Mr. Darren Novak is a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan’s Mergers & Acquisitions Group and heads the EMEA Shareholder Engagement and M&A Capital Markets practice.

Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Darren was a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions Group of UBS Investment Bank where he lead UBS’s activist defence efforts globally. Prior to joining UBS Investment Bank, Darren co-led the Activist Situations Team at Houlihan Lokey. He has advised in many of the leading situations since 2010, including campaigns with respect to Bayer, BHP, CRH, CSX, Darden, Kirin, MetroPCS and NXP. Prior to Houlihan Lokey, Darren was an M&A attorney for a dozen years, most recently as a partner at Davies Ward specialising in contested situations, and before that as a Senior Associate in the M&A department of Simpson Thacher.

Darren received a JD and MBA from the University of Toronto. He graduated with distinction with a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from the University of Alberta.

Jen is the CEO of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN).

Led by investors with AUM of over $US 100 trillion, ICGN aims to strengthen markets and create long term value through effective corporate governance policy and practice. Jen represents ICGN on the Japanese Financial Services Agency’s Council of Experts and on the IFIAR stakeholder working group and the PCAOB IAG.

Jen joined ICGN from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where she was EMEA Head of Stewardship, driving engagement, proxy voting and industry collaboration efforts. In that role, Jen was a member of the Investment Association Company Reporting and Auditing Group and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) Investor Advisory Committee. In 2022 Jen was also a member of the US Council of Institutional Investors Corporate Governance Advisory Council.

Previously, Jen was Deputy Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs at the UK Financial Reporting Council, responsible for coordinating outreach with the global investment community, listed company leadership teams and board members across all areas of the regulator’s scope. Jen led policy outreach on ESG, audit and reporting matters including the creation of the 2020 UK Stewardship Code and the 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code.

Jen started her career at PwC.

Jen holds a BA in Business, Accounting and Finance from the University of Newcastle and a Masters in Sustainability Leadership from the University of Cambridge.