'Stefan Weishaar brought an excellent group of authors together in this book, reflecting on key developments for the green market transition! Happy to read so many refreshing contributions on carbon taxes, energy subsidies and smart instrument mixes.' - Kurt Deketelaere, University of Leuven, Belgium The Paris Agreement on climate change constitutes an important milestone in international climate negotiations. Its key objective is the strengthening of the global response to climate change by transitioning the world to an increasingly green economy. In this book, environmental tax and climate law experts address the various issues surrounding green market transitions. Key chapters examine carbon taxes and systems of implementation, energy subsidies, and support schemes for carbon and energy policies. Using a multitude of international case studies, several contributing authors reflect on the underlying policy dynamics and the constraints of various fiscal measures. In addition, this timely work considers the important issue of smart instrument mixes, going beyond instrument choice to examine how they can work in harmony together. Astute and engaging, this book is a vital companion for students and scholars in environmental law, economics and sustainability. Its practical approach also renders it an excellent guide for policy makers and those involved in fiscal reform and green market transition. Contributors include: M. Alsina Pujols, B. Bahn-Walkowiak, P. Castro, M. Distelkamp, N. Droste, E. Fonseca Capdevila, C. Fruhmann, S. Giorgi, A. Grossmann, M. Hasenheit, A. Illes, T. Kawakatsu, C. Kettner, M. Kettunen, D. Kletzan-Slamanig, N. Kreibich, L. Kreiser, V. Kulmer, A. Lerch, C. Lutz, M. Machingambi, M. Meyer, J.E. Milne, I. Ring, S. Rudolph, R. Santos, S. Seebauer, H. Sprohge, L.-A. Steenkamp, C. Stroia, I. Taranic, P. ten Brink, A. Tuerk, S. Van Outryve d'Ydewalle, R. Vasileios, M. Villar Ezcurra, H. Wang-Helmreich, H. Wilts, S. Wolff, G. Woltjer, M. Zahno

This book explores the transnational legal infrastructure for dispute resolution in transnational securities transactions. It discusses the role of law and dispute resolution in securities transactions, the types of disputes arising from them, and the institutional and legal aspects of dispute resolution, both generally and regarding aggregate litigation. It illustrates different dispute resolution systems and aggregate litigation methods, and examines the legal issues of dispute resolution arising from transnational securities transactions. In addition, the book proposes two systems of dispute resolution for transnational securities transactions depending on the type of dispute: collective redress through arbitration and a network of alternative dispute resolution systems.

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.

Title 31 presents regulations governing money and finance issues applied by the Office of the Secretary of the Treasury, Monetary Offices, Fiscal Service, Secret Service, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, and Office of International Investment.

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.

This book clearly chronicles the evolution of Chinese VAT regulations, with a particular focus on the reforms of recent years. Covering all the provisions of the laws related to VAT, it also provides examples and implementation instructions. Practically structured and easy to consult, it allows readers to quickly find answers to questions that may arise in the course of their work. As such, the book is a valuable tool for accountants, advisors, lawyers, public officials and anyone working in the sector.

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.

During and after the 2007-2009 global financial crisis, emerging market economies displayed remarkable resilience and maintained robust rates of economic growth. Learning from the lessons of the crises of the past 15 years, developing countries have adopted measures to become less vulnerable to the external shocks that are likely to emerge from more developed countries. Academics and policymakers have focused on the construction of an appropriate regulatory and supervisory framework for the banking sector. During the 2007-2009 global crisis, banks were engaging in excessive risk taking. Prudential banking regulation and supervision aim to curb excessive risk taking by banks because engaging in excessive risky transactions is the ultimate source of instability. Hence, banking regulation is needed to deal with the failure of markets to police banks' risky behaviours.This book discusses the impact of regulations and supervision on banks' performance, focusing on two emerging market economies, Turkey and Russia. It examines the way in which regulations matter for financial stability and banking performance from a law and economics perspective. Some of the regulations contribute to banks' performance by reducing the incentive for banks to take risks, hence supporting financial stability; others however may have a detrimental effect on financial stability. Moreover, banks react differently to regulation under different institutional settings. Therefore, this book takes up the debate on the efficiency of certain solutions and approaches to banking regulation in the context of emerging countries.

