The traditional financial market sectors of insurance, commercial banking, derivatives, capital markets and asset management are converging in practice, but their analysis is still largely sector-based. Financial Law offers a cross-sectoral, functional approach. It highlights anomalies in the different legal treatment of the respective sectors (suggesting law reform to some, and arbitrage opportunities to others) and identifies key trends.
This book offers an integrated approach to financial law which is both useful and timely, as the markets have been converging for over two decades. Functions traditionally performed in one sector are now undertaken in another, and financial techniques are emerging which combine characteristics of different traditional transaction types. Investment banks increasingly offer new structured products in a range of alternative legal "wrappers." Securitization--particularly in association with credit derivatives--continues to be a dominant force, drawing ever more categories of business into the capital markets.
Innovations such as these have been associated with a high level of legal risk, and the cross-sectoral freedoms offered by deregulation have not been fully exploited. This book presents financial law as a discrete branch of law, to be considered in the round; it will therefore provide the practitioner, scholar or regulator with a complete, unfragmented view of the subject.

This book examines a largely unexplored dimension of the European agencies, namely their role in EU external relations and on the international plane. International cooperation has become a salient feature of EU agencies triggering important legal questions regarding the scope and limits of their international dimension, the nature and effects of their international cooperation instruments, their status within the EU and on the global level, and leading potentially to tensions between EU law and international law. This book fills the existing knowledge gap by scrutinizing the international cooperation legal framework and practice of EU agencies, including their mandate, tasks and instruments, together with their legal status as actors with a global dimension. It sets out a general legal-analytical framework which combines legal parameters from EU and international law to assess EU agencies as global actors, and examines in detail three case studies on carefully selected agencies to shed light on the complexities of EU agencies' daily international cooperation.

As a result of resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong and Macao as well as the uncertain relationship between the Mainland and Taiwan, China has become a country composed of peculiar political compounds, resulting in four independent jurisdictions. This makes inter-regional legal cooperation a complicated yet compelling topic. Divided into five parts, this book considers possible solutions to problems in China's inter-regional cross-border insolvency cooperation. These solutions are developed on the basis of two groups of comparative studies, including comparison among the cross-border insolvency systems of the four independent jurisdictions in China and comparison between EU Insolvency Regulation and the UNCITRAL Model Law. The author discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the two systems and presents original recommendations for the way forward. The book will be a valuable resource for academics and policy makers in insolvency law, Asian law and comparative law.

This edited volume explores the question of the lawfulness under international law of economic activities in occupied territories from the perspectives of international law, EU law, and business and human rights. Providing a multi-level overview of relevant practices, policies and cases, the book is divided in three parts, each dealing with how different legal fields have come to grips with the challenges brought about by the question of the lawfulness under international law of economic activities in occupied territories. The first part includes contributions pertaining to the international law dimension of the question. It contains chapters on the conjunction between jus in bello, jus ad bellum and international human rights law in the context of exploitation of natural resources in territories under belligerent occupation; on third party obligations flowing from the application of occupation law in relation to natural resources exploitation; and on State practice with regards to trading with occupied territories. The second part focuses on EU law and contains contributions that assess the EU's approach to occupied territories and the extent to which this approach comports with the EU's obligations under international law; contributions providing an in-depth assessment of the case-law of the CJEU on occupied territories; as well as contributions pertaining to the political considerations that may influence the legal framing of questions pertaining to occupied territories. The final part focuses on the business and human rights perspective, with chapters on investment arbitration as a means for holding the occupant accountable for its conduct towards foreign investments and investors; on the role and impact of the soft law framework governing corporate activity (such as the UN Guiding Principles) on business involvement with occupied territories; as well as a final case study on the dispute involving Israeli football activity in settlements located in the OPT and the legal responsibility of FIFA in this regard. The book will appeal to academics, practitioners and policy-makers alike.

This fourth edition of Business Law offers comprehensive and accessible coverage of the key aspects of business law. Established legal topics such as the English legal system, Contract, Consumer, Intellectual Property, Company and Employment Law, and emerging areas such as Health, Safety and Environmental Law are all addressed in the context of business. The work has been thoroughly updated to include all the major recent developments in business law, such as the new EU Trade Secrets Directive and case outcomes decided since the publication of the last edition. The book also discusses the impact of Brexit. In addition, the book features extensive diagrams and tables, revision summaries, reading lists, and clear key case boxes for easy reference. This book is ideal reading for undergraduate law and business studies students, while also applicable to practitioners and those with a more general interest in business law.

