In 1996 a record one million-plus bankruptcy cases were filed in the United States. In this important book, an eminent legal authority provides an accessible introduction to and evaluation of the federal bankruptcy system governing these filings. Karen Gross describes existing bankruptcy law, assesses what is actually happening in practice, and makes specific-and controversial-recommendations for reform. Gross explores the varying and often conflicting interests of debtors, creditors, and community in the bankruptcy system. She justifies the idea of a "fresh start" for individual and business debtors by analyzing notions of forgiveness and rehabilitation in a civilized society. She offers a new perspective on how to treat certain of the creditors that bankruptcy touches, substituting a principle of equality of outcome for the principle of equality of treatment. She also presents an original argument about community interests, contending that they should be given serious weight in the necessary balancings that make up bankruptcy law and policy, and provides specific statutory amendments to achieve this goal. Offering a humanitarian approach to bankruptcy rather than the law and economic approach commonly used, this book places legal issues of bankruptcy in their social context and opens the dialogue about bankruptcy to lawyers and nonlawyers alike.

The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 created the infrastructure for the modern American payments system. Probing the origins of this benchmark legislation, J. Lawrence Broz finds that international factors were crucial to its conception and passage. Until its passage, the United States had suffered under one of most inefficient payment systems in the world. Serious banking panics erupted frequently, and nominal interest rates fluctuated wildly. Structural and regulatory flaws contributed not only to financial instability at home but also to the virtual absence of the dollar in world trade and payments.

Key institutional features of the Federal Reserve Act addressed both these shortcomings but it was the goal of internationalizing usage of the dollar that motivated social actors to pressure Congress for the improvements. With New York bankers in the forefront, an international coalition lobbied for a system that would reduce internal problems such as recurring panics, and simultaneously allow New York to challenge London's preeminence as the global banking center and encourage bankers to make the dollar a worldwide currency of record. To those who organized the political effort to pass the Act, Broz contends, the creation of the Federal Reserve System was first and foremost a response to international opportunities.

This title provides an explanation of the law governing cheques. It addresses certain fundamental issues such as how to draw a valid cheque; the immediate legal consequences of payment by cheque; cheque negotiation; the legal implications of a dishonoured cheque; and the legal position of banks that pay out on a cheque without authority.

Das Buch untersucht den Einfluss des Gesellschaftszwecks auf die Wirksamkeit der etablierten Glaubigerschutzinstrumente. Im Mittelpunkt stehen die GmbH und die Frage, welchen Einfluss die Verfolgung eines gemeinnutzigen Zwecks auf die Wirksamkeit des Glaubigerschutzsystems des GmbH-Rechts hat.

Comparative Company Law provides a systematic and coherent exposition of company law across jurisdictions, augmented by extracts taken from key judgments, legislation, and scholarly works. It provides an overview of the legal framework of company law in the US, the UK, Germany, and France, as well as the legislative measures adopted by the EU and the relevant case law of the Court of Justice. The comparative analysis of legal frameworks is firmly grounded in legal history and legal and economic theory and bolstered by numerous extracts (including extracts in translation) that offer the reader an invaluable insight into how the law operates in context. The book is an essential guide to how company law cuts across borders, and how different jurisdictions shape the corporate lifespan from its formation by way of incorporation to its demise (corporate insolvency) and eventual dissolution. In addition, it offers an introduction to the nature of the corporation, the framework of EU company law, incorporation and corporate representation, agency problems in the firm, rights of stakeholders and shareholders, neutrality and defensive measures in corporate control transactions, legal capital, piercing the corporate veil, and corporate insolvency and restructuring law.

As the global market expands, the need for international regulation becomes urgent

Since World War II, financial crises have been the result of macroeconomic instability until the fatidic week end of September 15 2008, when Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. The financial system had become the source of its own instability through a combination of greed, lousy underwriting, fake ratings and regulatory negligence. From that date, governments tried to put together a new regulatory framework that would avoid using taxpayer money for bailout of banks. In an uncoordinated effort, they produced a series of vertical regulations that are disconnected from one another. That will not be sufficient to stop finance from being instable and the need for international and horizontal regulation is urgent. This challenge is the focus of Georges Ugeux's book.

