Bibliographie sélective OHADA

This dissertation explores the evolution of explicit deposit insurance schemes (EDIS) in Southern African countries. It emphasises the important role of banks in the economy and their vulnerability to failures despite prudential requirements and supervision. Financial safety nets are essential for failing banks, and deposit insurance is the primary mechanism to protect depositors and maintain financial system stability in the event of a bank's failure. Originating in 1933 with the establishment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the United States of America during the Great Depression, EDIS has become a global standard. Southern Africa, with its developing financial sector, faces many challenges including bank failures, causing depositors to lose funds. The region's high interconnectedness increases the threat of contagion if parent banks fail. The absence of deposit insurance raises the likelihood of fiscal authorities succumbing to political pressure to bailout failing banks during crises as seen during the 2007-09 Global Financial Crisis (GFC). The GFC prompted the International Association of Deposit Insurers and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to establish the Core Principles for Effective Deposit Insurance Systems. Issued in June 2009, these principles are used by jurisdictions as a benchmark for assessing the quality of their deposit insurance systems and identifying gaps in their deposit insurance practices. This research aims to evaluate international best practice standards for EDIS and extract lessons from the establishment of EDIS in the USA to address gaps in the implementation of deposit insurance schemes in Southern African countries. Examining ten Southern African countries, this research investigates varied progress in EDIS adoption. Case studies, particularly Zimbabwe as a pioneer of EDIS in the region and Namibia as a recent entrant, help to identify gaps and opportunities for enhancing deposit insurance frameworks in the region.

This paper comprehensively analyses the potential of blockchain technology and smart contracts to revolutionise dispute resolution. As dispute resolution methods evolve, blockchain and smart contracts, which offer efficiency, transparency, and fairness, are becoming more critical. That is especially the case in mediation and construction adjudication, which are less traditionally formal and tend to be carried through much more quickly than other forms of dispute resolution. The opportunity of blockchain comes from its ability to demonstrate a tamper-proof, clear record, reducing risks of misunderstanding and bias. This facilitates the transfer and verification of evidence both in the carrying out of projects and during dispute resolution processes. Smart–digital contracts with terms coded indirectly- allow for automated contract enforcement. They execute automatically upon meeting specific conditions. This automation brings a new efficiency level, cutting the time and costs of conventional dispute resolution. Nonetheless, integrating blockchain and smart contracts in dispute resolution faces several challenges. The current limited understanding and acceptance of these technologies in the legal sector is an imminent issue. Legislative changes are necessary to provide a solid legal framework for these technologies in legal processes and to address potential inconsistencies of approach. Such reform requires strong cooperation among lawmakers, technologists, and legal experts to ensure implementation that adheres to legal and ethical norms and ensures that the technologies can be applied with confidence by the stakeholders within the process. This collective effort is crucial for seamlessly integrating blockchain and smart contracts into legal frameworks.

Environmental reclamation obligations are statutory mechanisms designed to regulate environmental protection by corporate entities. Bankruptcy laws on the other hand are meant to offer insolvent corporations an opportunity to reorganize their affairs, satisfy creditors claims and make a fresh start. In practice, the application of bankruptcy laws can undermine key environmental reclamation objectives, leading many to ask whether a corporation undergoing restructuring with significant outstanding environmental reclamation obligations should be able to commence bankruptcy proceedings to satisfy creditors’ claims? By employing the doctrinal and comparative research methodologies, this research interrogates that inquiry. It argues that, despite the importance of bankruptcy protection for corporations undergoing financial distress, environmental protection should be paramount. Although sustainable finance (SF) instruments have been deployed by banks to enable creditors to mitigate environmental concerns in their investments, the persistent recurrence of environmental reclamation issues in the oil and gas sector particularly during insolvencies, underscores the need for financial investors to strengthen their investment policies to reflect best practices providing the desired protection for the environment. The research finds that, although SF and environmental, social and governance (ESG) approaches, are commendable, they are insufficient in instilling adequate regulatory impact on the environment compared to judicial control offered by the courts. The thesis concludes that whilst judicial control mechanism is not without concerns, with government’s deliberate financial policy and judicial control to complement SF and ESG efforts, ESG and SF mechanisms can be strengthened to compel greater significant influence on best practices in lending.

The transformation of international trade from conventional to digital impacts several things, including resolving international trade disputes. In order to realize an efficient and effective dispute resolution process, many countries have implemented ODR to settle international trade disputes. This study aims to analyze the implementation of ODR in various countries and examine issues with unclear guidelines based on international law. This research observes the development of ODR in Indonesia and the urgency for its implementation in Indonesia. The research is normative juridical, with a statutory and comparative approach. The results obtained in this study are model law arrangements relating to the standardization of ODR Providers aimed to protect the personal data of the parties, unification of ODR dispute resolution clauses, and formulation of national legal instruments to create legal certainty regarding ODR, including ODR proceedings, permits, and monitoring,  as well as recognition and execution process of electronic ODR decisions.