Essentials of Business Law is well regarded for its clear yet succinct exposition of core principles and key cases across the essential legal topics relevant to business students. This new edition has been significantly updated and deals fully and comprehensively with the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Annually, the government commits significant expenditure to a type of public contracts which are known as Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) or the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). These contracts bind the public purse for decades in sectors such as Health, Defence and Detention, and involve the assignment of a significant role to the private sector in the provision of public services. This book explores the controversial subject of the public accountability of these contracts, and the corresponding large sums of public money involved. It explains how public accountability works for PPPs and the PFI, and it argues that it should be provided as part of the Economic Constitution. Drawing comparative understandings from the UK and the USA constitutional legal traditions, the book investigates public accountability from the perspective of the Economic Constitution, focusing on three accountability criteria - legal, accounting and administrative. In doing so, it provides an analysis which informs both from the perspective of academic research and from that of legal and consulting practice.

Arbitration is the dominant method in the world for resolving international commercial disputes. As compared with institutional arbitration, ad hoc arbitration has many advantages that make it a preferred way to resolve commercial disputes on many occasions. The Arbitration Law of the People's Republic of China, however, requires that parties appoint an arbitration institution in their arbitration agreement; otherwise an ad hoc arbitration agreement is invalid. This rule seems to preclude ad hoc arbitration under Chinese law and threatens the validity of many arbitration agreements that are imperfectly drafted. Fortunately, however, this does not mean Chinese courts will never enforce an ad hoc arbitration agreement or an ad hoc arbitration award. This book informs parties and practitioners of potential pitfalls related to ad hoc arbitration in China and offers practical guidance. It also conducts a comparative study of the history of arbitration in the Western world and in China, to identify the reasons for this hostility to ad hoc arbitration and calls for changes to this requirement under Chinese law.

The first sustained analysis examining legal transplantation into East Asia, this volume examines the prospects for transplanting a 'rule of law' that will attract and sustain international trade and investment in this economically dynamic region. The book develops both a general model that explains how legal transplantation shapes legal development in the region, whilst developing theoretical insights into the political, economic and legal discourses guiding commercial law reforms in Vietnam. For the first time, this book develops a research methodology specifically designed to investigate law reform in developing East Asia. In so doing, it challenges the relevance of conventional convergence and divergence explanations for legal transplantation that have been developed in European and North American contexts. As the first finely-grained analysis of legal development in Vietnam, the book will be invaluable to academics and researchers working in this area. It will also be of interest to those involved in commercial legal theory.

Harmonising Regulatory and Antitrust Regimes for International Air Transport addresses the timely and problematic issue of lack of uniformity in legal standards for international civil aviation. The book focuses on discrepancies within the regulatory and antitrust framework, comprehensively reveals the major legal limitations and conflicts, and presents possible solutions thereto. It discusses possible strategies for multilateralisation and defragmentation of air law, and for international harmonisation of airline economic regulation with fair competition standards. This discussion extends to competition between air transport law and other legal regimes as well as to specific regulatory problems related to air transport. The unique feature of the book is that it reconciles distinct perspectives on these issues presented by renowned aviation and aerospace experts who represent the world's key air transport markets and air law academic centres. By providing unbiased solutions that could serve as a base for future international arrangements, this book will be invaluable for aviation professionals, as well as students and scholars with an interest in air law, economic regulation, antitrust studies, international relations, transportation policy and airline management.

This open access volume of the AIDA Europe Research Series on Insurance Law and Regulation brings together contributions from authors with different legal cultures. It aims to identify the legal issues that arise from the intersection of two disciplines: insurance law and corporate/company law. These legal issues are examined mainly from the perspective of European Union (EU) law. However, there are also contributions from other legal systems, enriching the perspective with which to approach these issues.

This volume focuses on transparency as the guiding principle for insurance regulation and supervisory law. All chapters were written by experts in their respective fields, who address transparency in a wide range of European and non-European jurisdictions. Each chapter reviews the transparency principles applicable in the jurisdiction discussed. While the European jurisdictions reflect different facets of the principle as emerging from EU law on insurance, the principle has developed quite differently in other jurisdictions.

This work is a multidisciplinary analysis of the issue of insider dealing from the perspective of the applicability of criminal law to regulate it. First, it examines the nature of its prohibition in the European Union and in the United States of America. The text includes a more extensive overview of prohibition in four Member States of the European Union (France, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and Poland). Then, it summarises the arguments presented by ethicists and economists in favour of and against insider dealing. Further, it analyses the foundations of criminal law and justifications that are given for its application. On the basis of this analysis, it presents a new two-step theory of criminalisation. The first step is based on a liberal theory of wrongfulness that makes reference to protection of the basic human rights. The second step relies on classical but often forgotten principles of criminal law. Finally, it examines possible alternatives to criminal rules.

