The Law of Corporate Finance discusses, from a company law perspective, the provisions of the Companies Act 71 of 2008 relating to the field of shares, securities, and corporate finance. There have, thus far, been few major decisions of the courts providing guidance on this technical branch of company law. The Law of Corporate Finance unpacks the complexity of this field of law, while also examining the Companies Regulations and the common law principles preserved by the Companies Act. It offers a lucid and comprehensive treatment of this notoriously difficult subject. The Law of Corporate Finance is written to provide guidance to a wide range of persons seeking a proper grasp of both the principles of corporate finance as well as their practical application - from the judiciary, legal practitioners and legal advisors to auditors and accountants, from company directors and company secretaries to academics and students, whether undergraduate or postgraduate. The major company law topics in the field of corporate finance are discussed and analysed in this book. A highlight of The Law of Corporate Finance is that it includes a discussion of the legal remedies available to investors when the rules relating to corporate finance have been flouted. A further highlight is the practical examples that illustrate how corporate finance rules work and their shortcomings in specific situations. Due to the rapid globalisation of corporate law, a treatment of the legal position in leading foreign jurisdictions has been included, particularly those that have moulded the provisions of the South African Companies Act. These include English law, US law, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand law. This unique perspective provides an invaluable insight into the interpretation and application of the corporate finance provisions of the South African Act. Anyone seeking to understand the complex corporate finance rules will find this book to be useful and illuminating.

The proper protection of minority shareholders is a cornerstone of any well-developed corporate law system. Pivotal to the minority shareholder's armoury is the derivative action. Section 165 of the South African Companies Act 71 of 2008 introduces the new statutory derivative action, and entrusts the court with a key function as the gatekeeper to the derivative action. The courts have an important filtering function and may disallow applications for derivative actions that are frivolous, vexatious or without merit. The vital judicial discretion to grant or refuse leave to an applicant to bring a derivative action is the crux of the new statutory derivative action. The court is required to exercise its discretion with reference to three important but vague guiding criteria for the grant of leave to institute a derivative action. Thus the courts have been entrusted by the legislature to flesh out the details, the contours, and the practical application of these guiding criteria. This crucially endows the courts with a dominant and decisive role in shaping the effectiveness of this much-needed new remedy. The New Derivative Action under the Companies Act is primarily aimed at developing guidelines for the exercise of the judicial discretion in the field of the new statutory derivative action. It takes into account valuable principles gleaned from other comparable jurisdictions such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The book also discusses the overlap between the derivative action and the oppression remedy.