The global economy poses major new questions for employment and social policy on an international scale. Governments worldwide face dilemmas; whether to liberalize trade and investment or opt for protectionism; and whether to create flexible or tightly regulated labour markets. These same questions are hotly debated within the World Trade Organization, the International Labour Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and also within regional blocs such as the European Union, NAFTA, MERCOSUR, APEC and SADC. For neo-liberals, as for old-style labour protectionists, the choices may appear to be relatively simple. But most Governments and policy makers are striving to achieve a balance between free trade and investment on the one hand and high employment and raised social standards on the other. This book, written by a leading authority on international labour law, provides a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the complex policy and legal choices which face those wishing pursue a broadly social democratic response to the removal of barriers to trade and investment in a globalized market economy dominated by transnational corporations.

Through the prisms of a data scientist, a patent attorney, and a designer, this book demystifies the complexity of patent data and its structure and reveals their hidden connections by employing elaborate data analytics and visualizations using a network map. This book provides a practical guide to introduce and apply patent network analytics and visualization tools in your business. We incorporate case studies from renowned companies such as Apple, Dyson, Adobe, Bose, Samsung and more, to scrutinise how their underlying values of patent network drive innovation in their business. Finally, this book advances readers' perspective of patent gazettes as big data and as a tool for innovation analytics when coupled with Artificial Intelligence.

How an economy handles financial and business distress has a major impact on confidence in business, the availability of investment, the cost of credit, and economic growth. The financial crisis of 2007-2008 and its aftermath was a catalyst to legal reform in the field of bankruptcy and restructuring law and brought an added focus to the systemic threat of bank failure to the financial system. This book explores the general principles and practice of legal reform within bankruptcy. From a variety of specialists including practitioners, lawyers, bankers, accountants and judges from the United Arab Emirates, the UK and Singapore, it provides a variety of perspectives on the topic. Chapters include topics such as the 'Four Pillars of Regulatory Framework', the history and application of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency, the challenges for financial institutions and the treatment of the insolvency of natural persons. The book also offers a comparative study of Islamic Shari'ah principles with modern bankruptcy regimes, an analysis of bankruptcy in the UAE and an evaluation of the legal infrastructure of the DIFC Courts. The authors explore core questions surrounding bankruptcy law, including its ability to facilitate the turnaround of business, to enable efficient reallocation of capital, to provide coherent rules for entrepreneurs, investors, employees, and creditors, and to provide for both appropriate sanctions and for rehabilitation. ?

How to plan and implement tax-efficient investment strategies, incorporating all the latest budget amendments

Sustainable development and the protection of the environment are concepts that have become inescapably connected. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in September 2002, the challenges facing the global environment were discussed at length. Air, water and marine pollution continue to rob millions of a decent life, loss of biodiversity continues, fish stocks are being depleted, desertification claims more fertile land, climate changes are having devastating effects, natural disasters are more frequent and developing countries are even more vulnerable. (Principle 13). This volume examines these important issues and adapts a practical approach. It outlines the programme of sustainable development in concrete fields of economic and environmental cooperation. The concept for this volume originated from the Conference on Exploitation and Management of Natural Resources in the Twenty-First Century: The Challenge of Sustainable Development. The Conference was organised by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and the Department of Law at Queen Mary, University of London.

Adding a second volume to the peerless country-by-country guide first published in February 2009, this book brings lessors, financiers, and operators valuable assistance in the management of aircraft during default periods and repossession proceedings in an additional 14 jurisdictions, bringing the total jurisdictions covered to 46. The two-volume set is also of great value as a preventive guide on issues arising in aircraft finance or lease transactions, especially in the drafting of associated contracts. Defaults, workouts, and repossessions of aircraft are still on the rise globally, and the situations that can lead to, or arise after, an event of default remain literally endless. This is the best way to be prepared for virtually any contingency. Local aviation law experts from each jurisdiction provide in-depth responses, country by country, to an extremely detailed questionnaire that includes eighty A real-life A| questions covering such categories as the following: A { self-help procedures; A { court proceedings; A { arbitration and other non-court proceedings; A { money claims; A { bankruptcy; A { non-consensual liens; A { rights and security interests in aircraft; A { deregistration powers of attorney; and A { export permit issues. Fees, time periods, costs of all kinds, remedies, immunities, required documentation, recognition of foreign judgements, interim measures and other court proceedings A- all these and many other crucial considerations are fully explained for each jurisdiction. Loaded with precise, up-to-date information and expert practical guidance, this two-volume set will be of enormous value to aviation lawyers, inhouse counsel of aircraft owners and operators, receivers, export credit agencies, banks, lessors, lenders and investors with an interest in the aviation industry.

