Trade Law The intersection of insurance regulation and trade agreements is of obvious significance to international competitiveness and, thereby, to national welfare. Yet until this masterful study the subject has remained virtually unexplored. Insurance Regulation in North America, far from merely addressing this important area of theory and practice, superbly balances a world of detailed analysis and commentary with deeply insightful interpretation and debate. The book's focus on insurance regulation in three countries allows the authors to approach the subject in an extraordinary depth that could not be achieved in a more global account. In the course of their treatment the authors offer the reader the following invaluable insights, among many others: analysis of the political dimension of reaching agreements and of implementing them; comparison of the three major trade agreements that apply in the North American insurance market - NAFTA, WTO agreements on financial services, and MEUFTA (the Mexico-European Union Free Trade Agreement) - with emphasis on the relationship between GATS and NAFTA principles; investigation of the clear convergence of regulatory schemes and the probable limits to harmonization; discussion of the arbitrage by which companies get around regulatory restrictions and exploit opportunities created by loopholes; clarification of the crucial issues surrounding the role of customary international law principles in investor protection obligations; discussion of the level of government and which government agencies a company must turn to in order to satisfy legal requirements; analysis of the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Mexico regarding legal effects of treaties on domestic law; commentary on the effects of demutualization and of mergers and acquisitions discussion of the effect of the entrenchment of U.S. State regulations and the federal government's lack of clear power to force State compliance; and description of dispute settlement procedures between governments. Although important issues arising in each of the three countries are all covered, there is an emphasis on the Mexican market in recognition of Mexico's greater future growth potential and of the relative paucity of relevant literature in English. Major case studies that reveal processes of compliance or conflict are analyzed in detail. For insurance professionals - lawyers, business executives, and policymakers - who want to understand what international trade agreements contain, how they work, and how they affect domestic insurance regulation and business strategy in what is rapidly becoming a global market for insurance and other financial services, this book is a gold mine. Scholars and academics in insurance law and international economic law will also find here a fresh new treatise of great significance.

As barriers to international trade and investment are eliminated, taxation becomes an increasingly important consideration in foreign investment decisions. This book describes the many different ways in which national tax rules and international tax principles affect foreign direct investment decisions, and examines their impact on the establishment and operation of foreign-invested projects. The study focuses on tax provisions, in both host and home countries, which have the greatest impact upon foreign direct investment, and looks at the role of tax treaties, the methods of relieving double taxation and of countering tax avoidance. It looks at the application of these rules to specific foreign direct investment situations and examines the impact of taxation upon the establishment and operation of foreign-invested projects. It concludes by examining some of the latest developments in international taxation, such as the growing concern over harmful tax competition, and attempts to suggest how the international tax system, as it affects foreign direct investment, may evolve as the 21st century begins. The book should be a valuable guide to tax practitioners and executives of multinational enterprises, and should be a useful reference work for students of international taxation.

The 20th century will probably be regarded as a watershed in the history of taxation. The first half of the century was characterized by numerous changes to tax theory and practice that alone probably outstripped those of the previous millennium. But these developments are modest when viewed against the barrage of competing theoretical views and technical analyses of tax policy in the century's last five decades, let alone the avalanche of legislation, regulations, rulings and tax commissions that marked, first, the post-war growth of the welfare state and, second, the growing internationalization of world commerce and the ensuing competition for economic advantages. The expert papers in "Tax Conversations" review the principal themes dominating tax debate and tax reform at the end of the century. Together, they seek to explain how these issues have evolved, their current implications, and their possible or probable directions into the next century. The conversations analyze these elements of the tax debate in order to give meaning to their past and to assess the prospects for their futures. The papers in this volume are presented in honour of John G. Head, a scholar whose work has done much to educate tax theorists and those implementing policy, and considered by many to be this generation's leading figure in Australian public finance.

The globalization of the world economy poses significant challenges for policy makers, regulators and legal professionals. The Asian and Brazilian financial crises have shown that difficulties in the banking sectors of some economies can have serious repercussions across world financial markets. It is clear that a sound legal infrastructure is crucial to promote financial stability in this global market. Particularly in the case of international bank failures, the need for harmonized and effective international insolvency procedures is becoming increasingly apparent. It is against this background that the Bank for International Settlements organised a workshop on International Bank Insolvencies in the summer of 1998. This work presents the edited workshop papers by expert lawyers from over 20 national central banks, the European Central Bank, the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision and the UN Commission on International Trade Law. Nineteen country reports provide a comprehensive overview of central banks and other institutions responsible for banking supervision and the co-ordination between authorities involved in insolvency procedures. The authors further discuss the instruments employed for crisis prevention and resolution and issues arising in the aftermath of a bank failure in the respective jurisdictions. In addition, twelve expert papers discuss issues ranging from specific national experiences to attempts at co-operation and harmonisation at regional and international level. The book further includes in annex the text of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency and the EC Finality Directive.

