"Most VAT systems exclude public bodies from the scope of value added tax (VAT) systems. However, a movement to include public sector bodies within the GST system to some extent or even fully (as in New Zealand) is gaining momentum, and underlies the European Commission's 2011 study on the treatment and economic impact of exemptions in the public interest. Whether the present EU treatment really is as bad as some of its critics suggest, and whether the New Zealand model really is so perfect that jurisdictions with exclusion models ought simply to replace these existing systems with a New Zealand style system: these are the questions which triggered this research and which form the basis for the critical analysis contained in this book."

"International Finance in Korea is a practical guide for foreigners about the Korean financial system and the Korean law on international finance. The author, former General Counsel of Asian Development Bank and now serving as senior advisor for Kim & Chang, has extensive experience in international finance and legal writing. The book is written in a very concise and informative manner concentrating on matters of particular interest to foreigners. The first chapter of the book reviews the Korean legal system and the Korean governmental structures. The second and third chapters of the book examine relevant provisions in the Civil Code and the Commercial Code of Korea, the two primary basic laws on civil and commercial matters. The fourth chapter of the book takes up the Korean financial system and elaborates on the business scopes and functions of different financial institutions in Korea and their interrelationships. The fifth chapter of the book addresses major international finance-related transactions in relation to Korean law including participation, financial derivatives transactions, infrastructure financing, aircraft financing, foreign investment, disclosure of securities ownership, public offering of securities, tender offer, securities lending, marketing and sale of foreign securities to Korean residents, prohibited securities trading activities, bills of exchange and promissory notes. The remaining chapters discuss other subject matters of relevance to international finance such as foreign exchange regulations, insolvency proceedings, enforcement of rights, conflict of laws, taxation, and legal opinions. The foreign exchange regulations of Korea affect all cross-bordertransactions and, therefore, must be dealt with adequately in any transactions between foreign parties and Korean parties. Insolvency laws have become increasingly important for the sufficient protection of credit-providing institutions. The chapters on enforcement of rights and conflict of laws are concerned with legal remedies available to foreign parties for defaults of Korean counterparties. The taxation chapter provides essential information about the Korean tax laws applicable to international finance-related transactions. The final chapter on legal opinions discusses essential points to look after in obtaining legal opinions from Korea on finance-related transactions. A detailed index by subject matter has been included at the end of the book. The book, thus, provides the answers to all questions frequently encountered by foreigners regarding the Korean law on international finance. "International Finance in Korea is of great interest to not only those engaged in finance-related businesses involving Korea but also lawyers assisting these businessmen and academics in the field of international finance or comparative law. The book is unique in introducing Korean law to the international community since there has been no general publication in English about Korean law.

The arm's length principle serves as the domestic and international standard toevaluate transfer prices between members of multinational enterprises for taxpurposes. The OECD has adopted the arm's length principle in Article 9 of itsModel Income Tax Convention in order to ensure that transfer prices betweenmembers of multinational enterprises correspond to those that would have beenagreed between independent enterprises under comparable circumstances. Thearm's length principle provides the legal framework for governments to have theirfair share of taxes, and for enterprises to avoid double taxation on their profits.

Ever since Korea succumbed to the East Asian economic crisis in 1997, its financial sector has been restructuring itself in accordance with the terms of an IMF bail-out package, in addition to meeting urgent domestic banking needs. All this is taking place in the context of an international convergence of supervisory standards in the banking industry, spearheaded by the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the "Core Principles" of the Basel Committee for Bank Supervision. This nexus of events makes the current reform of Korean banking laws of special significance as an example - and a test - of the "new international financial architecture" as it can be observed at work in a developing industrial economy. This text provides an in-depth analysis of Korea's banking law reform programme - its complex sources, its particular rules, the effect of international commitments as well as "soft law", the extent of economic recovery to date, and the trends and developments in banking practice and regulation likely to occur in the near future. In the process the author examines such pervasive issues as the following: the need for both short-term and long-term banking sector infrastructures and the tension this creates; the clear necessity to satisfy deep-seated societal predispositions; the role of foreign banks; ensuring the transparency of bank management; the role of banking regulatory institutions; and the importance of domestic financial stability in the global free market system. By revealing the implications for Korea of the international banking and financial standards and principles that are coming into effect throughout the trading world, the text lays bare the underpinnings of a domestic financial system geared to work efficiently in international financial markets, yet designed to protect its own "safety and soundness".

