As governments around the world withdraw from welfare provision and promote long-term savings by households through the financial markets, the protection of retail investors has become critically important. Taking as a case study the wide-ranging EC investor-protection regime which now governs EC retail markets after an intense reform period, this critical, contextual and comparative examination of the nature of investor protection explores why the retail investor should be protected, whether retail investor engagement with the markets should be encouraged and how investor protection laws should be designed, particularly in light of the financial crisis. The book considers the implications of the EC's investor protection rules 'on the books' but also considers investor protection law and policy 'in action', drawing on experience from the UK retail market and in particular the Financial Services Authority's extensive retail market activities, including the recent Retail Distribution Review and the Treating Customers Fairly strategy.

Regulation is often thought of as an activity that restricts behaviour and prevents the occurrence of certain undesirable activities, but the influence of regulation can also be enabling or facilitative, as when a market could potentially be chaotic if uncontrolled. This Handbook provides a clear and authoritative discussion of the major trends and issues in regulation over the last thirty years, together with an outline of prospective developments. It brings together contributions from leading scholars from a range of disciplines and countries.
Each chapter offers a broad overview of key current issues and provides an analysis of different perspectives on those issues. Experiences in different jurisdictions and insights from various disciplines are drawn upon, and particular attention is paid to the challenges that are encountered when specific approaches are applied in practice. Contributors develop their own distinctive arguments relating to the central issues in regulation and apply scholarly rigour and clear writing to matters of high policy-relevance. The essays are original, accessible, and agenda-setting, and the Handbook will be essential reading both to students and researchers and to with regulatory and regulated professionals.

This book was first published in 2006. It is estimated that up to sixty percent of the world's money may be located offshore, where half of all financial transactions are said to take place; however, there is a perception that secrecy about offshore is encouraged to obfuscate tax evasion and money laundering. McCann provides a detailed analysis of the global offshore environment, outlining the extent of the information available and how that information might be used in assessing the quality of individual jurisdictions, as well as examining whether some of the perceptions about 'offshore' are valid. He analyses the ongoing work of the Financial Stability Forum, the Financial Action Task Force, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The book also offers some suggestions as to what the future might hold for offshore finance.

Das Themengebiet Compliance hat innerhalb der letzten Jahre einen rasanten Bedeutungszuwachs erfahren. Diese Untersuchung leistet einen Beitrag zur Konkretisierung der Compliance-Pflichten im Konzern. Konkret wird der Frage nachgegangen, unter welchen Umstanden das geschaftsfuhrende Organ einer herrschenden Gesellschaft fur Compliance-Verstoesse in Tochtergesellschaften haftet. Ziel ist es, die rechtlich notwendigen und rechtlich zulassigen Massnahmen des geschaftsfuhrenden Organs der herrschenden Gesellschaft genauer zu bestimmen. Die Arbeit geht dabei von der Pramisse aus, dass es sich bei der herrschenden Gesellschaft um eine GmbH oder eine AG handelt, welche eine einheitliche Leitung im Sinne von 18 AktG ausubt. Im Ergebnis entwickelt die Arbeit einen Mindeststandard der notwendigen Compliance-Massnahmen im Konzern.

The Prospectus Directive of 4 November 2003 and the Prospectus Regulation of 29 April 2004 permit a single European passport for a prospectus that has been approved by the competent authority of a Member State to be used for the public offering of securities in other Member States without the need to obtain approval in each state. The Prospectus Directive sets forth the general rules and requirements for the preparation, approval and distribution of prospectuses and defines the content, format and publication of the prospectus, while the Prospectus Regulation defines the minimum information that must be included in the prospectus and its related documents. This second volume contains reports of the implementation of the Prospectus Directive in those EU and EEA Member States not included in the first volume. Together, both volumes give the reader an overview of the implementation throughout the European Union and the European Economic Area.

