International law holds a paradoxical position with territory. Most rules of international law are traditionally based on the notion of State territory, and territoriality still significantly shapes our contemporary legal system. At the same time, new developments have challenged territory as the main organising principle in international relations. Three trends in particular have affected the role of territoriality in international law: the move towards functional regimes, the rise of cosmopolitan projects claiming to transgress state boundaries, and the development of technologies resulting in the need to address intangible, non-territorial, phenomena. Yet, notwithstanding some profound changes, it remains impossible to think of international law without a territorial locus. If international law is undergoing changes, this implies a reconfiguration of territory, but not a move beyond it. The Netherlands Yearbook of International Law was first published in 1970. It offers a forum for the publication of scholarly articles of a conceptual nature in a varying thematic area of public international law.

Sovereign states commonly use tax incentives in order to attract investment and capital from abroad. Although it has been recognized for many years that the forms and features of these incentives can often have harmful effects, there has not until now been a clear, in-depth, full-scale study of what these effects are, how they come about, and how they can be minimized or avoided. Within this volume, Carlo Pinto crystallises the extensive European and American literature in the field, locating his legal analysis in an EU law context that offers a framework within which tax lawyers in both government and business can find common ground. This volume builds an authoritative synthesis and proposal in its detailed discussions of all aspects of the theory and practice of tax competition, including the following: evidence of interjurisdictional tax competition in the US experience and what the EU can learn from it; methodologies to study tax competition; economic evidence of tax competition in Europe; Member States' "benchmark" tax systems; internal market distortion provisions of the EU Treaty (Articles 96 and 97) and relevant EMU provisions. It also examines the: applicability of state aid provisions (EC Treaty Article 87) to direct tax measures; the EU "Code of Conduct" Group; OECD countermeasures against harmful tax competition; and CFC legislation. In the course of his presentation the author analyses various tax regimes and court cases from most EU Member States, outlining the issues and clarifications each brings to the central questions. His final proposal demonstrates that the beneficial effects of tax competition - decrease in direct tax burden, improved efficiency in public administration, enhancement of employment and development - need not be fraught with the risk of fiscal degradation. This is a significant development in the success of the projected harmonisation of taxation in the European Union.

Two of the distinguishing features of the law on foreign direct investment (FDI) are its complexity and its creativity. The law on FDI embraces the domestic rules and regulations dealing with foreign controlled business as well as the numerous bilateral and multilateral legal instruments. It is influenced by awards of international arbitration tribunals as well as numerous other sources, and thus undergoes permanent change. The various actors involved, including transnational corporations, investment promotion agencies, and multilateral donors, as well as lawyers advising foreign investors and financial intermediaries, each follow their own interests. By its nature, the FDI involves the interaction, and sometimes the clash, between different legal concepts of the participants and regulators. Counsels to local governments and domestic partners in a joint venture with foreign companies may not always be accustomed to legal documentation in an Anglo-American or continental European style. As a result, dealing with FDI requires a learning process for all the actors to understand and manage legal and business cultures. All this elucidates the need for a multi-author book which covers various areas of the law on FDI from different perspectives. This book undertakes a regulatory, policy and transactional approach both on the international and the domestic level. The authors of the book are all concerned with FDI as both academics and practitioners and come from a variety of legal, academic and geographical backgrounds. The book consists of three parts: first, a general introduction to FDI by Dr. Escher; next, an analysis of the emerging international law on FDI and related areas; and finally, an overview of FDI in a variety of countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. This variety of perceptions and topics should provide the reader with useful insights into international transactional and domestic aspects of FDI.

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.

This book explains how a creditor of an insolvent debtor can take priority over other creditors by claiming a proprietary interest in assets held by the debtor, and concentrates on the circumstances in which proprietary interests are created by operation of law or are implied from the arrangements between the parties. This is a subject of particular importance and difficulty in common law systems because of the changeable nature of equitable proprietary interests, and this book provides a clear and structured explanation of the current state of the law, with detailed reference to case law from England and Wales as well as Commonwealth jurisprudence, and suggests how it might be clarified and simplified by returning to first principles. The new edition considers a number of important developments which pertain to proprietary rights and insolvency. It evaluates the key decision of the Supreme Court in FHR European Ventures v Cedar Capital Partners. Although this has settled the question of whether constructive trusts extend to bribes, it has raised more general issues regarding the approach of the courts to the imposition of proprietary remedies, which the book explores. It also covers recent Privy Council and Court of Appeal decisions concerning constructive notice (Credit Agricole v Papadimitrou, Central Bank of Ecuador v Conticorp, and SFO v Lexi), as well as interesting issues concerning the new status of intangibles (Armstrong v Winnington) and the status of the anti-deprivation rule (Belmont Park v BNY). Proprietary Rights and Insolvency is a lucid and practical reference source on insolvency and property law.