This collection of essays provides a rich and contemporary discussion of the principle of pacta sunt servanda. This principle, which requires that valid agreements are to be honoured, is a cornerstone of contract law. Focusing on contributions from Asia, this book shows that, despite its natural and universal appeal, the pacta sunt servanda principle is neither absolute nor immutable. Exceptions to the binding force of contract must be available in limited circumstances to avoid hardship and unfairness. This book offers readers new comparative perspectives on the appropriate balance between contractual certainty and flexibility in an era of social instability. Expert authors, mostly from East and Southeast Asia, explore when their domestic legal systems allow exceptions from the binding force of contracts. Doctrines discussed include impossibility, frustration, change of circumstance, force majeure, illegality as well as rights of withdrawal. Other chapters consider the importance of the pacta principle in international law. The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic feature strongly in the majority of contributions.

The last decade has seen the increasing integration of European financial markets due to a number of factors including the creation of a common regulatory framework, the liberalisation of international capital movements, financial deregulation, advances in technology and the introduction of the Euro. However, the process of integration has proceeded largely in the absence of any comprehensive legal regulation, and has rather been constructed on the basis of sectorial provisions dictated by the needs of cross-border transactions. This has meant that many legal barriers still remain as obstacles to complete integration. This book considers the discipline of monetary obligations within the wider context of financial markets. The book provides a comparative and transnational examination of the legal rules which form the basis of transactions on financial markets. Analysing the integration of the markets from a legal point of view provides an opportunity to highlight the role of globalisation as the key element favouring the circulation of rules, models, and especially the development of new regulatory sources. The book examines market transactions and the institutes at the root of these transactions, including the type of legislative sources in force and the subjects acting as legislators. The first part of the book concentrates on the micro-discipline of money, debts, payments and financial instruments. The second part goes on to analyse the macro-context of integration of the markets, looking at the persistence of legal barriers and options for their removal, as well as the development of new legal sources as a consequence of the transfer of monetary and political sovereignty. Finally, the book draws links between the two parts and assesses the consequences of the changes at the macro-level of regulation on the micro-level of legal discipline of monetary obligations, particularly focusing on the emergence and growing importance of soft law.

The great novelty of Netherlands Insolvency Law is that it is the first book in the English language covering the Netherlands insolvency law as a whole. It is a practical book for use by internal and external legal counsel, Dutch and non Dutch companies, students, academics and practitioners alike, presenting not only the principal concepts but also the current state of affairs of the Netherlands in solvency law. The reader is offered not only the black letter law, but also impar tial discussions presenting differing views on particular aspects of the insolvency law. Furthermore, Netherlands Insolvency Law briefly addresses recent develop ments such as the EU Insolvency Regulation and the progress made on the ongo ing total revision of the Netherlands Bankruptcy Act in the "Marktwerking, Deregulering en Wetgevingskwaliteit (MDW)"-project. Declercq has successfully managed to strike such a balance that, on the one hand, the book offers the reader more than an average introduction, while on the other hand, it is not weighed down in a quagmire of technical detail. Declercq's experi ence and international exposure as an insolvency lawyer in one of the most repu table law fmns in the Netherlands has probably contributed in this respect. Netherlands Insolvency Law promises to become a standard textbook to a wide ranging audience. ANTONIUS I. M. vAN MIERLO ProfessorofLaw Erasmus University Rotterdam January 2002 VII TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface V Abbreviations XIII Introduction XVII CHAPTER 1 - THE NETHERLANDS BANKRUPTCY ACT 1."

This work covers the new Netherlands Antillean legislation on money laundering and makes suggestions for improvement. It provides an overview of money that has been obtained from criminal activities and either is used for illegal purposes and/or is used for the infiltration of the legal underworld by making (seemingly legal) investments (also called dirty money). This work also covers the International Agreements, and the legal situation in the USA, and includes some remarks on bank secrecy and other secrecy obligations. This book will serve as a reference manual for staff of financial institutions, government personnel, accountants and legal practitioners, who in their work may be confronted with aspects of money-laundering.