Fiscal Challenges: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Budget Policy brings together leading experts from a range of disciplines to explore the problems of budget policy. The authors, including top economists, political scientists, historians, psychologists, and legal scholars, together provide a unique, multidisciplinary introduction to the subject. In addition to in-depth analysis of congressional budget procedures and the economics of federal deficits and debt, Fiscal Challenges explores important recent developments in budget policy at the state level and in the European Union. The goal of the volume is to offer readers wide-ranging perspectives on the many different academic disciplines and perspectives that bear on the evaluation of budgetary procedures and their reform.

Regulation is a key concern of industries, consumers, citizens, and governments alike. Building on the success of the first edition, Understanding Regulation, Second Edition provides the reader with an introduction to key debates and discussions in the field of regulation from a number of disciplinary perspectives, looking towards law, economics, business, political science, sociology, and social administration.
The book has been extensively revised and updated to take into account the significant developments and events of the past decade. Containing several new chapters, it has been completely restructured into seven parts, covering: the fundamental issues regarding regulation; different types of regulatory strategies; rules and enforcement; quality and evaluation; regulation at different levels of government; network issues; and concluding thoughts.
Drawing on cross-sectoral and cross-national examples, this book reviews the central questions of regulation, and reflects upon those contentious issues that affect the design and operation of regulatory institutions. Amongst other topics, it discusses "better regulation," enforcement, self-regulation, risk regulation, cost-benefit analysis, and more utility regulation-oriented topics, such as price-setting. It will be an essential resource for academics, researchers, and graduates across the social sciences studying regulation.

International financial relations have become increasingly important for the development of global and national economies. At present these relations are primarily governed by market forces, with little regulatory interference at the international level. In the light of numerous financial crises, this abstinence must be seriously questioned. Starting with an analysis of the regulatory problems at the international level, with only minimal powers entrusted to international organisations, this book develops various possibilities for reform. On the basis of an historical analysis, the book first adopts a comparative approach to national attempts to regulate international financial markets, then outlines the potential of relevant institutions and finally develops a policy perspective. It seeks to provide a framework for analysing options for the regulation of international financial markets from a public international law and comparative law perspective.

This is an account of the development of European labour and social security law as it interrelates with the evolution of market integration in the European Union. Giubboni presents, from a labour law perspective, a case study of the changes the European Community/European Union has undergone from its origins to the present day and of the ways these changes have affected the regulation of European Welfare States at national level. Drawing on the idea of 'embedded liberalism', Giubboni analyses the infiltration of EC competition and market law into national systems of labour and social security law and provides a normative framework for conceptualising the transformation of regulatory techniques implemented at the EU level. This important, interdisciplinary contribution to research in EU social law illustrates how the vision of social protection and solidarity is changing.

Die Umsatzsteuer soll den Unternehmer wirtschaftlich nicht belasten. Sichergestellt wird dies durch das Recht auf Vorsteuerabzug; gleichzeitig ist aber keine andere Steuer so betrugsanfallig wie die Umsatzsteuer. Die Gewahrung des Rechts auf Vorsteuerabzug steht daher vor allem in grenzuberschreitenden Fallgestaltungen stets in dem Spannungsfeld zwischen der konzeptionell erforderlichen vollstandigen Entlastung des Unternehmers und der Verhinderung von steuerlichem Missbrauch. Gegenstand der Untersuchung ist daher die Frage, ob das Recht auf Vorsteuererstattung in grenzuberschreitenden Fallgestaltungen nach denselben Grundsatzen wie in rein innerstaatlichen Konstellationen zu erfolgen hat oder ob eine potentiell hoehere Betrugsanfalligkeit die Anwendung abweichender Grundsatze rechtfertigt.

The Prospectus Directive of 4 November 2003 sets the rules on the publication of a prospectus in the event that securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a stock exchange in the European Union. These rules apply in all 30 member states of the European Economic Area. Since member states decide to a large extent how to implement the Directive in their law, the rules in the different member states will differ substantially. It is therefore important not only to have an understanding of the rules laid down in the Directive but also to obtain knowledge of the rules applicable in the different states. As an English book it provides an understanding for non-Europeans of the rules applicable on the publication of a prospectus. A comprehensive table of contents, text of the European Directive and a list of national implementing laws are also included.