Bankruptcy law is a major part of the American legal landscape. More than a million individuals and thousands of businesses sought relief in the United States' ninety-three bankruptcy courts in 2014, more than twenty-seven thousand of them in the Eastern District of Michigan. Important business of great consequence takes place in the courts, yet they ordinarily draw little public attention. In Adversity and Justice: A History of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Kevin Ball takes a closer look at the history and evolution of this court. Using a variety of sources from newspaper accounts and interviews to personal documentation from key people throughout the court's history, Ball explores not only the history of the court from its beginning in the late nineteenth century but also two major courthouse scandals and their significant and long-lasting effects on the court. The first, in 1919, resulted in the removal of a court referee for a series of small infractions. The second was far more serious and resulted in the resignation of a judge and criminal convictions of the court's chief clerk, one of his deputies, and one of Detroit's most prominent lawyers. The book culminates with a comprehensive account of the city of Detroit's own bankruptcy case that was filed in 2013. Drawing on the author's expertise as both a longtime bankruptcy attorney and a political scientist, the book examines this landmark case in its legal, social, historical, and political contexts. Anyone with an interest in bankruptcy, legal history, or the city of Detroit's bankruptcy case will be attracted to this thorough case study of this court.

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.

Since the publication of the first edition in 2006, financial regulation around the world has changed dramatically as a result of the 2008 global financial crisis. As one of the world's leading financial centres, international regulatory reforms have had a significant impact on the legal and regulatory system in Hong Kong. This new second edition provides a comprehensive and authoritative single-volume guide to the main areas of financial regulation and financial law in Hong Kong. Given the massive changes in financial regulation globally and in Hong Kong, the second edition has been substantially rewritten and revised to address changes in markets and their legal and regulatory frameworks, as well as the implications of these changes to future market development. The book is in five parts: The first part considers the evolution of Hong Kong's role as a financial centre and the development of its financial regulatory structure, one that is perhaps unusually complex given the size of the jurisdiction. The second part discusses the regulation of the banking, securities, insurance sectors, including the regulatory powers of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC), the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI), and the forthcoming Independent Insurance Authority (IIA). The third part covers regulation of financial products and services, including securities offerings and listings, investment products and asset management, financial derivatives, and takeovers and mergers. The fourth part addresses market conduct and misconduct, including corporate governance, market abuse and financial crime. Finally, the fifth part examines the international context, focusing on the relationship between Hong Kong's financial markets and regulation and mainland China as well as key issues for Hong Kong's role as a major global financial centre.

This work explores the legal issues inherent in resolving troubled banking sectors in transitional economies. Bank failures are a recurrent phenomenon in both developed and developing countries, as shown by the crises in the last 10 years in the USA, Japan, Scandinavian countries, the Baltic countries, Bulgaria, South East Asia and Latin America. Banks in transitional economies face additional challenges as they become intermediaries in lending the publics's savings, rather than mere conduits for the central financing plan. They have to ensure repayment of loans when they no longer receive subsidies to compensate their losses to the same degree as before. As a result of these challenges, almost all these countries have suffered numerous bank failures in the past eight years, with negative consequences for bank owners, managers, depositors and other creditors. The absence, in many situations, of appropriate crisis management procedures and bank insolvency laws hinders the success or pace of the transition process.

Market and competition authorities operate in a complex environment with conflicting stakeholder demands. Balancing the various interests of the authority and stakeholder in an objective and impartial manner is strategic to achieving the goals of the legislation imposed. In a fresh approach examining the actions of an authority when a regulation is applied, Annetje Ottow argues the vital importance of the behaviour of authorities, focusing on five fundamental good agency principles: legality, independence, transparency, effectiveness, and responsibility, or, LITER. These principles provide agencies and those reviewing their actions with a framework for agency design and action. Combining theory and practice to provide insight into agencies' organization and behaviour, this book outlines and analyses behavioural issues using an ecosystemic method, addressing how independent agencies should be assessed, and which principles should apply. Using cases from the Netherlands and the UK, Ottow examines the key processes of authorities against the LITER principles, and opens the debate on 'how to regulate the agency'.

