On the evening of May 14, 2019, the 24th Corporate Legal Risk Forum organized by the China Enterprise Legal Risk Management Research Center of Peking University was successfully held in the 405 classroom of the second teaching building of Peking University. The forum specially invited Prof. Afra Afsharipour, Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of California, Davis, to give a lecture on "Woman and M&A". The forum also invited Jin Xiaowen, a lecturer at Beijing Foreign Studies University Law School, to participate in the forum. The forum was presided over by Prof. Jiang Daxing who from Peking University Law School. Undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students from the law school actively participated and had a heated discussion in the report process. The teachers and students warmly welcomed the arrival of Prof. Afra Afsharipour.

First of all, Prof. Afra Afsharipour vividly introduced the importance of M&A transactions and its development in the United States through a large number of data and cases, and explained the process of M&A transactions in the United States through her practical experience. Then, Prof. Afra Afsharipour pointed out from the perspective of empirical research that the acquirers in the M&A transaction actually obtained negative abnormal returns. The reasons are conflicts of interest between external financial advisors and legal counsel (problems in the compensation system of consultants in M&A transactions), agency costs between management and shareholders (management seeks self-interest) and cognitive bias (management arrogance) .

After summarizing the problems in the US M&A transaction, Prof. Afra Afsharipour entered the central topic of this forum topic – whether the gender diversity of the company's central management can help the company make better M&A trading decisions. She first introduced the employment status of women in the management of American companies through various statistics, and raised the issue that women in the United States rarely hold positions in the company's management center. Then, she analyzes the positive impact of the gender diversity of the board of directors on M&A transaction decision-making from the perspective of group thinking issues, and cites empirical analysis to prove her point of view, and also refers to some solutions adopted by the United States for the above-mentioned women's employment problems.

“The relationship between gender diversity and M&A transaction decision-making in company center management” is a very hot topic in the United States, and Prof. Afra Afsharipour’s remarks on this topic have also attracted the attention of students. In the questioning session, the students all rushed to ask their questions to Prof. Afra Afsharipour, and Prof. Afra Afsharipour answered them one by one, which benefited the students.

Finally, Prof. Jiang Daxing presented a certificate of appreciation to Prof. Afra Afsharipour on behalf of the Chinese Enterprise Legal Risk Management Research Center of Peking University. In the applause of teachers and students, the forum was successfully concluded.