Bio

Shannon Finch is a leading corporate lawyer, with experience in M&A, private equity, equity capital markets (IPOs and secondary raisings), debt capital markets, restructurings, and workouts. Shannon chairs the Corporations Committee of the Law Council of Australia and works with the Treasury, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on corporate law reforms, including simple corporate bonds, the crowdfunding regime (public and private), product design and distribution, and Banking Royal Commission reforms. Shannon advises boards and companies on governance and M&A matters, including continuous disclosure, directors duties, shareholder activism, greenmail, takeover approaches, competing bids, take privates, government privatizations, no-talks/no-shops, nominee directors, conflicts, independent board committees, director rotation, board spills, and executive remuneration. She also advises on annual general meetings and extraordinary general meetings, regulatory investigations, class action threats, capital management, strategic partnerships, mergers, bolt-on M&A strategies, spin-offs, reverse takeovers, strategic reviews, workouts and distress transactions, and liaison with ASX, ASIC, APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority), and FIRB (Foreign Investment Review Board). She has also advised companies and underwriters on capital markets transactions, including IPOs, venture capital, pre-IPO funding, series A funding rounds, accelerated and traditional rights issues, strategic placements, strategic economic stakes via derivatives, corporate hybrids, prudential capital including hybrids (Tiers 1 and 2), convertible bonds including SGX-listed (Singapore Exchange) bonds, U.S. private placements, 144A equity and debt issuance, Reg D placements, ASX-listed retail bonds, crowdsourced funding, and cartel issues in capital markets. Shannon teaches securities law masters courses with Justice Ashley Black at the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales.