John Black

Partner, Corporate
Co-Chair: Investment Funds

Toronto

(416) 862-6586 

[email protected]

Bar Admission: Ontario, 1994 |

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Areas of Expertise

John A. Black is a Partner with Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP based in Toronto and is Co-Chair of the Firm’s Investment Funds and Asset Management practice. He has more than two decades of business law experience with a practice focused on investment management and securities regulatory and compliance matters.  

John has played a key role in many complex merger and acquisition transactions in the financial services industry. He is a trusted advisor to investment managers, pension funds and other institutional investors on strategic matters relating to ETFs, hedge funds, mutual funds, private equity funds and managed account arrangements.

John has acted on a significant number of ETF launches and has also advised a number of large Canadian government and corporate sponsored pension funds on their strategic investments in offshore hedge funds, private equity funds and managed account platforms. He has significant experience advising portfolio managers, dealers and fund managers on their compliance obligations under Canada’s registration rules, and provides tailored strategic advice to U.S. and global investment management firms with respect to their Canadian operations and business activities.

Areas of Expertise

Representative Work

  • Counsel to Manulife Financial Corporation in its $4-billion acquisition of the Canadian-based operations of Standard Life plc. The deal combines Manulife, one of the largest insurance companies in the world, and Standard Life Canada, the country’s fifth-largest insurer
  • BlackRock on its acquisition of Claymore
  • BlackRock Asset Management Canada on launches of a variety of iShares exchange-traded funds
  • Management shareholders in sale of Saxon Financial to IGM Financial
  • Manulife on its acquisitions of Berkshire TWC and the AIC mutual fund business
  • Pension funds and other institutional investors on investments in offshore hedge and private equity funds
  • US asset management firms on Canadian domiciled fund launches
  • Walton International Group on sale of Partners In Planning Financial Group to Investment Planning Counsel

Awards and Recognition

  • Chambers Canada: Canada’s Leading Lawyers for Business: Recognized in Investment Funds (Band 1) and Investment Funds: Fund Formation
    • [John is] “an excellent lawyer” who provides “”very thoughtful analysis and rigorous attention to detail.”
  • The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory: Recognized in Investment Funds & Asset Management – Investment Funds
  • Best Lawyers in Canada: Recognized in Securities Law
  • Who’s Who Legal: Recognized in Private Funds – Formation (International); Private Funds (Canada)

Credentials

Education

  • University of Western Ontario, LL.B.
  • University of Western Ontario, B.A.

Languages

  • English

Professional Affiliations

  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Law Society of Ontario
  • Investment Funds Institute of Canada
  • Portfolio Management Association of Canada

Osler is a leading business law firm practising internationally from offices across Canada and in New York. Our clients include industry and business leaders in all segments of the market and at various stages in the growth of their businesses. We have built our reputation on our commitment to our clients' success and the experience, expertise and collaborative approach for which we are recognized. We believe that our success is a reflection of our clients' success.