Diane Desierto to give inaugural lecture as Michael J. Marks Distinguished Professor in Business Law

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Beverly Creamer, (808) 389-5736
Media Consultant, William S. Richardson School of Law
Posted: Jan 19, 2016

Diane Desierto
Diane Desierto

UH Professor Diane Desierto has been named the new Michael J. Marks Distinguished Professor in Business Law, the William S. Richardson School of Law has announced. Her inaugural public lecture, “Global Public Policy in Cross-Border Private Transactions: Regulating Mergers & Acquisitions as Investment in the Trans-Pacific Partnership," will take place from 5 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, January 26, 2016, in Classroom 3 at the Law School, 2515 Dole Street.  A reception will follow in the Law School Courtyard from 6 to 7 p.m.

About Diane Desierto:

Professor Desierto has a remarkable record as an international attorney with expertise in international human rights and humanitarian law as well as in business law, especially within but not limited to the ASEAN countries. She has lectured internationally, won numerous international prizes and awards, and has served on a wide number of advisory boards, including the Asian Development Bank Office of the Chief Economist, the European Union External Action Service, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Singapore Judicial Academy. Her research and teaching areas of expertise include international economic law, international investment and commercial arbitration law, and international dispute settlement.

About the Professorship:

Thanks to the generosity of the Michael J. Marks Foundation; the Cades Foundation; Alexander & Baldwin Inc.; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; and Mr. and Mrs. Daniel E. Stoller, the professorship was established at the UH Law School to honor the late Michael Marks as well as to support a professorship to help prepare law students for excellence in service to the community. Marks passed away on October 5, 2010, in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, after retiring in 2003 as vice president and general counsel of A&B. At the time of his retirement, he was the longest serving general counsel among Hawai‘i’s publicly traded corporations, and a man of both renowned humor and unusual dedication to service in his community.

About the Lecture:

The increased volume of U.S.-Asia Pacific trade under the Obama Administration has fueled a surge in the use of mergers and acquisitions as the new dominant vehicle for foreign investment through public-private partnership agreements in emerging markets. This has become even more important with the recent passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. This lecture will look at the ways M&A regulators are not only bound to ensure domestic compliance, but also are burdened to expand regulatory oversight to both internalize and implement the host state’s obligations in international economic treaties. Professor Desierto will examine three critical areas for expanded regulatory oversight for M&As in public-private partnerships, increasingly the preferred foreign investment vehicles for emerging markets.

For more information, visit: https://www.law.hawaii.edu/