SJ Berwin partner leads Tory fight on law reforms

Jonathan Djanogly, a corporate partner at SJ Berwin and the Conservative spokesman for trade and industry, is spearheading the party's opposition to the Government's company law reforms.

Paramount among a number of objections, the Tories argue that the bill lays directors open to a deluge of damages claims. The Government argues that the bill only codifies what is already enshrined in common law.

"We're worried that business will relocate overseas," said Djanogly. "I recently led an SJ Berwin conference in New York on AIM listing with more than 100 American bankers, all of whom have been discouraged from listing on Nasdaq because of the Sarbanes-Oxley regulations. The question is, are the British going to learn from their mistake?"