The last decade has seen the increasing integration of European financial markets due to a number of factors including the creation of a common regulatory framework, the liberalisation of international capital movements, financial deregulation, advances in technology and the introduction of the Euro. However, the process of integration has proceeded largely in the absence of any comprehensive legal regulation, and has rather been constructed on the basis of sectorial provisions dictated by the needs of cross-border transactions. This has meant that many legal barriers still remain as obstacles to complete integration. This book considers the discipline of monetary obligations within the wider context of financial markets. The book provides a comparative and transnational examination of the legal rules which form the basis of transactions on financial markets. Analysing the integration of the markets from a legal point of view provides an opportunity to highlight the role of globalisation as the key element favouring the circulation of rules, models, and especially the development of new regulatory sources. The book examines market transactions and the institutes at the root of these transactions, including the type of legislative sources in force and the subjects acting as legislators. The first part of the book concentrates on the micro-discipline of money, debts, payments and financial instruments. The second part goes on to analyse the macro-context of integration of the markets, looking at the persistence of legal barriers and options for their removal, as well as the development of new legal sources as a consequence of the transfer of monetary and political sovereignty. Finally, the book draws links between the two parts and assesses the consequences of the changes at the macro-level of regulation on the micro-level of legal discipline of monetary obligations, particularly focusing on the emergence and growing importance of soft law.

"Tax Planning for Expatriates in China" provides comprehensive, easy-to-follow and practical information on tax planning for expatriates in China. Rules and pertinent issues for general tax planning, taxable income, the basis of tax liability, application of tax treaties and methods to eliminate double taxation for expatriates to China are closely examined, with useful summary tables and sample forms included for easy reference. Recommendations and calculations of tax-efficient expatriate compensation packages in compliance with China individual income tax regulations are also provided, supplemented with illustrative examples. Written by experts, "Tax Planning for Expatriates in China" is an indispensable guide for human resource professionals of multinational companies and foreign investment enterprises and individuals assigned to work in China. This title forms part of the "Asia Business Law Series". "The Asia Business Law Series" is published in cooperation with CCH Asia and provides updated and reliable practical guidelines, legislation and case law, in order to help practitioners, policy makers and scholars understand how business is conducted in the rapidly growing Asian market.

The global financial crisis that struck Europe has profoundly affected its political, economic and regulatory landscape. This Research Handbook provides an inter-disciplinary view of State interventions in the banking sector, their control under State aid rules since the financial crisis of 2008 and the progressive emergence of a pan-European regulation of banks in distress. Assessing the policy of bank rescues over the past nine years provides a striking summary of European successes and failures and of the continuing tension between integration and fragmentation forces at play within the EU and its single market. This Research Handbook offers insights from law and economics - on the extent to which the EU/EEA State aid regime is able to address adequately the concerns of financial regulation without losing sight of its primary purpose. The contributors include academics, specialists in financial regulation, lawyers, economists and regulators, who have all followed or been directly involved in cases relating to the financial crisis. The Research Handbook on State Aid in the Banking Sector will appeal to advanced students and academics in law and economics, particularly those with an interest in financial institutions, governance and banking. Contributors include: C. Botelho Moniz, G. Bruzzone, M. Cassella, A. Champsaur, F. Coupe, F. de Cecco, J.-S. Duprey, S. Frisch, C. Froitzheim, P. Gouveia e Melo, J. Gray, V. Iftinchi, B. Joosen, I. Kokkoris, F.-C. Laprevote, S. Micossi, L. Nascimento Ferreira, P. Nicolaides, V. Power, C. Quigley, N. Robins, S. Shamsi, P. Solomon, D.S. Tynes

International tax law: Offshore tax avoidance in South Africa provides a comprehensive analysis of some of the offshore tax-avoidance schemes employed by South African residents. The book offers a detailed and logical explanation of difficult international tax concepts, and critically analyses the effectiveness of South African legislation in curbing offshore tax-avoidance schemes. South African legislative provisions are compared with similar provisions in the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and international case law and tax treaty implications are thoroughly discussed. International tax law: Offshore tax avoidance in South Africa also addresses the recommendations of international organisations, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which seek to prevent international tax avoidance. In this regard, the role of tax havens in encouraging international tax avoidance and the OECD initiatives to stifle their development are considered. The OECD's efforts to prevent base erosion and profit shifting are also examined.

Although efforts to regulate securities at a supranational European level date back to the first company law directive in 1968, it is only since the promulgation of the 1999 Financial Services Action Plan that the playing field has shown any real leveling for market participants. Now, since the adoption in June 2001 of the European Securities Committee as a rule-making authority implementing financial services directives, European securities regulation has emerged as a new and discrete field of legal scholarship. This authoritative book, by a well-known scholar who has been following the European frontier of securities regulation for over a decade, is the first to systematically map this dramatically accelerating new discipline and open the field to research, development, and specialization. Approaching the subject along six major avenues--the value of substantive rules; regulatory harmonization; the underlying regulatory methodologies of enacted and proposed European directives; the common market prospectus for securities offerings; investment services; and insider trading--Professor Warren never loses sight of the historical context within which European securities regulation has developed, nor of the global economic environment in which it must meet exacting standards of efficiency and transparency. His analysis clearly explains the securities implications of the European laws already adopted as a result of the European Commission's implementation of the Financial Services Action Plan (including the European Company Statute), and also points out the areas that still demand legislative and regulatory attention (including the essential development of an efficient centralized orcross-linked clearance and settlement system).

