Eilis Ferran

Professor Eilis Ferran serves as Professor of Company and Securities Law at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law and Director of the Centre for Corporate and Commercial Law (3CL), having previously held positions as Reader and Lecturer within the same Faculty. Her career uniquely bridges academic scholarship and legal practice, informed by her qualification as a Solicitor in the City of London.

Ferran holds a degree from the University of Cambridge and maintains active professional engagement through her solicitor qualification. This dual expertise underpins her authoritative contributions to corporate law scholarship and practice.

Her research critically examines corporate finance law, general company law, financial regulation, and insolvency, with increasing focus on reconciling shareholder primacy with environmental and social imperatives. She analyzes how directors' duties, particularly during insolvency, intersect with sustainability challenges and stakeholder interests within evolving UK and EU regulatory frameworks.

Analysis of her publication trajectory reveals a shift from foundational work on EU securities markets and banking regulation toward contemporary sustainable finance challenges. Her scholarship demonstrates how regulatory innovation—through enhanced sustainability literacy, enforcement mechanisms, and risk-based decision frameworks—can more effectively drive corporate behavior change than static legislative amendments alone.

As editor of the Journal of Corporate Law Studies and ECGI Fellow, Ferran actively shapes academic discourse. She leads the 3CL to advance interdisciplinary research on corporate governance modernization, with particular emphasis on purpose-driven corporations and regulatory responses to climate change.