"International Finance Regulation: The Quest for Financial Stability" focuses on the inspirations behind regulation, and examines the risks and consequences of fragmentation on a global scale. Author Georges Ugeux has four decades of experience in the legal and economic aspects of international business operations. He created and run the New York Stock Exchange'sinternational group in charge of developing the NYSE's reach to non-US companies, including relationships with regulators and governments. Ugeux teaches European Banking and Finance of the Columbia University School of Law. Ugeux is uniquely positioned to provide recommendations and suggestions from the perspective of a top global authority. In the book, he explores international regulation with topics such as:

- Laws, regulations, and risks of overregulation- Transformation of the U.S. market and creation of the Eurozone- Development of a global framework and stability of the banking system- In-depth examination of Basel III, the Dodd-Frank Act, the European Banking Union, and the Volcker Rule

The book also contains case studies from real-world scenarios like Lehman, CDS, Greece, the London Whale, and Libor to illustrate the concepts presented. Finance consistently operates within an increasingly global paradigm, and an overarching regulation scheme is becoming more and more necessary for sustainable growth. "International Finance Regulation: The Quest for Financial Stability" presents an argument for collaboration toward a comprehensive global regulation strategy.

The severe global financial crisis of 2008 could not be overcome without government interventions through industrial policy. This timely book analyses industrial policy from the perspectives of trade law and economics under the WTO system. The author expertly examines both general tools of protecting and supporting domestic producers and specific topics like special economic zones, localization, greening measures and creative economy. In addition to legal texts and jurisprudence, this book extensively utilizes other WTO materials to show what is actually discussed in WTO meetings and forums on relevant issues. Where applicable, the author advances practical recommendations for 'right' or 'optimal' industrial policy in certain contexts based on trade rules, case law and some countries' real experiences. The author concludes this work with some thoughts on concrete actions to be taken at the WTO and national levels and in academic circles in order to better tackle industrial policy issues.

Chapter 1 analyzes recent changes to state Unemployment Compensation (UC) programs. Two categories of UC state law issues are considered: (1) changes in the duration of state UC unemployment benefits, and (2) changes in the UC weekly benefit amount Chapter 2 provides state-by-state information on workers covered, benefit eligibility, methods of financing, and other areas of interest in the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program. It also includes information on the temporary disability programs operated in six states.

Der Steuerfachmann kommt mit dem Steuerstrafrecht dann in Beruhrung, wenn davon steuerrechtliche Massnahmen abhangen. Das gilt etwa fur die verlangerte Festsetzungfrist bei leichtfertiger oder vorsatzlicher Steuerverkurzung, fur die AEnderung von Steuerbescheiden nach Aussenprufung und die Festsetzung von Hinterziehungszinsen. Auch die strafbefreiende Selbstanzeige gehoert zur Praxis des Beraters. Ihre Voraussetzungen und Modalitaten (mit Muster) bilden den Schwerpunkt neben dem Verhalten des steuerlichen Beraters im Ermittlungsverfahren gegen seinen Mandanten - insbesondere bei Durchsuchungen in der eigenen Kanzlei. Eingeschlossen sind auch die Rechte und Pflichten bei einer Verteidigung des Mandanten. Insgesamt bietet das Buch eine umfassende Hilfestellung bei der Bearbeitung steuerstrafrechtlicher Fragen.

401(k) plan participants separating from their employers must decide what to do with their plan savings. Many roll over their plan savings to IRAs. As GAO previously reported, there is concern that participants may be encouraged to choose rollovers to IRAs in lieu of options that could be more in their interests. This book identifies challenges separating plan participants may face in implementing rollovers; obtaining clear information about which option to choose; and understanding distribution options.

A well-integrated, national biosurveillance enterprise is a national security imperative. The United States' ability to detect quickly and characterise a potential incident of national significance that affects human, animal, or plant health is of paramount importance. Rapid detection and enhanced situational awareness are critical to saving lives and improving incident outcomes, whether the result of a bioterrorism attack or other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threat, an emerging infectious disease, pandemic, environmental disaster, or a food-borne illness. Beyond the need to protect domestic interests, and because health threats transcend national borders, the United States also plays a vital role within an international network of biosurveillance centres across the globe. This book focuses on the national strategy for biosurveillance and the national biosurveillance science and technology roadmap.

The 2007-2009 financial crisis threatened the stability of the U.S. financial system and the health of the U.S. economy. To address regulatory gaps and other problems revealed by the crisis, Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Act. Federal regulators will need to issue hundreds of rules to implement the act. Industry representatives, academics, and others generally have supported the act's goal of enhancing U.S. financial stability, but implementation of certain of the act's provisions has led to much debate. These experts have expressed a wide range of views on the potential positive and negative effects that the act could have on the U.S. financial system and broader economy. This book examines the losses associated with the recent financial crisis; the benefits of the act for the U.S. financial system and the broader economy; and the costs of the act's reforms. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed empirical and other studies on the impacts of financial crises and the Dodd-Frank reforms, as well as congressional testimonies, comment letters, and other public statements by federal regulators, industry representatives, and others.