This title focuses on liability for damage to those natural resources that are of interest to the public and are protected by national, European or international law. It provides an overview of the law of the United States and of certain EU member states on the recovery of damages for injury to natural resources. The international civil liability conventions that cover environmental harm and the recently published European Commission's White Paper on environmental liability are also discussed. The on-going development in various international forums of treaties or protocols dealing with liability for environmental damage are analyzed, as are the principles developed by the UNEP Working Group established in response to the 1990 Gulf War to advise the UNCC on claims for damage to natural resources.;The book addresses assessment and valuation issues, the issue of standing in cases of injury to (un)owned natural resources, and the determination of ways to repair, restore and compensate for natural resource injuries and the associated loss of ecological and human services. It also explains why such a difference exists between the US and most European jurisdictions and inter-national liability conventions as to the recovery of damages for injury to natural resources.

This extraordinary book, the first thorough analysis of the current state of commercial mediation practice in Europe, is based on face-to-face interviews and responses to questionnaires involving the participation of 25 renowned European mediators, with complementary contributions by 20 business people who have used mediation extensively. Among the areas of interest that arise are the following: typical areas of application of commercial mediation; types of disputes where commercial mediation is most beneficial; reasons why companies opt for mediation; dispute stages at which mediation may be most useful; length of the mediation process; costs of the process; likely causes of the considerable guardedness of enterprises against mediation; the role lawyers play as gatekeepers; the power factor and other imbalances; the role of provider agencies; and various approaches to mediation style. Participants have been chosen from Austria, Germany, France, England, Scotland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, with the aim of including all the dominant European legal traditions. There are numerous case studies, including the role of mediation in such major projects as the Vienna Airport, the Eurotunnel, and the A resund link bridge. The book contributes to the further professionalism of ADR in Europe by providing accurate information on the functionality of the process and its attainable results. In addition to describing the professional performance of European mediators working in the world of business, the author's analysis crystallizes the processes, models, and strategies that characterize the practice of commercial mediation in Europe. With this book potential clients, practicing mediators, lawmakers, and other decisionmakers can base their actions on reliable scientific findings proven by practical experience.

Commercial Law The International Academy of Estate and Trust Laws (IAETL) meets each May to spend a week of intensive engagement with issues of direct and immediate concern to estate and trusts lawyers. More than merely an assembly of commentators and interpreters, the IAETL is a prestigious body that affects real change in courts, law reform commissions, and governmental agencies. Its membership - including solicitors, barristers, notaires, judges, and scholars, all experts in trusts, estates, and inheritance law, and/or tax law - highlight the contrasts and comparisons between the pertinent laws of civil and common law jurisdictions. This volume records the May 2002 conference in Rome, which featured four distinct areas of discussion and debate: how trusts in the civilian context (specifically Italy) are subjected to taxation; the delicate balance between inter vivos and postmortem taxation; a lively debate on the nature and rationale of the inheritance tax; and how best to serve the client at the same time as meeting one's ethical obligations. As always, this outstanding annual (the fourth in this series published by Kluwer Law International) continues to offer perspectives that open on ideas in themselves, apart from the demands and responsibilities of knowing and applying the law in busy demanding professional and scholarly environments. For this reason especially it is sure to engage the deep interest of researchers, academics, practitioners, law reform bodies, governmental groups and their advisers working in this complex and varied field of law.

This collection critically explores the use of financial technology (FinTech) and artificial intelligence (AI) in the financial sector and discusses effective regulation and the prevention of crime. Focusing on crypto-assets, InsureTech and the digitisation of financial dispute resolution, the book examines the strategic and ethical aspects of incorporating AI into the financial sector. The volume adopts a comparative legal approach to: critically evaluate the strategic and ethical benefits and challenges of AI in the financial sector; critically analyse the role, values and challenges of FinTech in society; make recommendations on protecting vulnerable customers without restricting financial innovation; and to make recommendations on effective regulation and prevention of crime in these areas. The book will be of interest to teachers and students of banking and financial regulation related modules, researchers in computer science, corporate governance, and business and economics. It will also be a valuable resource for policy makers including government departments, law enforcement agencies, financial regulatory agencies, people employed within the financial services sector, and professional services such as law, and technology.

