Julian Franks

Professor Julian Franks’ research focuses on bankruptcy and financial distress, corporate ownership and control, cost of capital and regulation. His work with Colin Mayer and Stefano Rossi (on ownership and control) has won two international prizes. Two of his published papers have been awarded prizes for the best paper of the year.

He is an associate editor of five finance journals, including editor of a new journal of Law, Finance and Accounting. He served as a member of the DTI-Treasury committee for reviewing the UK’s insolvency code in 2001 and was a member of one of the Company Law Review committees on corporate governance. He has been an advisor to Ofcom and its predecessor Oftel for more than 15 years. He also advises other UK regulatory authorities including the Office of Rail Regulation and the Office of Water Services (OFWAT).

Professor Franks has been an expert witness for the UK Government at the International Court of Justice in The Hague on an intergovernmental dispute on landing rights at Heathrow and, more recently, for the Office of Communications (Ofcom) in three appeals to the Competition Appeals Tribunal. With Professor Brealey, he advised the Office of Constitutional Affairs on the issue of outside equity for law firms and provided advice to a Treasury committee chaired by Lord Myners on a review of the governance of mutuals. 

He was recently a member of the Breedon Committee, investigating new non-bank sources of finance for small to medium-sized companies. He is a non-executive director of Oxera Consulting Limited and is on the international advisory boards of Stern Stewart. He has been a Visiting Professor at the University of California at both Berkeley and Los Angeles.