The Dodd-Frank Act requires or authorises various federal agencies to issue hundreds of rules to implement reforms intended to strengthen the financial services industry. This book examines the regulatory analyses federal agencies performed for rules issued pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act and how the agencies consulted with each other in implementing the final rules to avoid duplication or conflicts. Most Dodd-Frank Act regulations have not been finalised or in place for sufficient time for their full impacts to materialise. Recognising these and other limitations, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) took a multi-pronged approach to assess the impact of some of the act's provisions and rules, with an initial focus on the act's systemic risk goals.

Recent volatility in financial markets highlights the need for prudent investment decisions if 401(k) plans are to provide an adequate source of retirement income. While plan sponsors and participants may receive help in assessing their investment choices, concerns have been raised about the impartiality of the advice provided. This book examines improved regulation of 401(k) sponsors to better protect participants from conflicts of interest; increased educational outreach and broader oversight of 401(k) plans to reduce plan fees; and investigation into investment options and practices that could restrict withdrawals.

The Budget Control Act (BCA) is the result of negotiations between the President and Congress held in response to the federal government having nearly reached its borrowing capacity. The BCA authorised increases in the debt limit of at least $2.1 trillion dollars (and up to $2.4 trillion under certain conditions), subject to a disapproval process that would likely require securing the support of two-thirds of each chamber to prevent a debt limit increase. It established caps on the amount of money that could be spent through the annual appropriations process for the next 10 years, which the CBO estimates will reduce federal spending by $917 billion. This book provides an overview of the essential features of the Budget Control Act, a history and recent increases of the debt limit and the potential effects on government operations.

This book provides an overview of The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and the Anti-Money Laundering Manual (AML) which is intended to safeguard the U.S. financial system and the financial institutions that make up that system from the abuses of financial crime, including money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit financial transactions. Money laundering and terrorist financing are financial crimes with potentially devastating social and financial effects. The BSA was designed to help identify the source, volume, and movement of currency and other monetary instruments transported or transmitted into or out of the U.S. or deposited in financial institutions.

Standards often remain unseen, yet they play a fundamental part in the organisation of contemporary capitalism and society at large. What form of power do they epitomise? Why have they become so prominent? Are they set to be as important for the globalisation of services as for manufactured goods? Graz draws on international political economy and cognate fields to present strong theoretical arguments, compelling research and surprising evidence on the role of standards in the global expansion of services, with in-depth studies of their institutional environment and cases including the insurance industry and business process outsourcing in India. The power of standards resembles a form of transnational hybrid authority, in which ambiguity should be seen as a generic attribute, defining not only the status of public and private actors involved in standardisation and regulation, but also the scope of issues concerned and the space in which such authority is recognised when complying to standards. This book is also available as Open Access.

This book provides a critical socio-legal study that brings together the latest scholarly advances on corporate social responsibility, and, at the same time, addresses the pressing issue of corporate liability for harmful acts across the supply and production chains. Corporations have seldom been held responsible and virtually never liable for the acts of their subsidiaries and subcontractors. Actors as different as workers, investors, individual consumers, and shareholder activists claim that corporations should accept greater responsibility for communities and environments affected by their activities. The book argues that a global value chain's head corporations remain immune to any liability because of the 'economically dependent-legally independent' relationships between core corporations and their periphery suppliers and subcontractors. To tackle this problem, globally, the author acknowledges that 'we' as a society need to reduce the economic dependence as described above - which is far too excessive - by ensuring a level playing field both economically and socially. More concretely, she argues that in order to realise transnational corporate liability, 'we' as lawyers need to find a way (or ways) to establish legally effective relationships between head corporations and their economically dependent entities. Readers of this book will be able to export the concept of corporate social liability, developed in the context of value chains, and apply it to other contexts involving corporate activities where they need to tackle unrestrained corporate freedom and make global businesses responsible and socially useful.

