marta Iljadica; Pinar Oruc; Ingmar Pastak; Giulia Dore, ‘D5.10 Academic journal article on IPRs and place- Summary' Project deliverable for reCreating Europe (Horizon 2020).

Research Outputs (2021)

  • Bavoso V. (2021) “Basel III and the Regulation of Market-Based Finance: The Tentative Reform”, New York University Journal of Law and Business, Fall (forthcoming). 
  • Bavoso V. (2021) “Financial Intermediation in the Age of FinTech: P2P Lending and the Reinvention of Banking”, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, May.
  • Butler N. “The Effect of Unilateral Sanctions on the Foreign Investment Regime”, in S. Subedi, Unilateral Sanctions in International Law, Hart 2021.
  • Galanis M. “Growth and the lost legitimacy of business organisation: time to abandon corporate law reform”, Journal of Corporate Law Studies, Vol.20(2), pp.291-325.
  • Hannay A. “By Fraud and Collusion: Feudal Revenue and Enforcement of the Statute of Marlborough, 1267-1526”, 42 Journal of Legal History 65-89, 2021.
  • Howells G. “Consumer Protection Values in the Fourth Industrial Revolution” 43 (2020) Journal of Consumer Policy 145–175.
  • Lee J. “(ed) Takeovers in EU and China: State interests, Market players, and Governance Mechanism”, (2021 Springer).
  • Lee J. Geidel, D, ‘Mapping an Investor Protection Framework for the Security Token Offering Market: A Comparative Analysis of UK and German Kaw’, The Taiwan Law Review No. 316 (2021).
  • Lee J. Bao Y, Li J, ‘Evaluating the Mandatory Bid Rule for Takeover Law in China: an Empirical and Comparative Analysis’. In Lee J (Ed) Takeovers in EU and China: State interests, market players, and governance mechanism (2021 Springer). 
  • Lee J. ‘Cryptoassets, Developments and the Regulatory Perimeter’ in Chiu, I. & Deipenbrock, G. (eds) Routledge Handbook on FinTech and Law – Regulatory, Supervisory, Policy and other Legal Challenges (Routledge 2021).
  • Ntongho R. “The Political Economy of a Monetary Union in ECOWAS: The Case of the ECO Currency”, Forthcoming Review of African Political Economy.
  • Oruc P. and Suthersanen U. ‘Intellectual Property and Cultural Heritage Issues for Museums of Archaeological Materials’ in I. Stamatoudi, Research Handbook on Intellectual Property and Cultural Heritage (Edward Elgar) 2021.
  • Oruc P. (with Kretschmer M., Margoni T.) ‘D3.6 Interim study on the state of harmonisation of the rights of reproduction and adaptation and connected exceptions’ (2021).  Project deliverable for reCreating Europe (H2020), under acceptance by the European Commission. https://zenodo.org/record/5069507#.YOMPrehKhPY
  • Oruc P. “Copyright Law and the use of AI in Audiovisual Academic Research’ (2021) ViewFinder Magazine, Issue 117. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/viewfinder/articles/copyright-law-and-the-use-of-ai-in-audiovisual-academic-research/
  • Yekini A. “The Hague Judgments Convention and Commonwealth Model Law: A Pragmatic Perspective”, Hart, 2021.