With the creation of a single global market in financial services, the effective regulation of banks at the international level has become essential. This work offers a comprehensive examination of the development and structure of the provisions for the control of international financial markets. It explores the background to the major financial crises of the late 20th-century and the nature of the global response, beginning with the collapse of the Bretton Woods system of managed exchange rates and the resulting establishment of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in 1974. The author describes the structure and operation of the Committee and examines both the content of its core supervisory papers and the development of its more general regulatory programme. The emergence of increasingly complex international banking and financial conglomerates has required a fundamental revision of the traditional sector-based methods of supervision and regulation. The book examines the difficulties associated with the cross-border and cross-sector regulation of such groups and assesses the international response to these problems. Financial crises in Asia and elsewhere during the late 1990s generated further anxiety concerning the stability of the international financial market place. The causes of the crises are accordingly examined and the various responses adopted as part of an international financial architecture analysed in detail. This book addresses all the major factors involved in international banking supervision, conglomerate control and financial stability together in a single text. It should prove a useful reference and analytical tool for all those specializing in international banking and financial market control.

From modest beginnings in the early 1990's, a reform movement in the regulation of public procurement has mushroomed into a global imperative. Two fundamental values of international free trade policy--value for money and the deterrence of corruption--have brought intense scrutiny to bear on public procurement practices in nearly every country. Now international standards (notably those of the WTO and the EU) must be met if a trading nation is to take its place in the global markets. This collection of essays offers fifteen distinct views on the current status and trends in public procurement and its various aspects. From general discussion of setup, overcoming obstacles, ensuring transparency, and compliance with international rules to specific issues raised in economies as diverse as Kosovo, China, and the United States, "Public Procurement: The Continuing Revolution provides a great wealth of insight and information. Although the emphasis throughout is on legal issues, the contributors include not only lawyers but also economists and specialists in purchasing practice. In addition, this is the first book to note the relatively recent trend, in developed countries, toward a less prescriptive, more flexible approach to regulation in which a degree of transparency is sacrificed. The question of how this trend will affect international procurement regimes is perhaps the most viral and interesting aspect of current theory and practice in the field. "Public Procurement: The Continuing Revolution is of inestimable value not only to public procurement specialists, whatever their profession, but to a much wider audience who will recognise the decisive influence of this important economicactivity on the entire area embracing trade and even international relations. Most of these essays were originally presented as papers at an international conference hosted by the Public Procurement Research Group at the University of Nottingham in September 2001.

The incidence of international tax evasion and tax avoidance is growing rapidly, due in great part to the enormous increase in electronic trading. Although international tax harmonization - particularly in the European Community legal system - has made great strides, it has failed to keep pace with the even more rapid and vigorous manoeuvres of tax evaders (unlawful) and tax avoiders (lawful) as they engender ever more massive losses of revenue. What is required, Professor Amparo Grau proclaims in this book, is adequate regulation of mutual assistance for the recovery of tax claims. It is essential to "internationalize" the link between the power to levy taxes and the power to actually enforce them. In international relations as currently established, the most promising way to achieve effective enforcement in the recovery of tax claims is through the mechanism of mutual assistance - an administrative function that tends to become mired in highly complex webs of procedure. "Mutual Assistance for the Recovery of Tax Claims" offers an in-depth analysis of the potential powers and necessary limits of the mutual assistance function at the national administrative level. This entails close examination of the issues that so often turn out to be the most problematic, such as whether or not claims enforced through mutual assistance merit priority and the validity of the foreign authority's right to enforce.

We seem to be living at a time when insurance is strained to the breaking point. From hurricanes and earthquakes to terrorist attacks and threats of nuclear devastation, enormous risks to life and property - and accompanying liabilities - proliferate on an unprecedented scale. Insurer insolvency is not yet common, but it is not unusual either. And at the root of such failures often lies the compound failure of uncollectable reinsurance. This book proposes that a significant part of the emerging insurance crisis results from inadequate regulation of reinsurance. In a detailed and cogent analysis of what an effective regulatory regime for reinsurance must entail, the author examines such factors as the following: direct supervision of reinsurers versus supervision of reinsurance policies; models from developed countries (US, UK, EU) and international organizations (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, International Association of Insurance Supervisors); the importance of taking legal and economic differences into account while applying models; the problem of local protectionism, especially in developing countries; the dismantling of trade barriers in the reinsurance industry; global harmonization of reinsurance regulation; the role of reinsurance intermediaries; finite risk reinsurance; and insurance-linked securities. The author's concluding chapter presents an essential legal infrastructure that allows for efficiency, security, and individual market characteristics. Professor Wang then applies this framework to the Taiwanese insurance market, demonstrating convincingly how his proposed regime can solve specific problems while respecting Taiwan's distinct market environment.