Depending on the goals to be achieved, there are many ways to calculate a company's profits. This is to a great extent due to the different aims of financial and tax accounting. Financial accounting is undergoing a growing influence of IAS/IFRS. IFRS is also exerting a growing influence on tax accounting. This is especially visible in the European development of a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) for multinational corporate entities. Although no formal link exists between IAS/IFRS and CCCTB, IFRS will likely be a strong material influence on various key elements of the CCCTB. Many tax professionals (and Member States) fear the influence of IAS/IFRS on tax accounting mainly given the divergent aims of IAS/IFRS and tax accounting. The introduction of IAS/IFRS will have significant consequences for tax accounting, disclosure and corporate law accounting concepts in individual Member States. Since IAS/IFRS is strongly influenced by the Anglo-American view on accounting, a question arises regarding its potential influence on the various continental disclosure, tax and financial accounting systems. In other words, one can readily envision a confrontation of systems with totally different backgrounds. This insightful work focuses on the consequences of this 'clash of cultures' for tax accounting, disclosure and corporate law accounting concepts.

The complexity of taxation exceeds all bounds when fastened to a multinational corporation (MNC). In a maze of rules that are always changing, a tax practitioner in the MNC landscape must be extremely well informed and ready to act with sound strategic judgement. To such a practitioner, this planning guide - which covers tax-planning considerations in depth for US companies doing business in the EU - should be of value. Starting from the proposition that holding company regimes are generally favourable in Europe - and poised to become more so as the Societas Europaea (SE) becomes established - Professor Dorfmueller analyzes the design of tax conversion and deferral structures that are advantageous to US multinationals as they pursue the following crucial objectives of tax planning. It covers: satisfying goals, such as minimizing liability, maximizing credits, deducting expenses and utilizing losses; using appropriate tools, such as routing of income and classification of entities; and overcoming barriers, especially those erected by the controlled foreign corporation (CFC) provisions of the US tax law known as "Subpart F". A detailed examination of how these methodologies are best pursued under US federal corporate law is complemented by an equally precise analysis of European company taxation, with specific tax planning techniques spelled out for Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The reader should find many valuable suggestions on such specialised techniques as onshore pooling in the UK, gaining access to favourable Argentine taxation via a Spanish holding company, and the potential tax ramifications of EU enlargement.

The third edition of Consumer Bankruptcy is a case book designed for a two- or three-unit law school course focusing solely on the unique issues that arise under the United States Bankruptcy Code when an individual with primarily consumer debts files for bankruptcy. The book fully explores the complexities introduced in 2005 with the enactment of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, legislation that clearly sets out consumer bankruptcies as a very technical sub-specialty in the field of bankruptcy. Covered in this book are the barriers to entry by a consumer into chapter 7 liquidation, issues relating to discharge of debt, chapter 13 plans and chapter 13 cases converted to chapter 7. About the author: David Gray Carlson is Professor of Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He is the author of a treatise on secured credit in bankruptcy and of over sixty law review articles on various aspects of bankruptcy and debtor-creditor law. Five of these articles concern the effect of the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, which revolutionized the law of consumer bankruptcies. He has taught a basic bankruptcy course for 25 years, before concluding that consumer bankruptcies had become such a sub-specialty that it is better taught in a course separate from the basic course. Besides teaching at Cardozo Law School, Carlson has taught at George Washington University Law School, University of Miami Law School, University of Michigan Law School and Washington & Lee School of Law.

This book undertakes unique case studies, including interviews with participants, as well as empirical analysis, of public and private enforcement of Australian securities laws addressing continuous disclosure. Enforcement of laws is crucial to effective regulation. Historically, enforcement was the province of a government regulator with significant discretion (public enforcement). However, more and more citizens are being expected to take action themselves (private enforcement). Consistent with regulatory pluralism, public and private enforcement exist in parallel, with the capacity to both help and hinder each other, and the achievement of the goals of enforcement in a range of areas of regulation. The rise of the shareholder class action in Australia, backed by litigation funding or lawyers, has given rise to enforcement overlapping with that of the government regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The ramifications of overlapping enforcement are explained based on detailed analysis. The analysis is further bolstered by the regulator's approach to enforcement changing from a compliance orientation to a "Why not litigate?" approach. The analysis and ramifications of the Australian case studies involve matters of regulatory theory and practice that apply across jurisdictions. The book will appeal to practitioners, regulators and academics interested in regulatory policy and enforcement, and the operation of regulators and class actions, including their interaction.