P M Vasudev

P.M. Vasudev, who started at the University of Ottawa in January 2011, specializes in business law. With his record as a corporate lawyer of longstanding in Bangalore, India, Vasudev combines his professional experience in teaching law. Prior to joining the University of Ottawa, Vasudev was Senior Lecturer in Commercial Law at The University of Auckland Business School, New Zealand.

P.M. Vasudev's research interests include:

• Corporate governance, and the business corporation as a socioeconomic institution
• Constitutional economics 
• Securities markets
• Credit derivatives and financial engineering
• Law-and-Economics
• Institutional engineering
• Regulation, deregulation, and reregulation
• History including legal history
• Philosophy, including the philosophy of economic pursuits
• Business, the state, and public regulation

Expressions of interest for graduate research work in these areas are welcome. 

P.M. Vasudev has presented papers at academic conferences in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  His writings have appeared in Journal of Business Law, McGill Law Journal, Banking & Finance Law Review, Journal of Corporation Law and American Journal of Legal History.

• Corporate Governance Theory and Principles - Fall 2026

Corporate Governance Theory and Practice course provides students a contextual understanding of the current theory and practice of corporate governance. The course covers the theoretical aspects of corporate governance, such as agency costs, ownership and control, transaction costs, the stakeholder principle, and the “soft law” of corporate governance and the development of corporate governance codes. Students also learn about the ideas shaping boards of directors, board structure and functions, and issues related to managerial remuneration and performance. In addition to soft law, the course will introduce students to the legal framework of corporate governance in Canada.

• Applied Corporate Governance - Winter 2027

An active learning course, Applied Corporate Governance provides students with “hands-on” knowledge of corporate governance practice in listed Canadian corporations. The course complements Corporate Governance Theory and Principles offered in Fall 2021 and makes students' learning of the complex subject of corporate governance more complete. Working in teams, students will develop significant professional skills that include familiarity with corporate reports and disclosures, data-gathering, analysis, and interpretation, and generating reports. The subjects covered in the Applied Corporate Governance course include shareholding patterns in companies, board composition, director elections, insider control and compliance with securities law requirements on governance norms.

• Business Organizations - Winter 2027

In Business Organizations, a mandatory upper-year course, students learn about legal organizations commonly used for business – sole proprietorships, partnerships and corporations.  The course covers the nature of the interests at stake in a business enterprise, including those of owners, managers, employees, creditors and the public, and trains students in understanding how the law mediates among the interests of the various stakeholders. A large part of the course is devoted to business corporations and the rights and responsibilities of three groups in them – shareholders, directors and officers.

1. “Public Grant Theory – Revisiting Incorporation, Reclaiming the Public Space” 18 William & Mary B L Rev (2026) (forthcoming) https://ssrn.com/abstract=7123961
2. "Takeover Bid Regulation in Canada – Balancing Shareholder Choice and Corporate Flexibility” in Daniele d’Alvia ed Research Handbook on Corporate Finance Law (Edward Elgar 2026) (forthcoming)
3. “Constitutional Values and Socioeconomic Justice – Evaluating Corporate Law” (2025) 12 Athens J L 9. https://ssrn.com/abstract=638622
4. “Institutional Investors and the Responsible Enterprise – Hopes Belied?” in Luc Bres & Ivan Tchotourian, eds, Zones frontières et entreprise socialement responsable - Perspective multiple : droit, administration et philosophie (Border Zones and Socially Responsible Enterprise) (Thomson Reuters 2024)
5. “Corporate Governance Practices in Canada” in Comparative Law Solutions (UAE Ministry of Justice/LexisNexis 2019)
6. Introduction (with Susan Watson) in P.M. Vasudev & Susan Watson eds., Global Capital Markets – A Survey of Legal and Regulatory Trends (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar 2017)
7. Introduction (with Susan Watson) Susan Watson & P.M. Vasudev eds., Innovations in Corporate Governance – Global Perspectives (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar 2017)