Shilpi Nanda
Nationality:
India
Faculty and Department:
Faculty of Law
Year of Study:
5
Undergraduate University:
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, India
Why did you choose to do graduate education at NUS? If you received offers from other universities, why did you pick NUS?
There were many reasons why I decided to pursue my PhD from NUS:
First, would be due to my supervisor, Dr Umakanth Varottil – who is an expert in my field of research. He is a leading authority on mergers and acquisition law in Singapore and in India. He has also written on other jurisdictions such as the EU and UK, which makes him an apt supervisor for my comparative research project. Further his practical experience as a leading M&A practitioner works well with my project which has both academic and practical relevance.
Second, would be due to the NUS faculty of laws stellar reputation of producing cutting edge, impactful research. NUS has continuously risen in ranks as the leading law school in Asia, and has found a place in the top 10 law schools in the world. The structure of the PhD law programme is also unique – it gives a PhD candidate four years to complete their doctoral thesis, which is more than the average three year timeline most UK universities provide. So one has ample time in the PhD programme to build their skills as a researcher and also develop their research project.
Third, would be due to the funding opportunities at NUS. NUS law faculty offers a wide range of scholarships which was a factor that I took into consideration when applying for the PhD programme. Although the programme is extremely competitive with three to five candidates being selected every year, the chances of the PhD being funded (if selected) are higher than most universities. I was offered the NUS Commonwealth scholarship which included not only my tuition fees for four years but my everyday living costs, and a conference travel budget. No other school that I had received an offer from matched up to that amount of funding.
What impact do you hope to have with your research?
The title of my thesis is How Corporations Speak to Markets: An Insider Trading Analysis – so I am interested in studying the disparity between the way the laws expect corporations to speak and how they actually speak to the market. Disclosure laws and insider trading laws require companies to speak to all investors equally in a non-preferential manner to maintain fairness and integrity in markets. However, companies prefer to speak selectively and privately to investors when they are trying to negotiate and plan an M&A transaction. This could be for instance when they are engaging in due diligence exercise with an investor to show them their good prospects, or when they are marketing a particular transaction to understand the interest of investors towards a particular transaction. These private conversations can hence be powerful tools for companies to maximise their shareholder value and create transactions that truly meet the demands of the market. So you see, there is a tension between insider trading laws which are striving to achieve equal access of information towards investors, and these selective disclosure practices that companies deem critical for planning and negotiating M&A transactions. This can leave companies in a precarious position, unsure how to proceed and navigate through these tensions without inadvertently breaching insider trading laws. My thesis strives to find a theoretical framework which can resolve these tensions and provide a win-win situation for all. For now, this space remains highly understudied and unexamined by securities regulators and academics, but is one that has some significant practical implications for the world of M&A transactions.
I hope to have a major impact in three areas. First, academia – my thesis findings can be useful for understanding the underexamined relationship between insider trading laws and market practice of selective communication in the field of securities regulation and M&A law. Second, policy – the thesis findings can be used to amend and rectify insider trading laws of four jurisdictions – EU, Australia, Singapore and India to bring them more in line with the market practices of today. This can reduce the risk of companies using back channels of law to communicate to investors. Third, international governance of cross border M&A transactions – the findings of the thesis if upheld by an international securities bodies can assist jurisdictions facing similar issues in resolving the tensions that arise between insider trading laws and selective disclosure practices for the benefit of facilitating both domestic and cross border M&A transactions.
If you have won any academic prize/competition or been invited to speak at an international conference—share what it is, its significance, and how you worked towards achieving it.
During the PhD I have strived to participate in as many public engagement initiatives as possible. I have been invited to speak about my research at eight universities in six countries and also have been selected to speak at three international conferences. However, the most valuable achievement for me has been my selection in a competitive programme called the Junior Fellowship offered by Erasmus University Rotterdam (https://www.eur.nl/en/esl/research-0/phdesl/erasmus-graduate-school-law/obtaining-phdvacancies/junior-fellowship), in which two scholars across the globe are selected to spend three months at the university researching and writing some parts of their thesis. This experience was quite exciting as I got to discuss my ideas with like-minded academics and professionals, which helped me further develop the quality of my research project. The value of being selected for a junior fellowship is immense as it makes you realise that your research ideas have merit beyond the institute you are associated with. Further, it shows your capability of convincing others on the merit of your ideas. However, the process of getting into the fellowship was not easy. I spent considerable time preparing a research proposal, filling in the application form, preparing writing samples and discussing my ideas with academics at NUS to put them forth in the best way possible. The selection process took about a year, but was worth it in the end. I was able to fund it through the sponsorship I received from Erasmus University Rotterdam and also the funds I received from NUS, for which I am very grateful.
Share something fun from your graduate journey at NUS.
My graduate school life has been really exciting primarily because of the diverse group of friends and scholars around me. At the moment the PhD candidates at the law faculty are from 9 different countries, and in my three years of living in the NUS student accommodation I had flatmates from about eight countries. So, I remember in my first year, I had celebrated the Lunar New Year, Diwali, and – Halloween all in one academic year! I would have never imagined that to be the case before I came to NUS. So it is truly a blend of experiences or where the east meets the west.
Share a challenge you faced in graduate school and how you overcame it.
A big challenge for me has been entering the PhD programme without an extensive background in research or teaching. NUS attracts some of the best talent across the globe, and you are bound to be surrounded by colleagues that are established within academia or have had several years in the industry which can be intimidating as a scholar just beginning their doctorate degree. However, over the past four years, I am happy to say that I have been able to gain the research and teaching experience needed to feel confident as a research scholar. This has been due to the right environment and learning tools offered by NUS. I have been able to sharpen my research skills due to courses such as the Graduate Research Seminar that I undertook in my first year, and due to the annual presentations, I made during the Doctoral Reading Groups throughout my four-year candidature. I have also been able to sharpen my teaching skills due to opportunities of guest lectures and teaching assistantships at NUS, which have proved useful to prepare me for a career in academia. Of course, it also helped that I took initiative to get involved in academic activities beyond NUS such as taking the role of an assistant editor in a leading academic journal and visited other universities to gain a wider audience with whom I could discuss and share my research.