Despite a clear distinction in law between equity and debt, the results of such a categorization can be misleading. The growth of financial innovation in recent decades necessitates the allocation of control and cash-flow rights in a way that diverges from the classic understanding. Some of the financial instruments issued by companies, so-called hybrid instruments, fall into a grey area between debt and equity, forcing regulators to look beyond the legal form of an instrument to its practical substance. This innovative study, by emphasizing the agency relations and the property law claims embedded in the use of such unconventional instruments, analyses and discusses the governance regulation of hybrids in a way that is primarily functional, departing from more common approaches that focus on tax advantages and internal corporate control. The author assesses the role of hybrid instruments in the modern company, unveiling the costs and benefits of issuing these securities, recognizing and categorizing the different problem fields in which hybrids play an important role, and identifying legal and contracting solutions to governance and finance problems. The full-scale analysis compares the U.K. law dealing with hybrid instruments with the corresponding law of the the most relevant U.S. jurisdictions in relation to company law. The following issues, among many others, are raised: A { decisions under uncertainty when the risks of opportunism of the parties is very high; A { contract incompleteness and ex post conflicts; A { protection of convertible bondholders in mergers and acquisitions and in assets disposal; A { use of convertible bonds to reorganise and restructure a firm; A { timing of the conversion and the issuer A|s call option; A { majority-minority conflict in venture capital financing; A { duty of loyalty; A { fiduciary duties to preference shareholders; and A { financial contract design for controlling the board A|s power in exit events. Throughout, the analysis includes discussion, comparison, and evaluation of statutory provisions, existing legal standards, and strategies for protection. It is unlikely that a more thorough or informative account exists of the complex regulatory problems created by hybrid financial instruments and of the different ways in which regulatory regimes have responded to the problems they raise. Because business parties in these jurisdictions have a lot of scope and a strong incentive to contract for their rights, this book will also be of uncommon practical value to corporate counsel and financial regulators as well as to interested academics.

How has the legal system used its traditional body of copyright and patent law to protect rights in computer software? The last 15 years have changed the entire landscape with regard to the creation and protection of software as intellectual property. Written by a computer expert with extensive participation in some of the most important software trials of the period, this book invites you to think critically about significant software issues and learn about the legal pitfalls surrounding software development in the industry today. The book is organized around various legal issues raised by both plaintiffs and defendants in copyright litigation, and the problems of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office in dealing with the rapid proliferation of applications for software-related patents. The author explains important terms and concepts in software litigation such as infringement, substantial similarity, reverse engineering, the merger defense, and "look and feel". Galler's book is a succinct, readable survey for computer professionals, nonlegal academics, and lawyers who need a fast summary of the critical issues and cases in software and intellectual property matters.

The eight outstanding authors who have collaborated in this endeavour represent the highest levels of interaction among scholars, social partners, and EU institutions involved in the European Social Dialogue. This book is the final product of their Brussels conference in October 2002, organised by the Social Law Department of Ghent University. Their deeply informed contributions respond to such probing questions as the following:
- Does the much-talked-of European social model really exist?
- Are effective collective agreements feasible under the current EC Treaty?
- Is the conclusion of collective agreements negotiation or legislation?
- Can a viable compromise be achieved between the often contradictory aims of competition law and social policy?
The discussions include incisive analyses of relevant law and legal theory - pertinent EC Treaty provisions and directives, decisions of the Community's courts, existing and potential collective agreements - as well as declarations of the social partners and from Community institutions. The text of the work programme drawn up by ETUC, UNICE, and CEEP in November 2002 is reproduced in full.

The laws of the Member States of the European Union and the tax treaties concluded by them - being part of their national laws - must be consistent with European Community law. Apart from EC Directives and Regulations, the EC Treaty itself contains rules directly applicable to matters of international taxation. In this context the decisions of the European Court of Justice on the fundamental freedoms laid down in the EC treaty are of primary importance. If a provision of a tax treaty is in conflict with the EC Treaty, it is superseded by the Treaty provisions. The EC Treaty may therefore have the effect of changing the content of tax treaties, a matter of crucial importance to international tax planning techniques. This collection of essays examines the effects of primary European Community law, in particular the fundamental freedom provisions in the EC Treaty, on tax treaties concluded by the Member States. Using the method of examination employed by the European Court of Justice, the contributors to this volume present a systematic analysis of the effects of the interaction of national tax law, tax treaty law and the EC Treaty.