This exciting volume draws together the views of some of the most eminent figures in corporate law and finance regarding the law on fixed and floating charges. The focus for the book is the litigation in the case of Spectrum Plus, which culminated in a House of Lords judgment in June 2005 ([2005] UKHL 41). This decision has important commercial implications, not only for the parties in the case but also for the business community at large, including banks and other lenders, and practitioners in corporate finance and insolvency. The litigation also raises important juristic questions regarding the fixed/floating charge divide such as the theoretical basis for that divide, how the divide is determined, why it exists at all and whether it ought to be maintained as a coherent doctrine and a beneficial policy. The decision also has important ramifications in both security law and insolvency law and it provides a challenge to some of our most basic conceptions of freedom of contract and the assignability of rights and assets in law and equity. These issues, amongst others, are explored by the contributors to this book. The contributors include Gabriel Moss, who was one of the QCs involved in the Spectrum litigation, Sir Roy Goode, Michael Bridge, John Armour, Robert Stevens, Sarah Worthington, Julian Franks and Oren Sussman, Jenny Payne and Louise Gullifer, Philip Wood, Joshua Getzler, Look Chan Ho, and Nicholas Frome and Kate Gibbons.

This is a commentary on the two new EC Directives on public procurement, which are due to be implemented and in force by January 2006, together with practical guidance upon their application and implementation in national law. The author offers a clear and precise explanation of the meaning and significance of the rules and identifies and discusses the problem areas in understandable terms. A new feature of the second edition is that it covers all procurement rules relating to the institutions of the EC itself, for example rules relating to procurement by the EC Commission or European Development Fund. The author is a recognized expert in this field, bringing to bear experience both in private practice and as an adviser to governments and public bodies to provide an essential reference guide for all who operate in this field. The book is based on the provisions of the Directives themselves and, as such, sets out the minimum requirements that must be followed by each member state in the process of transposition. Whilst it considers the EU objectives of procurement regulation and the interpretations provided by the European Court, its primary purpose is to explain the effects of the EC rules in the context of real world procurement practices and procedures. The book takes into account the latest amendments brought about by the EC Directives of 2004, including: the consolidation of the Directives to introduce a more sequenced logic; the significant improvements and amendments brought about by both Directives: the introduction of new procedures; the introduction of electronic procurement (including specific provisions relating to dynamic purchasing systems and electronic auctions); the permissibility of the application of social and environmental policies and the applicable conditions as well as the amendments to the utilities sector Directive in respect of its scope (coverage of telecommunications removed and postal services added); the new general escape mechanisms for competitive markets and the significant changes to the affiliated undertakings. The book also covers the other EC procurement rules which apply to funded contracts and contracts benefiting third countries.

This book stands out from others on media law by emphasising the increasingly important regulatory and European aspects, and focussing less on more traditional common law topics. The authors take a comparative approach, using material from the USA and Commonwealth jurisdictions, as well as looking at relevant aspects of Human Rights law. The commentary is comprehensive and critical, introducing you to the wide range of technical and policy questions which are posed in the field of media law.

The Mode 4 commitments of WTO Members are narrow and shallow.Even though trade negotiations for enhanced Mode 4 access started well before the launch of the DDA- prospects for success are thin.These negotiations followed a traditional mercantilist approach- with limited attention to the underlying difficulties countries face in letting people into their borders, either generally, or on the basis of a WTO GATS commitment.This Book argues that this approach alone will not succeed. It proposes a focus not on trading market access concessions only, but on discussions aimed at understanding each other's regulatory approaches.To date, in terms of the literature available, we know very little about how WTO Members are managing their Mode 4 commitments.We know even less about how the WTO could learn from clearly more advanced steps in regional liberalization processes.This Book addresses these issues- through case studies of market access and national treatment commitments, and regulatory approaches in Economic Integration Agreements of a select group of WTO Members."

"Law and Markets" examines the interaction between legal rules, market forces and prices. It emphasises the economic effects of legal rules on individual incentives in both market and non-market settings, and draws on cases and materials from a wide variety of legal jurisdictions to illustrate economic principles.

Exploring the role played by cooperation in the law and management of modern, complex contracts, this book contrasts an in-depth review of case law with a large-scale empirical study of the views of commercial actors responsible for the outcomes of these contracts. The possibility of aligning these expectations with the law is considered from the perspective that there is a general duty for parties to cooperate and ensure constructive engagement. The book examines how this might translate into constructive communication, professional governance, genuine attempts to settle issues, a right to fix defects and a duty to take decisions in a fair and rational manner. It argues that statutory adjudication should be extended to all commercial contracts and more ambitious use of available remedies, including those for prevention and cost penalties, would help provide incentives for parties to cooperate more fully. The book will be of interest to academics in the fields of contract law and of contract management, as well as legal and commercial practitioners.

