John practices corporate and securities law with a focus on clients in the investment management industry.
John advises investment fund manager, dealer and investment adviser clients on legal issues concerning the formation, distribution and administration of different investment products, including retail mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, pooled funds and private equity funds. John also has expertise in advising clients in the investment management industry on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
Steve has practised corporate and securities law throughout his career at major law firms in New York and Toronto, took a working sabbatical in 1998 as a principal at private equity firm Royal Bank Equity Partners and since 1999 has been a partner at Fasken, a 900 lawyer international law firm. Steve co-founded Fasken’s ESG & Sustainability group and spends substantial time advising on ESG matters.
Steve also is the Chair, ESG at Middlefield, a Canadian investment manager.
From 2011 to 2018 Steve was the Executive Director of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (CCGG), whose members are institutional investors across Canada which collectively manage over $5 trillion of assets. As Executive Director of CCGG, Steve created and debated public policy positions in relation to ESG issues and led over 85 ESG engagement meetings between CCGG and directors of public companies across Canada. The Directors’ E&S Guidebook was the final publication issued by CCGG during Steve’s tenure.
Steve has spoken and written widely and has been interviewed by television, radio and newspaper reporters on numerous ESG topics. The press have called Steve’s writing “insightful” and “prescient” and have referred to Steve as “a leading governance expert”, “a leading practitioner in the Canadian fund industry” and one of “Canada’s top M&A attorneys”. Global Proxy Watch named Steve one of the “10 people around the world who have had the most impact on corporate governance” in 2016.
Steve is a director of the RIA and a director and past President of the Harvard Business School Club of Toronto and was the inaugural Co-Chair of the Global Network of Investor Associations. He also is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Global Stewardship Committee (and prior thereto the Shareholder Rights Committee) of the International Corporate Governance Network.
Steve is a member of the New York and Ontario bars. He has law degrees from University of Toronto and New York University, an M.B.A. from Harvard University, the Responsible Investment Professional Certification from the RIA and the certificate in Sustainable Capitalism & ESG from UC Berkeley Law.
Edgar acts as lead counsel in multifaceted Canadian and international transactions across a variety of industries, including energy and infrastructure, technology, financial services, manufacturing, real estate and automotive. Edgar has extensive experience in all aspects of corporate governance for businesses, non-profits and charities, including acting as corporate secretary and legal counsel to boards of directors, dealing with board protocols, and crafting and implementing executive compensation plans and agreements.
Edgar focuses on building long-term relationships with his clients by understanding their concerns, and giving practical and focused advice in a consistent and timely manner.
Edgar has extensive experience sitting on and advising boards. He currently sits on the board of a specialty insurance firm, as well as a software company in the human services industry, and a Canadian subsidiary of an electronic gaming company. Edgar acted as counsel and corporate secretary to a public company board for 8 years. Edgar sat on the local board of Oikocredit for 16 years, including as Chair for 7 years. Oikocredit is a worldwide co-operative and social investor with over €1 billion in total assets, which invests in the microfinance sector, fair trade organizations, co-operatives, and small to medium sized enterprises.
Janne Duncan is a senior partner at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, part of the global firm Norton Rose Fulbright with 4000 lawyers across Canada, the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.
Janne has more than 25 years of experience as a business lawyer advising public and private enterprises and their boards on often sensitive mandates. In addition to her more traditional securities law practice involving transactions, corporate finance, IPOs and commercial agreements, she helps clients design new business models that navigate complex legal and regulatory environments, and proactively mitigate risk by implementing governance strategies and best practices in the areas of take-over bid defenses, executive compensation, corporate social responsibility, business ethics and anti-corruption, human rights, supply chain management, stakeholder engagement and public disclosure. Supported by the firm’s global platform, she has worked extensively for financial institutions and for mining and agri- business companies operating in Canada and globally.
Janne is on the firm’s pro bono committee and serves as legal advisor to many leading not-for- profit Canadian arts and human rights organizations including PEN Canada (where she served on the board member for 6 years), Institute for Canadian Citizenship, Necessary Angel Theatre Company (board member) and Art Canada Institute. Janne is very involved in women’s initiatives in the mining space, including the 30% Club Canada where she chairs the steering committee responsible for the extractive sector, and Women in Mining Toronto Branch. She speaks and teaches widely in the areas of mining, governance, executive compensation, corporate social responsibility and disclosure best practices, and co-leads the Women in Line for Leadership board-readiness program for women in the extractive sector co-sponsored by Norton Rose Fulbright Canada and KPMG.