Ms Caroline Chong was awarded the 2023 Santow Scholarship for her paper ‘The Design and Distribution Obligations: An Effective Tool for Consumer Protection?’. The paper examines ASIC’s enforcement action under the ‘Design and Distribution Obligations’ regime to date and assesses the effectiveness of the regime in achieving its stated objective of reducing consumer harm. The paper has been published in the November 2023 edition of the Company and Securities Law Journal.

Caroline recently completed a Juris Doctor degree at Melbourne Law School and will pursue a graduate programme at King & Wood Mallesons in Sydney in 2024. Prior to commencing her Juris Doctor degree, Caroline worked at the Commonwealth Treasury in Canberra as a Policy Analyst in financial system regulation. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and majored in History and Political Economy, and pursued her Honours thesis on the history of economic thought.

The 2021 Santow Scholarship was awarded to Andrew O’Beid for his paper ‘How does Statutory Unconscionable Conduct Interact with Other Legal Rules and Norms?’, which explores how the statutory prohibitions on unconscionable conduct contained in Australia's consumer protection framework interact with other legal regimes and standards, with a particular focus on s 912A(1)(a) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). 

Andrew is a lawyer in the Chief Legal Office at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. He is currently studying for a Master of Law at the University of Cambridge. He graduated from Newcastle Law School with first class honours in 2017, after first earning a science degree in 2015.

The 2020 Santow Scholarship was awarded to Sarah Nega for her paper 'FAR beyond the BEAR necessities: an evaluation of the Financial Accountability Regime'. This paper firstly, examines the scope and content of obligations under the proposed Financial Accountability Regime ('FAR') as compared to its precursor, the Banking Executive Accountability Regime and certain like duties under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth); secondly, evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of the FAR against its expressed regulatory objectives; and thirdly, considers the cohesiveness of the FAR proposal against broader regulatory and legislative measures. Sarah is an Associate at Allens within the funds, superannuation and wealth sub-set of the corporate practice group. She holds a Juris Doctor (Laws) and Bachelor of Commerce (with a double-major in Finance and Economics) from the University of Melbourne.

The 2019 Santow Scholarship was awarded to Lachlan Peake for his paper, "LAWS3072 – Corporate Misconduct and White Collar Crime". Lachlan graduated from UNSW Law in 2019 with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours First Class and the University Medal) and a Bachelor of Arts. While at university he was a member of the UNSW Law Journal, serving as Executive Editor in 2018, a role which developed his interest in academic research and writing. In 2020, Lachlan is commencing as a law graduate with Allens in Sydney.

Maeve McGregor is a lawyer with a background in commercial and property law and previously served as tipstaff (judge’s associate) in the New South Wales Court of Appeal. She holds first class honours degrees in Arts and Law and was the recipient of several academic prizes across her degrees. Maeve was awarded the 2017 Santow Scholarship for her paper ‘Stepping-Stone Liability and the Directors’ Statutory Duty of Care and Diligence’, which examines the validity of recent scholarship concerning the Court’s seemingly novel approach to director liability in circumstances where the director is found to have caused or allowed the company to contravene the law. The paper was also submitted as part of Maeve’s coursework for the LL.M she is currently undertaking and has since been accepted for publication in the Company & Securities Law Journal.

Adam Fovent was awarded the 2016 Santow Scholarship for his paper ‘Unreasonable Director-related Transactions: the Long arm of the Liquidator?’ which examines s 588FDA of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the potential application of that section in the context of phoenix activity and failed private equity transactions.

James Emmerig was awarded the 2015 Santow Scholarship for his paper on the theoretical efficacy of including a shareholder class action waiver in the constitution of an Australian company.

Ryan Turner was awarded the 2014 Santow Scholarship for his paper comparing the risk to parent companies of tortious liability for the activities of their subsidiaries under Australian law and English law. His paper has since been published in the Company & Securities Law Journal as 'Revisiting the Direct Liability of Parent Entities following Chandler v Cape plc'.