This book offers a novel study on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on insurance from an international and comparative perspective. It assesses how insurance has to adapt to a new landscape, the effects of which will last over time and cut across all areas of the field. To avoid physical contact, digitalisation has accelerated dramatically, affecting insurance in all its phases: risk selection, underwriting, pricing and claims settlement. However, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic go far beyond that. The extent to which a claim caused directly or indirectly by the virus is or is not covered by a given policy has been the subject of debate in many insurance branches. The most litigated cases worldwide are those that concern damages resulting from business interruption due to restrictions enforced by the authorities in virtually every country. This book analyses the rulings (for and against the insured) that have already been handed down by courts in various jurisdictions (for example in the US, Latin America, Spain and Germany), in order to provide guidance to the parties in future lawsuits and also to guide the courts' own responses. This analysis extends to the measures that governments have taken in relation to insurance during the pandemic, as well as the changes that insurers have introduced in their general conditions to exclude coverage for the pandemic. This response is unsatisfactory, as the big question is how pandemic-related risks can be covered if private insurers simply refuse to do so. Solutions based on risk sharing with public entities or the use of contractual modalities such as parametric insurance are among those outlined by the authors. The book was written by experts from academia and lawyers specialising in this field, and written for all those interested in the field of insurance: lawyers, judges, academics and legal professionals.

The so-called Quistclose trust probably represents the single most important application of equitable principles in commercial life. (Lord Millett in the foreword to this book). The decision of the House of Lords in Twinsectra v Yardley has refocused attention on the Quistclose trust. Although accepted by insolvency lawyers as a convenient tool for corporate rescue, the precise basis of the trust has always been in doubt. The purpose of these essays is to explore the foundations of the trust and subject them to a searching analysis. Contributors: Robert Stevens (Oxford), 'Rolls Razor Ltd'; William Swadling (Oxford), 'Orthodoxy'; James Penner (LSE), 'Lord Millett's Analysis'; Lionel Smith (McGill), 'Understanding the Power'; Robert Chambers (Alberta),'Restrictions on the Use of Money'; Peter Birks (Oxford),'Retrieving Tied Money'; Ewan McKendrick (Oxford), 'Commerce'; Robert Stevens (Oxford), 'Insolvency'; George Gretton (Edinburgh),'Scotland'.

The past two decades has witnessed unprecedented changes in the corporate governance landscape in Europe, the US and Asia. Across many countries, activist investors have pursued engagements with management of target companies. More recently, the role of the hostile activist shareholder has been taken up by a set of hedge funds. Hedge fund activism is characterized by mergers and corporate restructuring, replacement of management and board members, proxy voting, and lobbying of management. These investors target and research companies, take large positions in `their stock, criticize their business plans and governance practices, and confront their managers, demanding action enhancing shareholder value. This book analyses the impact of activists on the companies that they invest, the effects on shareholders and on activists funds themselves. Chapters examine such topic as investors' strategic approaches, the financial returns they produce, and the regulatory frameworks within which they operate. The chapters also provide historical context, both of activist investment and institutional shareholder passivity. The volume facilitates a comparison between the US and the EU, juxtaposing not only regulatory patterns but investment styles.

This book covers organized crime groups, empirical studies of organized crime, criminal finances and money laundering, and crime prevention, gathering some of the most authoritative and well-known scholars in the field. The contributions to this book are new chapters written in honor of Professor Dick Hobbs, on the occasion of his retirement. They reflect his powerful influence on the study of organized crime, offering a novel perspective that located organized crime in its socio-economic context, studied through prolonged ethnographic engagement. Professor Hobbs has influenced a generation of criminology researchers engaged in studying organized crime groups, and this work provides a both a look back and this influence and directions for future research. It will be of interest to researchers in criminology and criminal justice, particularly with a focus on organized crime and financial crime, as well as those interested in corruption, crime prevention, and applications of ethnographic methods.

The bricks and mortar of commercial law as we know it are crumbling into dust. Electronic commerce sweeps away the very foundations of what was not so long ago our most solid, comfortable, and secure legal system. In its most advanced form, e-commerce allows unidentified purchasers to pay obscure vendors, in 'electronic cash,' for products that are often goods, services, and licenses all rolled into one. A payee may be no more than a computer that can take up 'residence' anywhere at the drop of a hat; national boundaries are of no consequence whatsoever. Taxation authorities are understandably dismayed. This book, now in its second edition, is a minutely detailed overview of current reality in the worldwide huddle of revenue regimes as they try to cope with the most daunting challenge they have ever had to face. It analyzes a number of fast-moving trends in the behaviors of national taxation authorities, web-based companies, VoiP, certain low-tax (or no-tax) jurisdictions, and international organizations that have significant bearing on the future development of the taxation of e-commerce. These trends include the following: how United States domestic and international tax rules are being interpreted in the effort to accommodate e-commerce; the powerful retailers' lobby against the moratorium on U.S. state and local sales tax on Internet transactions; how VAT rules in EU countries and other jurisdictions are being restructured to accommodate international e-commerce; new theories of income and payment characterization, and in particular the influential OECD ongoing study; and, the crucial discussion over what constitutes a 'permanent establishment' for tax purposes.