Experience has shown that the complex issues raised by cross-border insolvencies cannot be adequately addressed by existing national bankruptcy law regimes. In order to deal effectively with such emerging factors as multi-jurisdictional intellectual property rights and contractual issues surrounding employment or immovable property - as well as such long-standing problem areas as choice of law and recognition of judgments - a system of international bankruptcy and insolvency law is needed. This monograph shows how such a system is ready to hand in Europe and potentially available at a global level. As an obvious step in this direction, Professor Torremans examines the EU Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings. He analyses all its provisions in detail, and sets out the solution it puts in place, partial and imperfect as it may be. He concludes that within the EU this Regulation promises to improve matters substantially, and that it bodes well to become a model for international co-operation in this area. To demonstrate the need for a coherent cross-border insolvency law regime, Professor Torremans first describes two very different national approaches, those of Belgium and the United Kingdom. He explores these two traditional approaches in detail, stressing their practical applications, and finds neither system can offer a satisfactory solution in a cross-border context. Finally, recognising that this problem does not stop at the EU's borders, Professor Torremans examines the UNCITRAL Model Law in detail to see whether it does indeed make a useful contribution.

This study of entrepreneurship in Europe is a greatly expanded and updated version, in English, of the author's thesis published in Dutch in 1996. Its analysis focuses on "bottlenecks" and cross-border problems confronting European entrepreneurs in the areas of income tax, corporate income tax, and value-added tax. Four countries are chosen as representative of all the tax systems existing within the EC: The Netherlands, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The author spares no detail in his examination, explaining such important elements and distinctions as the following: how the entrepreneur is viewed under the varying tax regimes and in the different countries; entrepreneurship and the professions; incentives; sources of income; partnerships; companies and shareholders; calculation of taxable profit; justification for a separate corporate income tax; taxation of foundations and societies; and the possibility of fiscal unity among Member States for VAT purposes.

Although electronic banking is rapidly overtaking direct bank-to-customer and bank-to-bank contact - and seems to be moving forward without serious problems - the law governing this telecommunication-based business is not always clearly defined in relation to certain issues that arise with ever-greater frequency, especially in cross-border transactions. This book investigates the applicable legal consensus for this issue, based on existing legislation and relevant judicial decisions. The legal issues in question arise from events, activities, and actualities treated in this book. Eighteen authors - bankers, lawyers, and academics - contribute their expertise to elucidate the issues and their implications. They draw their legal analyses from international norms such as the UNCITRAL Model Law, relevant EC directives and draft directives, the United States Uniform Electronic Transaction Act (UETA) and E-Sign Act and other national laws, as well as from numerous court decisions in Europe and the United States. The essays are based on papers originally presented at a conference sponsored by the Law Centre for European and International Cooperation (R.I.Z.) and held at Cologne in April 2001.

The principles of equality and non-discrimination are a cornerstone of constitutional law and of international and European human rights law, and there is increasing recognition of the fact that any system of taxation must comply with them. This book examines how these principles influence the tax regimes of eight European jurisdictions. The authors examine the impact of the equality and non-discrimination principles on tax law and policy, with particular reference to their application in national courts and the European Court of Human Rights. The discussion focuses on an individual's right to appeal to the courts, the procedures for judicial review, and the core question of whether objective and reasonable justification exists for instances of unequal treatment of equal cases. This work should be of value to practitioners, policymakers, legislators, judges and researchers working in the field of taxation and human rights.

Conflicts of interest arise naturally in all walks of life, particularly in business life. As general and indeed inevitable phenomena, conflicts of interest should not be prohibited but properly managed. This book presents indepth analysis of such management in three areas of corporate governance where the conflict-of-interest problems are particularly acute: executive compensation, financial analysis, and asset management. "Conflicts of Interest" presents the results of a two-year-long research project bringing together academics and practitioners in both law and finance from Europe and the US under the auspices of the Centre for Banking and Financial Law of the University of Geneva. This book discusses the following issues: the duty of loyalty; remedies, such as disclosure, incentives, organizational measures; regulation and enforcement; and market considerations. With its intense focus on the material effects of actual conflicts of interest at the core of modern corporate governance and financial markets, this incomparable book will inform not only business people, practitioners, and academics, but also legislators, regulators, and all concerned with the far-reaching ramifications of conflict-of-interest management.

