Maryse Bertrand is a partner specializing in corporate and securities law. Her practice focuses on corporate finance transactions, including equity and debt offerings, mergers and acquisitions involving public companies, buy-out funds and entrepreneurial businesses.

Maryse has represented public corporations, major investors and investment dealer firms before the securities regulatory authorities in connection with take-overs, corporate finance and other transactions as well as on matters of securities compliance, regulation and policy. She also advises boards of directors, special committees, senior management and shareholders on a wide range of transactions, public disclosure issues, shareholder proposals, proxy contests, corporate governance and various other corporate matters.

In the last few years, Maryse has led a number of major cross-border or pan-Canadian transactions, including the acquisition by TSX Graphic of the Bourse de Montréal; the leveraged buy-out of BCE by a group of investors led by Teachers’ Private Capital in the amount of $51.7 billion; the merger of equals between Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. and Bowater Incorporated; the acquisition of La Senza by The Limited Group; the take-over by Circuit City of InterTan (Radio Shack); the Couche-Tard acquisition of The Circle K Corporation and the sale by BCE of Telesat Canada. Maryse also recently advised the Special Committee of St. Lawrence Cement Group Inc. with respect to the privatization of that company by Holcim. She frequently acts on behalf of underwriting syndicates in corporate finance transactions.

Maryse is considered one of Canada’s leading corporate lawyers, and has been selected by LEXPERT Magazine as one of Canada's Top 30 Corporate Dealmakers, Canada’s Top 25 Women Lawyers and Canada’s 100 Most Creative Lawyers. In 2007, she was amongst the first recipients of the title of “Advocatus Emeritus”, a distinction awarded by the Quebec Bar in recognition of exceptional contribution to the legal profession. Maryse is also listed as a leading Corporate/M&A lawyer in Chambers Global’s Guide The World’s Leading Lawyers (since 2002), where she was recognized as a "highly respected dealmaker with expertise in a wide range of corporate transactions". She has been ranked as one of Canada’s leading corporate finance, securities and mergers and acquisitions lawyers in the Guide to the Leading 100 Canada/U.S. Cross-Border Corporate Lawyers in Canada and is annually recognized as one of the most frequently recommended practitioners in the areas of corporate finance and securities, mergers and acquisitions and corporate commercial law in the Canadian Legal LEXPERT Directory. Her name was featured as a most frequently recommended lawyer in the areas of corporate law and M&A in PLC Which lawyer?. She was listed in The Best Lawyers in Canada as a leading lawyer in the areas of corporate governance, directors/officers liability, mergers and acquisitions, securities and corporate law. Maryse was a recipient of the “Femme à l’Honneur 2000” award which is granted annually to women in leadership positions by the Comité Action Femmes d’affaires of the Montréal Chamber of Commerce. She has achieved Martindale Hubbell’s highest ranking and is regularly listed in The LEXPERT/American Lawyer’s Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada.

Maryse is a past lecturer at the McGill University Faculty of Law on securities regulation and has written and spoken on corporate finance and securities law for various universities and organizations, including the Quebec Bar School, Queen's University Faculty of Law and the Toronto Stock Exchange. She was a member of the National Advisory Committee to the Task Force to Modernize Securities Legislation in Canada and Chair of the Securities Advisory Committee of the Autorité des marchés financiers from 2000 to 2005. Maryse is a member of the American, Canadian and Quebec Bar Associations.

Maryse received her B.C.L. (with distinction) from McGill University in 1980 (University Scholar in 1978, 1979 and 1980). She became a partner in 1989.

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