Das Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Aktionarsrechterichtlinie (ARUG) hat den Aktiengesellschaften die Moeglichkeit eroeffnet, eine sogenannte Onlinehauptversammlung durchzufuhren. Damit wurde eine Vielzahl neuer rechtlicher Fragen geschaffen, derer sich der Autor in der Arbeit annimmt. Die in 118 Abs. 1 S. 2 AktG eingeraumte Gestaltungsfreiheit bei der Ausgestaltung der Online-HV bildet den Ausgangspunkt der Untersuchung. Der Autor arbeitet zunachst deren Inhalt heraus und befasst sich mit den Grenzen der Gestaltungsfreiheit. Anschliessend stellt er dar, welche Probleme bei der Durchfuhrung einer Online-HV bestehen und zeigt Gestaltungsmoeglichkeiten auf, die eine geordnete Durchfuhrung sicherstellen. Schliesslich wird untersucht, inwiefern Fehler bei der Ausgestaltung und Durchfuhrung der Online-HV das Anfechtungsrisiko erhoehen und Schadensersatzanspruche gegen die Gesellschaft ausloesen koennen. Die Untersuchung kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass sich die rechtlichen Risiken der Online-HV durch eine geeignete rechtliche und technische Ausgestaltung minimieren lassen, und verdeutlicht gleichzeitig, wie sich das Recht der Online-HV in das Aktienrecht einfugt.

Der Zusammenschluss mehrerer Bauunternehmen in Form einer Arbeitsgemeinschaft (ARGE) zahlt heutzutage zur taglichen Praxis bei der Realisierung einzelner Infrastrukturprojekte und anderer Grossprojekte in der Bauwirtschaft. Obwohl die Grunde zur Bildung einer ARGE mannigfaltiger Natur sein koennen, handelt es sich bei dieser Unternehmenskooperation stets um ein projektbezogenes Zweckbundnis. Aus diesem Charakteristikum einer ARGE ergeben sich eine Reihe gesellschafts- und steuerrechtlicher Fragestellungen. Zur Bewaltigung dieser Probleme hat sich im Laufe der Jahrzehnte eine gangige ARGE-Praxis entwickelt, die im Ergebnis eine Rechtsform "sui generis" hat entstehen lassen. Das Ziel der Untersuchung ist es, die wesentlichen Grundzuge der rechtlichen Gestaltung einer ARGE und deren Besteuerung aufzuzeigen und einer kritischen Analyse zu unterziehen.

Mit 55 Abs. 4 InsO hat der Gesetzgeber das Fiskusvorrecht wieder eingefuhrt - wohl allein zu Zwecken der Haushaltskonsolidierung. Der Bundesfinanzhof hat insbesondere mit Urteil vom 9.12.2010 die Rechte des Fiskus im Insolvenzverfahren weiter gestarkt. Noch bei Einfuhrung der InsO 1999 hatte sich der Gesetzgeber bewusst fur die Abschaffung des Fiskusvorrechts entschieden. In dieser Arbeit werden die Hintergrunde zur Aufnahme des Fiskusvorrechts in die Konkursordnung, die Entwicklung und der aktuelle Stand des Fiskusvorrechts im deutschen Insolvenzrecht untersucht. Die vom Gesetzgeber vorgebrachten Grunde zur Wiedereinfuhrung uberzeugen dabei nicht. Das Fiskusvorrecht ist insbesondere mit dem Glaubigergleichbehandlungsgrundsatz nicht vereinbar, dessen Dogmatik dazu ebenfalls naher beleuchtet wird.

Micheler analyses the German, Austrian and English law of securities, addressing the rules governing transfers of securities, including unauthorised transfers, equities arising out of defective issues, and the holding of securities through intermediaries. The book presents an account of the current English, German and Austrian regimes. It has been written with a view to explaining the German and Austrian regime to readers with a common law background and to explaining the English regime to readers with a civil law background. Micheler also aims to determine whether globalisation will cause the two different approaches to converge. It concludes that the respective rules in all three jurisdictions have historically evolved consistently with incumbent legal doctrine. This pattern of change is likely to continue. Convergence will occur on a functional rather than doctrinal level. Moreover, recent reform initiatives advanced by the UNIDROIT and the EU will lead to functional rather than doctrinal convergence.

