Rethinking Going Public: Innovation, Access, and Accountability in Modern Capital Markets

Presented by The University of Chicago Business Law Review

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Details:

Location: University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Charles M. Harper Center, Room 219

Address: 5807 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL 60637

Date: Friday, October 24, 2025

Time: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Breaks:

8:30 AM - 9:00 AM Registration/Breakfast

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM Lunch

3:40 PM - 3:55 PM Afternoon Break

Programming:

8:30 AM - 9:00 AM Registration/Breakfast

Hot breakfast will be provided.

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM Opening Remarks 

Adam Chilton, Dean, University of Chicago Law School

Maya Desai, Editor-in-Chief, University of Chicago Business Law Review

Megan Cistulli, Executive Editor, University of Chicago Business Law Review

9:20 AM - 10:20 AM - Panel 1- The Evolving Capital Markets Landscape: Recent Developments and Governance Trends

This panel kicks off the Symposium by diving into the recent upheaval in capital markets, including how shifting rules and market forces are reshaping governance, regulation, and participation. This redefinition of the landscape for businesses, investors, and institutions alike forces a reckoning over which trends are a flash in the pan and which are here to stay. 

Moderator: Not Yet Assigned

Participants:

  • M. Todd Henderson, Professor, University of Chicago Law School
  • Mark A. Leahy, Partner, Fenwick & West
  • Elizabeth Pollman, Professor, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

10:25 AM - 11:40 AM Panel 2- Revising the Rulebook: Regulation of Innovation in Capital Markets

This panel takes on how innovations in capital markets are stretching regulatory frameworks, forcing lawmakers, enforcers, and market participants to consider how existing rules interact with novel practices. The discussion will highlight how new mechanisms of market access are reshaping the boundaries of oversight, responsibility, and risk, and how policymakers can respond.

Moderator: Not Yet Assigned

Participants:

  • William A. Birdthistle, Professor, University of Chicago Law School
  • Raquel Fox, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
  • Adriana Z. Robertson, Professor, University of Chicago Law School
  • Ran Ben-Tzur, Partner, Fenwick & West

11:45 AM - 12:30 PM Distinguished Address 

Steven Neil Kaplan, Professor, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM Lunch

Boxed lunch will be provided.

1:35 PM - 2:35 PM Keynote 

Kara M. Stein, Board Member, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board

2:40 PM - 3:40 PM Panel 3 -  SPAC Governance: Managing the Clock

This panel explores the unique governance challenges of SPACs, where ticking deadlines and potentially misaligned incentives create fraught decision points. The discussion will focus on how SPAC sponsors, boards, and investors navigate these time-sensitive transactions.

Moderator: Not Yet Assigned

Participants:

  • Philip G. Berger, Professor, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
  • Jill E. Fisch, Professor, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
  • Andrew A. Schwartz, Professor, University of Colorado Law School

 

3:40 PM - 3:55 PM Break

 

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Panel 4 - The Economic Significance of IPOs: The Key to Competition?

Our Symposium's final panel takes a step back to appreciate the role of IPOs in the broader economy, analyzing how newly developed alternatives, if they become lasting fixtures, could impact competition and innovation.

Moderator: Not Yet Assigned

Participants:

  • Robert Bartlett, Professor, Stanford Law School
  • Jay R. Ritter, Professor Emeritus, University of Florida Warrington College of Business
  • Matthew Wansley, Professor, Cardozo School of Law