In 2019, Bruce retired from legal practice after nearly 40 years at the Australian-based, global law firm, MinterEllison, specialising in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and corporate governance.
Since retirement from legal practice, Bruce has established a governance consulting business, ShedB Consulting (www.shedb.com.au) and has been focusing on board roles and writing on corporate governance.
During his career, Bruce has been involved in most major sectors of the Australian economy including agribusiness, resources, property, health, government, education and financial services.
Educational and professional qualifications
1979 BCom (Qld)
1981 LLB (Hons) (Qld)
1983 Solicitor Supreme Court of Qld
2011 Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
2018 Honorary Senior Fellow, University of Sunshine Coast
2019 Adjunct Professor, University of Queensland
2019 Justice of the Peace
Legal experience
Bruce’s experience as a corporate lawyer at MinterEllison extended for nearly 40 years with his principal focus being on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and corporate governance. He has been recognised in most of the Australian legal directories as one of the country’s leading practitioners in those areas. Bruce was involved in many stock market listings and capital raisings over his career, which include major transactions such as the AMP demutualisation and listing and the Queensland Government sell down and listing of Aurizon Holdings Ltd. His capital markets experience included assisting companies to raise funds in very difficult market conditions such as in the early 1990s during the aftermath of the 1987 stock market crash, during the tech-stock crash in 2000 and during and after the global financial crisis in 2006-2007. One of the key areas of Bruce’s governance practice was advising listed companies and their boards about ASX Listing Rule and Corporations Act requirements, including the making of market announcements and continuous disclosure, directors’ duties, issues related to the holding of general meetings and shareholder resolutions, board disagreements and assisting boards to respond to the concerns of minority shareholders
During his legal career, Bruce spent considerable time working in Asia, and for Asian-based clients, particularly, those based in China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore. As chairman of MinterEllison, Bruce made regular visits to London, New York, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Ulaanbaatar to meet clients and senior members of the business community.
Other professional roles
Takeovers Panel
Bruce has been a member of the Takeovers Panel since 2016. The Takeovers Panel is a quasi-judicial body established by the Federal Government which has exclusive responsibility for determining takeover-related disputes.
Australian Institute of Company Directors
Until February 2020, Bruce served as the chair of the Law Committee of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is also a member of the Institute's Not for Profit Chairs Advisory Board and served on the Queensland State Council of the Institute for nine years. He became a Fellow of the Institute in 2011.
Law Council of Australia
Bruce was the national chair of the Law Council of Australia's Corporations Committee in 2014-2015.
Writing and publications
In 2018 the textbook Bruce co-authored with Stephen Knight, entitled Duties of Board and Committee Members, was published by Thompson Reuters. The textbook discusses the duties of board members of a range of different kinds of corporations including ASX listed and APRA regulated entities, statutory bodies and state-owned corporations, cooperatives, universities, joint ventures and incorporated associations.
Bruce has also authored a series of publications entitled Protecting Your Position which summarise commonwealth, state and territory laws which impose duties and liabilities on directors and board members.
He has also recently entered into a publishing contract to write a new book about contemporary issues in corporate governance which directors are facing in the 2020s. It is due for publication in mid-2021.
Current and previous board roles
MinterEllison
Bruce was global chair of MinterEllison from 2013-2019. While he was chair MinterEllison grew to become Australia’s largest law firm with revenues of over $700million, approximately 250 partners and 1200 staff and offices in all mainland state and territory capital cities as well as in Auckland, Wellington, London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Ulaanbaatar.
Commercial board roles
Bruce was appointed to the board of QSuper, Australia’s second largest superannuation fund, in 2019. He was also a director of the Swedish Klarna Bank’s Australian subsidiary in 2019-2020. In 2013-2014, Bruce served on the board of ASX Listed Talon Petroleum Ltd (ASX:TPD), an oil and gas producer with interests in the US
Education sector
Bruce served on the Council of the University of the Sunshine Coast in 2010-2017, becoming Deputy Chancellor and then acting as Chancellor for the final year of his term, serves on the Griffith Business School Advisory Board and sat on the board of the RM Williams Australian Bush Learning Centre in Eidsvold and was previously the President of the Queensland Private Enterprise Centre.
Not for profit sector
Bruce is the chair of CPL (formerly Cerebral Palsy League) which is one of the largest non-church charities in Queensland with revenues of approximately $200m pa and is also chair of the Children's Hospital Foundation and IDEAS Van Partnerships Ltd (which is a mobile service which brings world-class eye care to remote communities in an effort to reduce blindness and visual impairment amongst Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders with diabetes). Bruce is a director of the Merchant Foundation, established by Billabong founder Gordon Merchant, which provides significant financial support to medical research, charities and not for profits each year and has previously chaired other health-related charities, including the Queensland Children’s Medical Research Institute and Professor Ian Frazer’s Skin Cancer Network.