John Coates

John Coates is the John F. Cogan, Jr. Professor of Law and Economics at Harvard Law School, where he also serves as the Vice Dean for Finance and Strategic Initiatives, Chair of the Committee on Executive Education and Online Learning, Chair of the Committee on Title IX Procedures  and Research Director of the Center on the Legal Profession. Before joining Harvard, he was a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, specializing in financial institutions and M&A. At HLS and at HBS, he teaches corporate governance, M&A, finance, and related topics, and is a Fellow of the American College of Governance Counsel and the European Corporate Governance Institute. He has testified before Congress and provided consulting services to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Department of Treasury, the New York Stock Exchange, and participants in the financial markets, including hedge funds, investment banks, and private equity funds. He served as independent consultant for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in one of the first “Fair Fund” distributions (an enforcement action regarding payment for order flow), and one of the largest distributions ($306 million relating to market timing and late trading), and is currently the Chair of the Investor-as-Owner Subcommittee of the Investor Advisory Committee of the SEC. He has served as an independent representative of individual and institutional clients of institutional trustees and money managers, and currently is serving as a DOJ-appointed independent monitor for one of the Global Systemically Important Financial Institutions.

Areas of Interest

• Financial Institutions
• Legal Profession
• Corporate Law: Mergers and Acquisitions
• Securities Regulation