Taxation of Legal Costs in South Africa provides clear and practical guidance on taxation of costs, which will assist in determining reasonable costs in line with the existing legal system. Taxation is about the quantification of legal costs and therein lies the crux of any costs issue. The book explains how the process of taxation exercises control over costs that are legally recovered so that fees and costs are reasonable. Taxation of Legal Costs in South Africa identifies the key aspects of costs and all aspects of taxation. It records and integrates the practices, rules, tariffs and judgments of court to provide a practical resource. The discretion that is applied in taxing bills of costs and the principles relied upon in reviewing taxations are discussed extensively. The book analyses maximum tariffs that legal practitioners may charge, which have a significant impact on both the public and the legal profession. The author also offers practical suggestions for solutions to challenges that arise in practice.

The new edition of this well-known reference work for the tax community provides an introduction to the application of the United States international taxation system to taxpayers investing or transacting business in the US and other countries. In a relatively brief and manageable form, it sets forth the principles adopted by the US in taxing US or foreign individuals and corporations as they invest, work, or carry on a trade or business in the US or abroad.

This volume continues the work of the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law in 2003 and 2004 in examining through the juxtaposition of civil and common law jurisdictions areas of fundamental importance to estate and trust lawyers internationally. Here we focus upon two themes: the definition of "family" and the impact of the expansion of the concept of "family" in law; and family fights over wills and estates that recourse family members may have in challenging an estate. The first Part, The Challenge of the "New Family" for Law, considers the "challenge" both in the inter vivos and the postmortem contexts in the United States, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. A particular focus is upon the dramatic expansion of the definition of family from the "traditional" nuclear family consisting of a husband, wife and their mutual children to a definition that includes unmarried heterosexual and same sex couples living together and, in some jurisdictions to new kinds of companionate partnerships that are not based on a sexual relationship. The second Part, Contesting Wills and Intestacies, examines the law in Australia, Switzerland, France, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. In its comparison of civil and common law approaches we see how the law expresses the same principle objects "protection of family and obligations towards key family members" but does so from entirely different perspectives; and where the common law which enshrined the notion of testamentary freedom is being qualified through the expanding domain of family provision legislation, the civil law which is based on codified shares and allocated responsibilities expressed through proportionate entitlements in estates, is being qualified through a range of disqualifying and varying mechanisms. This volume is the fifth of the published deliberations of the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law. It contains the work of solicitors, barristers, notaries, judges and Professors of Law in areas of Trusts, Inheritance and Succession law, Tax and Comparative law. It will be of interest to practitioners and scholars alike in the area of trust and estate law.

The close of the 20th century saw a remarkably high incidence of bank distress and insolvency. This book seeks to identify the causes of this ongoing financial crisis and to draw lessons for the future, with the aim of assisting developed, transition and emerging economies alike to better cope with future crises. "Banks in Distress" takes as its focus the major financial system crisis experienced by the US in the 1980s, reviewing the evolution of the US banking system and the legislative, regulatory, and monetary policies of the 1980s which set the stage for the crises that followed. The author argues that the financial difficulties in the US, and to some extent the rest of the world, were largely precipitated and exacerbated by government intervention into the American domestic economy through uncoordinated monetary and fiscal policy, as well as the uncoordinated enactment of regulatory, supervisory and enforcement legislation and policy. The book in particular examines the importance of asset valuation, asset value inflation and deflation, and capital adequacy for banking and financial services organizations, an understanding of which is crucial to the development of a coherent regulatory framework. The author considers what can be learned from the US experience and suggests the need for significant changes in the banking law and policy of most developed and emerging economies, arguing that a stable and workable financial system requires transparent, co-ordinated and proactive governmental policies in the banking, fiscal, monetary and national economic areas.

This authoritative treatise on bankruptcy fraud is an invaluable reference book for bankruptcy law practitioners, white-collar criminal lawyers, prosecutors, judges, restructuring professionals, and academicians. Bankruptcy Crimes is the only book extant on the subject and is unique in its dual perspective and analysis of criminality and bankruptcy law.

On December 7, 2017, final agreement was reached on the long-awaited revised bank capital rules known as Basel III. This volume presents the findings of day long symposium hosted by the Institute for Law and Finance on January 29, 2018, dedicated to explaining what has actually been accomplished, what has been left out and what it all means for financial institutions, investors and the public interest.

Global competition, technological development, and changes in banking laws and regulations are transforming the role of commercial banks and the nature of the banking business within the U.S. financial system. The earlier editions of this work have been revised and expanded to incorporate discussions of these dramatic changes and their results. The discussions of the issues have been kept as current as possible, and a solid background has been supplied to provide perspective. Emphasis has been placed on the management of commercial banks through the formulation and implementation of sound and flexible policies.