This book provides a comprehensive guide to the scope of European Merger Control Regulations. It follows a practical approach, which is aimed at fulfilling the need for a straightforward, user-friendly introduction to the workings of merger control at European level. It is designed to provide the reader with the framework provisions, as opposed to a case-by-case analysis, thereby enabling those involved with mergers to understand more comprehensively how the regulations and the decisions of the Merger Task Force affect specific mergers, organizations and business. The scope and functions of the Merger Regulations are set out fully and step-by-step guides to the various procedures are provided. Information sources include the full text of the Regulations as amended, relevant Commission Notices, and details of the national authorities dealing with mergers. As the EU moves further towards the accomplishment of the internal market and as mergers of ever-increasing value take place, the Merger Regulations and the work of the Merger Task Force has become of heightened importance.

Freedman focuses on investigation of employees by their companies and organizations, delineating the rights and obligations of the employer and the rights and privileges of the employee in the employment relationship. Internal company investigations have in recent years become widespread as companies and corporations seek to ferret out internal problems. Officers and directors as well as employees have been subjected to the internal investigative process. But the content of these internal investigations and the precise procedures utilized by the company or corporation are simply unknown for the obvious reason that no company or corporation wants to publicize the fact of investigation, or wash its dirty linens in public Unless such inside secrets are disclosed in the course of litigation, the author of any text on internal investigations cannot detail the pragmatic substance of the internal investigation. The point is simply that the internal investigation process generally remains confidential until disclosed by the participants.

There are, however, guidelines to the internal investigation that are available, and the author has utilized every known facet of the investigative process to spotlight what the internal investigation is all about. Factors such as the right to privacy; whistleblowing; discrimination based on age, sex, race, national origin, religion, etc.; drug-testing and alcohol-testing; as well as prime causes of discharge or termination of employment are all relevant, and are delineated hereinafter. In most instances, these factors are evidenced by decided cases, thereby establishing precedents and background for the author's conclusions. In view of the increasing amount of litigation in this field, Freedman's treatise will be valuable to bench and bar, and as a guide will be useful to executives in corporations and organizations throughout the private and public sectors.

The book presents contributions from Brazilian experts on the regulation of different energy sources. Focusing on describing and discussing the fundamental issues related to the legal regulation of each of the sources that compose Brazil's energy matrix, it also analyzes economic and strategic aspects and identifies the main current problems related to the exploration for and production of each energy source. The book offers a clear and detailed overview of energy law and regulation for policymakers, foreign investors and legal professionals dealing with energy projects in Brazil.

This timely book focuses on achieving a sustainable future through the reform of green fiscal policy. Green fiscal policies help not only provide the needed financing but may also serve the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015. In this volume environmental tax experts review the development of fiscal carbon policy, consider the impact of green taxation on trade and competition, analyze the lessons learned from national experiences with fuel and energy pricing, and evaluate a variety of green economic instruments. A comprehensive range of green economic instruments is evaluated, covering emissions trading schemes, energy tax systems, global natural resource consumption taxes and fiscal intervention. The contributions from leading environmental taxation scholars consider thought-provoking innovations in policy and law to deal with climate change and explore a range of fiscal strategies designed to mitigate the negative and maximise the positive effects of a carbon economy. This is a vital reference work for students and academics in environmental law, economics and sustainability, and will serve as an excellent guide for policy makers and those involved in fiscal reform. Contributors include: C. Brandimarte, J. Bruha, H. Bruhova-Foltynova, L. del Federico, A. Gerbeti, S. Giorgi, E. Guglyuvatyy, S.-A. Joseph, C. Kettner, D. Kletzan-Slamanig, D. Leary, Y. Motoki, A. Naito, P. Pearce, V. Pisa, N.P. Stoianoff, S.L. Tan, X. Wang, S. Wright, J. Wu, Z. Yang