Equivalence in Financial Services offers a comprehensive and cross-industry examination of the rules and procedures under EU financial legislation dedicated to third-country market actors. The equivalence regime has become particularly topical after Brexit, as the United Kingdom is now a third country from the perspective of the European Union. This book investigates whether the current equivalence system is fit for its purpose, namely facilitating cross-border finance while minimizing as extensively as possible financial risks. After describing how the European Commission adopts equivalence measures, the book examines the implementation of the equivalence regime for the following entities: Credit Rating Agencies, Benchmarks, Trading Venues, Investment Firms, Investment Funds, Central Securities Depositories, Trade Repositories, and Central Counterparties. Addressing the most recent policy and legal developments, Equivalence in Financial Services provides an insightful guide into this complex area of financial regulation for scholars of financial regulation, legal practitioners, and policy makers.

The second edition builds on the excellent reputation earned by the first as a comprehensive and practical work focussing on civil law claims and remedies. Its aim is to provide clear answers for practicioners whilst being willing to tackle some of the more complex and difficult areas such as proprietary remedies. The book covers all aspects of international commercial fraud litigation, ranging from issues of conflict laws, pre- emptive remedies (e.g. freezing orders, interim receivers, Norwich Pharmacal Orders), contentious insolvency litigations, to tracing assests. The book also covers substantive claims in areas such as trusts/ equity, contract, tort, restitution, company law and insolvency, as well as challenging asset protection devices in sham trusts and lifting the corporate veil, along with sanctions for non- compliance or contempt. Practical guidance on important procedural elements such as injunctions and disclosure is also provided. Detailed treatment of difficult topics such as unjust enrichment and conflict of laws is included and the new edition considers the impact of the Rome I and Rome II Regulations governing contractual and non- contractual obligations concerning choice of law issues. It also examines all relevant new case law such as Sinclair v Versailles concerning the impact on the right to obtain a proprietary claim in respect of a breach of fiduciary duty. The book draws together the disparate areas of the law that must be considered by commercial fraud litigators making a single and accessible reference source for practitioners and scholars.

This book presents a systematic and contextualised account of Chinese securities and capital markets law, giving readers nuanced and practical understandings of law and practice in this field in China. It is structured to cover topics specific to foreigner investors in China such as foreign investment enterprises and cross-border mergers and acquisitions in China. The cultural and political background to doing business in China is very significant when seeking to understand the current law in the country and it can be difficult to access information on that background. This book provides an explanation of the law and practice by setting the current law in the context of its development. Part I of the book provides an overview of the capital markets in China, a contextual discussion of the market development and its characteristics, and a critical analysis of the regulatory framework and possible reform routes. Part II is dedicated to the regulation of securities offerings and listings in China. It looks at both government approval requirements and information disclosure requirements. Part III addresses the securities enforcement structure comprising the government regulator and self-regulatory bodies such as stock exchanges. It examines various forms of market misconduct including market manipulation and insider training. Part IV focuses on mergers and acquisitions in China. It discusses domestic takeovers and cross-border mergers.

This book is the only analysis of the legal regime governing collective investments in the important financial centre of Luxembourg. Written by expert practitioners from a leading funds practice, it provides a detailed, comprehensive, and practical account of the regulation and operation of investment funds under Luxembourg law. Beginning with a definition of undertakings of collective investment funds and a description of the background to the relevant legislation, the authors go on to provide a detailed account of how undertakings for collective investments are classified and how they operate in practice. Covering all relevant EU Directives including the UCITS Directives, Prospectus Directive, MiFID, and the Savings Directive, the authors also consider the application of these Directives under Luxembourg law. The latest developments on the AIFM Directive are also addressed. A comprehensive and systematic account, this new edition is an important reference source for all practitioners and investment managers regularly dealing with Luxembourg investment funds, as well as providing an exceptional introduction to this area of the law.

Emerging market countries are currently facing the dual challenge of incorporating transnational regulations into their societies while building their own versions of regulatory capitalism. This raises a multitude questions and challenges. Will the diffusion of international public and private regulations of developed countries, benefit a few and marginalize less developed countries? Or, can these regulations foster transnational public-private experiments to improve local regulatory capacities and social conditions? What kinds of strategies might facilitate or impede both transnational regulatory integration and local institutional upgrading? This book offers a fresh perspective in reconciling the seemingly incompatible goals of transnational integration and development. It offers a new analytical framework and a set of case studies that help forge a comparative analysis of integration and development. It offers both the identification of the mechanisms that can foster lasting transnational integration settlements and broad based domestic institutional and economic upgrading. This multidisciplinary study draws on current research from many leading scholars. They analyse issues in a variety of regions around the world and in industries and domains ranging from food safety, manufacturing, telecommunications, finance, as well as labour and environmental rights. The chapters reveal concrete lessons for scholars and practitioners alike, around the different roles and strategies that governments, the multilaterals, firms, and NGOs can take, to facilitate the integration of international standards, improve domestic institutions, and expand the benefits to a great variety of local groups.