Chris is lead partner of the firm's Financial Services Group and has a national and international profile. A specialist in lending and corporate finance, private M&A, corporate restructuring admitted to practice in both Ontario and New York, he has extensive experience in advising in large institutional, corporate and mid-market clients in domestic and cross-border transactions across a wide range of industries.
Prior to joining Gardiner Roberts, he was a partner in the Toronto and New York offices of a global law firm, where he led the Canadian Finance/Restructuring practice, and was a partner Global Banking and Automotive groups and the NA Corporate practice. Before that he was a partner in the Financial Services Group at a national Canadian firm. Early in his career, he worked at a leading Australian law firm and was cross appointed to an Australian Law Faculty where he lectured on corporate and finance topics.
He has served as Co-Chair of the restructuring sections of the International Bar Association and the Canadian Bar Association, as Vice Chair of the IBA's North American Forum, on the TMA's International Committee, and is a member of the IBA delegation to the UNCITRAL's WG-V (international insolvency & restructuring reform).
Mr Besant has written and spoken extensively on finance topics domestically and internationally. A co-founder of the IBA's quarterly publication Insolvency & Restructuring International, he is the Canadian author for Colliers Guide to International Bankruptcy, and serves on the Finance and Lending Advisory Board of Practical Law Canada. He has appeared in media outlets on finance topics and has served as guest lecturer in the LLM programs at Columbia University, NYU & St. Johns' University.