English summary: Collective investment schemes provide investors with a safe and readily redeemable form of investment. Their economic significance cannot be overestimated. In particular, the tripartite structure between the managing company, the depositary and the unitholders gives rise to several legal problems. This thesis is the first to analyse the legal structures of collective investment schemes in Germany and England. The author examines the contractual model and the so- called Investmentaktiengesellschaft under German law as well as the unit trust and the open-ended investment company (OEIC) under English law. The core issues are the legal relationships between the parties and such funds and their duties. A focus is also put on the legal consequences in case these duties are breached and how such damage claims are to be enforced. With regard to the German contractual model, the author advocates payments for compensation in favor of the fund assets rather than in favor of the individual unitholder. He further makes suggestions on how to strengthen the rights of the investors. German text. German description: Open-end-Investmentfonds bieten Anlegern die Moglichkeit einer sicheren sowie leicht realisierbaren Kapitalanlage und haben eine immense wirtschaftliche Bedeutung. Rechtlich problematisch ist insbesondere die Dreiecksstruktur zwischen Verwaltungs- bzw. Investmentgesellschaft, Verwahrgesell-schaft und Anlegern. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht diese Strukturen erstmalig nicht nur fur open-end-Investmentfonds in Deutschland, sondern auch in England. Dabei werden das Vertragsmodell und die Investmentaktiengesellschaft des deutschen Rechts sowie das Trustmodell (unit trust) und die open-ended investment company (OEIC) des englischen Rechts eingehend behandelt. Im Mittelpunkt der Arbeit stehen die Rechtsbeziehungen zwischen den Beteiligten, die sich daraus ergebenden Pflichten und die Rechtsfolgen ihrer Verletzung. Untersucht werden auch die Moglichkeiten der Durchsetzung von Schadensersatz-anspruchen. Dabei richten sich nach Ansicht des Autors Haftungsanspruche der Anleger im deutschen Vertragsmodell grds. auf Leistung an das Sondervermogen. Er entwickelt auch Vorschlage zur Starkung der Rechtsposition der Anleger.

The discovery of mistakes in pension scheme documents is as common as it is potentially serious for the administration of the scheme and for the sponsoring employer. The large sums invested in pension schemes mean that such mistakes are often very costly indeed. This book provides a practical guide to the different methods available to correct commonly-occurring mistakes in the governing provisions of pension schemes. It combines a detailed review of the law with (where relevant) practical tips, including analysis of the appropriate practice and procedure involved in the key methods of correction. With a significant body of case law enabling more authoritative answers to be given to the legal issues affecting the correction of pension scheme mistakes, and more and more mistakes being discovered because of the move to secure pension scheme liabilities with insurance companies, trustees and employers need swift and accurate legal advice on what they can do to correct such mistakes. This book provides them and their legal advisers with that advice ensuring they do not make the same costly mistakes that others have made. This book will help the reader to: * To select the most appropriate method of correcting the mistake * Consider including provisions in the terms of the pension scheme which may make the correction of the mistake easier and cheaper * Select the most tax-efficient way of correcting the mistake * Understand the processes involved in correcting the mistake * Better advise their clients as to how to deal with the mistake

Big banks are capable of wreaking havoc on the global economy, and governments have often felt powerless to stop them. Regulators have responded by developing coordinated programs to handle banks, insurers, broker dealers, shadow banks and other businesses that can blow up in a crisis. This program began informally and undemocratically, and has developed into something much more organized, formalized and predictable, even though it has never been legally enforceable. David Zaring examines the realities of the current international financial system and concludes that in fact this is a well-ordered and functioning regulatory environment: the international financial system enjoys a substantial degree of compliance, and operates predictably and harmoniously. As a result, perhaps this could serve as a paradigm for future global governance. Zaring explores three aspects of international financial regulation that can inform global governance: harmonization through rules, cooperation on enforcement and agreement on fundamental principles.

Diese Arbeit behandelt die Auswirkungen der Schuldrechtsreform auf die Mangelgewahrleistung beim Unternehmenskauf. Unter der vor dem 31.12.2001 geltenden Rechtslage standen den Parteien eines Unternehmenskaufvertrags keine adaquaten gesetzlichen Regelungen zur Verfugung. Daher vereinbarten die Parteien vertragsautonome Haftungssysteme, die das BGB-Kaufrecht weitgehend verdrangten. Der Autor analysiert die seit dem 01.01.2002 geltenden kaufrechtlichen Vorschriften und pladiert fur eine Neubestimmung bei der umstrittenen Frage der Mangelgewahrleistung beim Unternehmenskauf. Auf dieser Grundlage wird herausgearbeitet, inwieweit die neue Rechtslage den Bedurfnissen der Parteien eines Unternehmenskaufes nun besser gerecht wird und ob der Gesetzgeber mit der umfassenden Neuregelung des Schuldrechts dem Unternehmenskauf den Weg zuruck in das BGB geebnet hat. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt wird auf die Folgen fehlerhafter Jahresabschlussangaben gelegt.