Illegality in Marine Insurance Law is the first book to deal specifically with illegality in the context of marine insurance law. Previously, this issue has only ever been partially covered within analysis and criticism of Section 41 of the Marine Insurance Act 1906 and warranties. However, Dr Wang Feng goes much further than this by considering its impact on the common law relevant to marine insurance in many jurisdictions worldwide. The book addresses whether the existing law represents an accurate codification of the former authorities and whether Section 41 truly reflects existing legal principles. As well as this, the book examines how correctly to approach illegality within the context of marine insurance, considering the fundamental changes to the rule of breach of warranty introduced by the Insurance Act 2015. Of interest to academic researchers and practitioners in common law and civil law jurisdictions, this book provides rigorous analysis of the illegality issue and a conceptual approach for various approaches to reform marine insurance law. It is a unique and comprehensive guide to illegality in marine insurance law.

There has been little or no study on trademark laws in Asia on a cross-jurisdictional level. This book aims at filling the existing gap and provides a comprehensive overview of trademark laws of eight major Asian jurisdictions and their most-updated trademark case law. The book analyses six of the principal issues that best reflect Asian features in trademark law and trademark development. The cases in the book are principally the most authoritative decisions, usually the first to deal with certain new emerging issues, or the first to apply particular statutory provisions in the respective jurisdiction. Also included are a small number of direction-changing, outlying or even controversial decisions. Each case report is divided into six sections: summary, legal context, facts, reasoning of the court, legal analysis, and commercial or industrial significance. Readers will find this book useful in both its overview of the legal context and how those cases are to be interpreted legally and commercially.

The book ties together much of the existing work on the history of oil and gas regulation in Iran and builds on that foundation to propose a coherent and balanced approach within the framework of the NCC.

Economists advise that the law should seek efficiency. More recently, it has been suggested that common law systems are more conducive of economic growth than code-based civil law systems. This book argues that there is no theory to support such statements and provides evidence that rejects a 'one-size-fits-all' approach. Both common law and civil law systems are reviewed to debunk the relationship between the efficiency of the common law hypothesis and the alleged inferiority of codified law systems. Legal Origins and the Efficiency Dilemma has six aims: explaining the efficiency hypothesis of the common law since Posner's 1973 book; summarizing the legal origins theory in the context of economic growth; debunking their relationship; discussing the meaning of 'common law' and the problems with the efficiency hypothesis by comparing laws across English speaking jurisdictions; illustrating the shortcomings of the legal origins theory with a comparative law and economics analysis; and concluding there is no theory and evidence to support the economic superiority of common law systems. Based on previous pieces by the authors, this book expands their work by including new areas of analysis (such as trusts), detailing previous analysis (such as French law versus common law in the areas of contract, property and torts), and updating for recent developments in the academic discourse. This volume is of interest to academics and students who study microeconomics, comparative law and foundations of law, as well as legal policy analysts.

This book focuses on various problems arising as a result of China's e-business development. These include e-commerce aspects of the internet industry and e-governance aspects of the presiding agencies. E-privacy and online IPR protection will be of particular interest to readers, as these are important international problems that China has been trying its best to deal with for many years. Each paper in this book presents valuable guidelines and suggestions to allow readers to form a sound understanding of China's e-business development.

This is the first book published that focuses on competition law and policy in the Japanese pharmaceutical sector. It consists of chapters written and edited by academics who research the industry from various perspectives, including economics, competition law, pharmaceutical regulations, and intellectual property law. Competition policies involving pharmaceutical products attract attention from academics and policymakers worldwide. The pharmaceutical industry is regulated by drug laws that vary from country to country and are affected by differing practices and industrial structures. The book begins by examining drug regulations and trade practices in the industry that are peculiar to Japan and its healthcare system. It then presents the Japanese Antimonopoly Act and cases involving it, and discussions of current competition law issues in the Japanese pharmaceutical industry. The book also discusses innovation and intellectual property and economic analyses of pharmaceutical regulations and drug discovery. The chapters include comparative studies on Japanese regulations vs. those in the European Union and the United States. Japan is one of the biggest pharmaceutical markets in the world. With this in mind, the book provides "one-stop shopping" for anyone interested in pharmaceutical regulations in the country. Covering the basics but extending to in-depth explorations of complex problems, this book appeals not only to students and academics, pharmaceutical companies and regulators, but also to those dealing with real-world policy issues that encompass competition policy, intellectual property, and pharmaceutical regulation. Chapter 11 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com