This volume contains sections on company law, dispute resolution, employment law, insolvency law, intellectual property law, taxation and finance and other general commercial issues. There are a number of chapters which tackle cross-border issues, such as taxation, jurisdiction and arbitration, while others concentrate on specific geographical areas, such as the Asia-Pacific region. Some authors explore problems in the workplace, including the reduction of the workforce and incidents of racial discrimination within it, issues of which all employers need to be aware. Also examined are those subjects which are ever-present in the life of a business, among them bankruptcy and insolvency, procurement, intellectual property, investment, contracts and other matters of company law. Other chapters comprise an in-depth look at the Vienna Convention on the "International Sale of Goods", a specialized discussion of patent second medical use claims, an explanation of how criminal sanctions are being applied to crimes against the environment, a report of the devaluation and dollarization of an economy and an interesting insight into the effects of a nation's culture and traditions upon its legal system. This volume of the yearbook contains chapters on a wide variety of issues which arise regularly in the commercial world, but it also contains discussions on more specialized topics. These will not only be of use to the practitioners and business people involved in those areas, but should be useful reading for those who are not and provide an introduction to subjects which they may find useful in the future.

This country-by-country guide to merger control law gives business people and their counsel helpful information needed to proceed confidently toward a successful transnational merger. For each of twenty major jurisdictions - including the USA, EU, China, India, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Vietnam and most EU countries - this book describes: procedure for antitrust clearance, if necessary; rules and criteria for approval; restrictions on merger dimensions; relevant market definition criteria; and ancillary restrictions. Whenever possible, actual national notification forms are reproduced so they may be prepared in advance. The authors, each an expert in the business law of his or her own country, offer practical advice on managing the transaction and avoiding pitfalls. A detailed general introduction highlights shared patterns, as well as distinctions, among the merger control regimes of the various jurisdictions.

With almost 6,300 commercial banks, significantly more than in any other country, the world of US banking is unique, fascinating, and always in flux. Two principal pieces of legislation have shaped the banking structure in this country: The McFadden Act of 1927, which prohibited banks from branching into other states, and The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which separated commercial and investment banking activities. The repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 was one of the main contributing factors behind the global financial crisis of 2008. This measure resulted in the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which once again prohibited commercial banks from making certain types of speculative investments. The Changing Face of American Banking analyzes the impact of both these acts - as well as that of their subsequent repeal - in depth, examining the real effects of government regulations on the US commercial banking sector. Ray Chaudhuri pinpoints the evolving nature of US commercial banks and banking regulations and explores their impact on the economy. Instead of just focusing on banks and regulations, this work considers the correlations and causality between banking performance and economic growth and productivity. It also brings the banking literature up to date with the 2008-2009 financial crisis and its aftermath, including the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 and its effect on American banking.

In the twentieth century the application of national taxes to income from international business has created complex yet fascinating issues. The co-ordination of national jurisdiction to tax international income has rested formally on a network of bilateral treaties, but its practical administration has relied on a community of specialists; business advisers on the one hand and national officials on the other. The rapid growth of transnational corporations has put great pressure on the international tax system, especially due to the increasing difficulty of ensuring that the internal transfer prices between related firms in different countries reflect a fair and acceptable allocation of costs and profits. Furthermore, the widespread use of intermediary companies formed in tax havens has led to complex counter-measures and a constant process of treaty renegotiation and interaction with national law. The increasingly close administrative co-operation of tax authorities has been criticized as secretive and often arbitrary. Yet proposals for a more comprehensive framework and clearer legitimizing principles and procedures have conflicted with both the vested interests of international firms and with sensitivities about national sovereignity. But major reforms are necessary, even if implemented piecemeal.

Using perspectives from law, economics and social science, this book provides a systematic introduction to the major problems of international taxation of business income. In doing so, it retrieves important policy issues that have become buried in technical intricacies of the international taxation system.

This fascinating book examines and offers critical comments on the new 'significant market power'-regime, as put into place by the 2003 European regulatory framework on electronic communications networks and services. An overview of this regime, its characteristics, guiding principles, and procedures is provided, using the mobile sector as a case study. The authors give a clear and comprehensive presentation of the new SMP-procedure that may lead to the imposition of remedies on undertakings with significant market power. The book also contains an analysis of all available European Commission comments on the notifications of draft measures by national regulatory authorities, for mobile as well as other markets. Addressing pressing issues, in view of the implementation of the new regulatory framework, this book is a useful working instrument for everyone who is active in the electronic communications sector including practicing lawyers, firms in the electronic communications sector, regulatory authorities, academics and policymakers throughout Europe.