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.

This work contains the full text of the papers presented at the second Tax Law History Conference in July 2004. The Conference was organised by the Cambridge Law Faculty's Centre for Tax Law. The papers range widely in terms of period - from the Old Testament to the twentieth century - and geographical areas, with papers on matters relating to not only the United Kingdom but also Canada, Australia and the US. The matters discussed are also broad and include the concept of taxation developed by Adam Smith and his fellow United Kingdom writers of the Enlightenment, problems of adjudication in tax law and of access to justice for taxpayers, definitions of income and its UK subset 'total income', capital gains tax, stamp duty on newspapers, the wartime excess profits tax, the nature of tithes, the strange tale of Jasper Moore, the real nature of the decision in the Duke of Westminster case, the demise of wealth transfer taxes in Canada, the nature of the US corporate tax and debates in the US about whether to raise war finance by issuing bonds or levying tax. As a whole the papers illustrate not only the wide variety but also the real depth of the issues waiting to be investigated in this rapidly growing field of scholarship.

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.

With the increasing interdependence of global economies, international relations are becoming a more complex system. Through this, the growth of any economy is dependent upon the ease of business transactions; however, in recent times, there has been a growing impact of corporate insolvency law. Corporate Insolvency Law and Bankruptcy Reforms in the Global Economy is an essential reference source that discusses the importance of insolvency laws in the financial architecture of emerging economies, as well as its fundamental issues. Featuring research on topics such as business restructuring, debt recovery, and governance regulations, this book is ideally designed for law students, policymakers, economists, lawyers, and business researchers seeking coverage on the jurisprudence and policy of corporate insolvency law in a globalized context.

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.

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.

This publication represents a collection of scholarly and highly practical chapters prepared by leading experts on banking law. Important changes are taking place in the financial sectors in the Pacific Rim; vital roles are being played by Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei. This volume deals with the broad policy issues entailed in the liberalization and deregulation of the banking industry and is divided into two parts. Part 1 covers liberalization and the search for an appropriate banking law model; and Part 2 deals with convergence of supervisory standards of international banking. This collection, which was designed as a broad foundation for comparative analysis of changes and reforms occurring worldwide in international banking regulation and practice, should be a useful aid to domestic and international government officials, executives of banking and other financial institutions, professionals (attorneys, accountants and other advisers) representing such institutions and academics, in trying to understand both policies and practicalities reflected by these rapid changes and reforms. A separate, but related, companion volume on international banking operations and practices has also been produced, entitled "International Banking Operations and Practices: Current Developments", which deals with the relevant legal questions regarding the changing international financial practices.

The question of what constitutes 'fraud in the transaction' with respect to international letters of credit varies considerably among jurisdictions. In proving allegations of fraud, it is crucial for the practitioner to know the relevant jurisdiction's case law, especially if wider defences such as inducement, unconscionable conduct or bad faith must be invoked. In this book, the author argues that, whereas 'fraud in the documents' is generally sufficient in cases involving commercial letters of credit, standby letters of credit demand a wider fraud exception. The central issue - how wide that fraud exception should be - is what this book explores in depth.This author compares and critically examines the application of the fraud exception in four major trade jurisdictions - the United States, England, Canada, and Australia. With an overall focus on how each jurisdiction's fraud tests treat the autonomy of standby letters of credit, she builds her arguments on such relevant sources and concepts as the following: when it can be shown that the beneficiary has 'no bona fide belief' in the validity of its claim demand guarantees; international initiatives (ICC Rules and the UN Convention on Independent Guarantee and Standby Letters of Credit); the Sztejn Rule; parameters of the 'fraud in the transaction' defence 'materiality' standard; prerequisites for injunctive relief; arguing 'fraud in the formation of the contract'; performance bond cases; applying the 'breach of good faith' defence; 'negative stipulation' in the underlying contract; and equitable versus statutory/broader notion of unconscionability. The presentation includes detailed summaries and analyses of leading cases in all four jurisdictions.