The comprehensive "bible" for financial experts providing litigation support The Litigation Services Handbook is the definitive guide for financial experts engaged in litigation services. Attorneys require financial experts now more than ever, and this book provides the guidance you need to provide a high level of service as witness and consultant. Enhance your litigation skills as you delve into the fine points of trial preparation, deposition, and testimony; project authority under examination, and hold up to tough questions under cross-examination. Fraud investigations are a major component of litigation support services, and this book delves deep into Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and other relevant topics to give you a foundational understanding of how these cases are prosecuted, and your role as the financial services expert. This updated sixth edition includes new coverage of technology's role in the financial expert's practice, and the focus on investigations provides practical insight from leading experts in the field. From the process itself to proving damages, this indispensable reference covers all aspects of litigation services. Providing litigation support requires more than just your financial expertise; you also need a working knowledge of relevant case law, and a deep understanding of both the litigation process and the finer points of courtroom appearances. This book provides the insight and perspective you need to provide superior service to attorneys and their clients. * Understand your role in trial preparation and testimony presentation * Provide authoritative responses to direct and cross examination * Examine and analyze Sarbanes-Oxley rulings * Lend financial expertise to fraud investigations The growing demand for financial expert litigation services has created a niche market for CPAs, creating a lucrative opportunity for qualified accountants who also possess the specialized knowledge the role requires. The Litigation Services Handbook is THE essential guide for anyone involved in financial litigation.

Soziale Netzwerke im Internet, wie z.B. Facebook, sind Teil des alltaglichen Lebens geworden. Die Arbeit widmet sich den persoenlichkeits- und im Besonderen datenschutzrechtlichen Problemen und Gefahren, die bei der Nutzung solcher Dienste im Internet auftreten. Dies beginnt bereits bei der Findung des einschlagigen anwendbaren Rechts, setzt sich in der UEbertragung von Nutzungsrechten an eingestellten Inhalten, der Problematik der datenschutzrechtlichen Verantwortlichkeit und etwa der rechtskonformen Erteilung einer Einwilligung durch die Nutzer fort. Dabei arbeitet die Untersuchung praxisnah mit den derzeit geltenden Allgemeinen Geschaftsbedingungen popularer Anbieter sozialer Netzwerke und den dort angebotenen Funktionen fur die Nutzer.

The turmoil in financial markets that resulted from the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis in the United States indicates the need to dramatically transform regulation and supervision of financial institutions. Would these institutions have been sounder if the 2004 Revised Framework on International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards (Basel II accord)-negotiated between 1999 and 2004-had already been fully implemented? Basel II represents a dramatic change in capital regulation of large banks in the countries represented on the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision: Its internal ratings-based approaches to capital regulation will allow large banks to use their own credit risk models to set minimum capital requirements. The Basel Committee itself implicitly acknowledged in spring 2008 that the revised framework would not have been adequate to contain the risks exposed by the subprime crisis and needed strengthening.This crisis has highlighted two more basic questions about Basel II: One, is the method of capital regulation incorporated in the revised framework fundamentally misguided? Two, even if the basic Basel II approach has promise as a paradigm for domestic regulation, is the effort at extensive international harmonization of capital rules and supervisory practice useful and appropriate? This book provides the answers. It evaluates Basel II as a bank regulatory paradigm and as an international arrangement, considers some possible alternatives, and recommends significant changes in the arrangement.

This study traces the history of the law of bills and notes in England from medieval times to the period in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries when bills played a central role in the domestic and international financial system. It challenges the traditional theory that English commercial law developed by incorporation of the concept of negotiability and other rules from an ancient body of customary law known as the law merchant. Rogers shows that the law of bills was developed within the common law system itself, in response to changing economic and business practices. This account draws on economic and business history to explain how bills were actually used and to examine the relationship between the law of bills and economic and social controversies.