This book addresses emerging legal and economic issues in competition and investment in air transport, against the backdrop of the role governments and airlines should play in avoiding protectionism and encouraging innovation and creativity. It evaluates current trends in air transport and the direction the industry is taking in the twenty first century. There are discussions on key aspects of air transport, such as safety assurance and environmental protection, as they are impacted by competition. The rapid evolution of aerospace transport and its effect on competition in air transport is also examined. A recurring theme of the book is the influence of creative destruction and disruptive innovation on air transport. This is addressed through an in-depth study of the contentious areas of law relating to the abuse of dominant positions and state aid, as reflected in the ongoing claim by the three largest US carriers against Gulf carriers such as Emirates Airlines, Etihad and Qatar Airways. The US carriers claim that Emirates and Etihad - which operate air services into the United States by virtue of an open-skies agreement between the US and The United Arab Emirates - are using generous subsidies given to them by their g overnments to illegally capture the "legitimate" market belonging to the US carriers. These issues are clarified in the book using analyses of competition law and investment law as they apply to air transport, free-trade-agreement analogies and an open-skies case study.

This text is a collection of primary source materials in the labour law and social policy of the European Community in one volume. It includes documents and decisions up to May 1st, 1999, when the Treaty of Amsterdam came into force, along with key legislative instruments in EC labour law and social policy, significant associated policy documents produced by the Commission and important decisions of the European Court of Justice. This material is organised by reference to specific Directives and Treaty provisions. Thus (for example) the progress of a specific Action Programme may be followed through legislature, Commission and Court to reveal a complete overview of its development since the Community came into being. The author follows this analytic procedure for all major areas of labour law and social policy, including equality of treatment for men and women, equal pay and working conditions. Easy access to the book's information is provided by a reference system built on a series of tables presented at the beginning of the volume. These include two "tables of equivalence" that facilitate the process of converting former Treaty article numbers to the article numbers now in force under the amended and renumbered Treaty of Amsterdam. Advocates, judges, policymakers, scholars and students should find this sourcebook useful.

In the wake of the Asian financial crisis that erupted in 1997, an intense scrutiny of the principles and standards of the world's financial system was inevitable. This book presents the insight and practical proposals of 25 experts, including economists, lawyers, bankers, academics and officials from international financial institutions. The contributions offered here were originally presented at a series of conferences sponsored in 1999 and 2000 by the Asian Institute of International Financial Law of the University of Hong Kong in collaboration with leading law faculties from five continents. The issues confronted in this book include the following: reform of domestic securities regulation; investment insurance and risk management; the role of pension funds; accounting standards; financing real estate and construction projects; global competitiveness in the financial sector; responsibility of private lenders; effective anti-money laundering measures; protection of emerging market economies; corporate governance; and institutional investors.

This book examines how regulators and policymakers from nine different countries have dealt with Uber, and initiates a legal dialogue between different jurisdictions that could potentially pave the way to a harmonized approach in regulating Uber. The case studies, conducted in Brazil, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and the US reveal the case law and regulatory responses that have been adopted in various areas of law. Legal issues relevant to Uber include market regulation, labor law, civil liability, consumer protection, unfair competition and antitrust law. The book thus compares and contrasts the regulatory policy implications of the disruptive innovation created by Uber in the area of transport services. The book starts with a conceptual overview of the legal challenges posed by Uber and concludes with comparative findings based on the individual case studies. In addition to introducing academics and legal practitioners to the theoretical and practical legal problems they may encounter in connection with Uber, the book will especially appeal to policymakers, who can benefit from and compare the experiences of other jurisdictions.

Since the introduction of the European Unfair Contract Terms Directive (UCTD), there have been far-reaching developments in the digital landscape which have significantly altered the nature of consumer contracts. This timely book examines the changes that have taken place since the advent of the UCTD and analyses the challenges that they pose for consumers entering online standard form contracts today. Illuminating the ways in which digital technology has revolutionised markets and caused a growing number of traders to transition to online business models, Unfair Contract Terms in the Digital Age assesses how the modern contracting landscape adversely impacts consumers. Chapters explore the manifold risks of digitalisation, addressing issues from the lack of transparency of website terms and conditions to the new reach of mass market operators exerting control over European consumers. Against the backdrop of this digital transformation, the book evaluates the key features of the UCTD, questioning whether the Directive can adequately protect Europe's online consumers and counter the perils of unfair terms in standard form contracts. This cutting-edge book is an invaluable resource for scholars and students of consumer law, regulation, and public policy. Policy-makers in EU institutions will also benefit from its assessment of unfair terms law in the digital era.