Technology-based transactions are inseparable from the routine exchange of data. These exchanges may not pose privacy problems until the movement takes extra-territorial turns thereby facing multiple levels of cross-border regulations. In the 80 s, the frequency of transfer of personal data beyond geographical boundaries in Europe precipitated the regulation of transborder data flows (TDF) beginning with the enactment of the Organization for OECD Guidelines. In Africa, the concept of TDF is more complex than usually viewed by the stakeholders and this is partly because neither the African Union nor other regional bodies have introduced legislation on TDF. Like many concepts in data protection, TDF is bereft of a generally accepted meaning. Regardless of the uncertainty, this paper approaches TDF as the transmission of personal data from one country to another country or international entity for the purpose of processing. The paper discusses some definitions of TDF as understood under African regional and national data protection legislation. In a comparative and normative approach, the paper analyses the barriers to TDF in Africa vis a vis the European experience and then concludes with recommendations for workable TDF within and outside the continent from an African perspective beginning with the harmonization of existing regional framework.

The establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has opened new avenues of research interest in International Business and International Management. However, scholarly work in this fledgling area of research has been disparate and often lacking in the assessment of core international business implications of the emergence of the AfCFTA on member states as well as non-member states. This is because, as yet, no systematic attempt has been made to explore the AfCFTA in the context of IB research, or project future IB research directions. Hence, in this paper, using the PRISMA method we have systematically identified the current published research and scholarly work on the AfCFTA and provided a robust picture of the current state of knowledge and available literature on the AfCFTA while at the same time outlining potential areas for future international business research.

The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA) seeks to promote the achievement and maintenance of a fair, accessible, efficient, sustainable and responsible market place for consumer products and services in South Africa. Moreover, the CPA seeks to provide an accessible, consistent, harmonised, effective and efficient system of redress for consumers. Notably, the CPA provides that the supplier should not supply or enter into an agreement to supply any goods or services at a price that is unfair, unreasonable, or unjust. This is generally aimed at combating any problems that are suffered by consumers when accessing goods and services in South Africa. Accordingly, various regulatory bodies and related role-players were established to enforce consumer rights and provide redress mechanisms to vulnerable and affected consumers. These consumer protection bodies and related roleplayers include the National Consumer Commission (NCC), the National Consumer Tribunal (NCT), provincial consumer courts, ordinary courts and other alternative dispute resolution agencies. These bodies and role-players are statutorily obliged to resolve consumer disputes in South Africa. However, there are some uncertainty challenges regarding the jurisdiction of ordinary courts and consumer protection regulatory bodies in relation to disputes that relate to the consumers’ right to fair, just and reasonable prices, terms and conditions of goods and services. This article discusses the role of the NCC, the NCT, provincial consumer courts, ordinary courts and other alternative dispute resolution agencies in the regulation of prices for goods, services and access to redress for affected consumers under the CPA. This is done to provide some recommendations that could resolve jurisdictional and regulatory challenges in relation to the price and access to goods and services under the CPA.

Efficiency is generally defined as the capacity to deliver desirable results with little effort or input. A bank cannot afford to allocate limited resources at random in a competitive market. Only once the efficiency factors have been identified can resources be allocated in a conscious and effective manner. The study investigates the determinants of technical efficiency of banks in the SADC region. The study is significant in the SADC region as the block is trying to create a robust and stable banking system. This is driven by the desire to stay away from the current global financial system volatility and the region is working to develop an integrated banking system. The results show that the banks are relatively inefficient with the level of inefficiency around 40 percent. The efficiency of the banks is determined by the level of capitalisation, size of the bank, research costs and automation of the banks. The results of the study imply that that there is great scope for the banks in the SADC region to increase their efficiency. Improved efficiency will ensure banks provide services at a lower cost to clients. The study recommends adequately capitalizing banks, increasing the asset base of the banks, investing in research and the automation of the banking systems.

This study investigates the influence of remuneration on organizational performance in cooperative banks in Kiambu County, Kenya. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the research explores how compensation packages, salary reviews, and employee recognition impact performance. The study utilizes a descriptive research design with structured questionnaires to gather data from 94 participants. Findings indicate a significant correlation between competitive remuneration and enhanced organizational performance. The majority ofemployees are satisfied with salary increments and recognize the positive effects of frequent salary reviews on their motivation and job satisfaction. The study also highlights the importance of recognition and praise in boosting employee morale and engagement, contributing to overall organizational success. This research is grounded in Equity Theory, which posits that fair treatment in compensation leads to higher motivation and productivity. The conclusions drawn suggest that cooperative banks should implement equitable and competitive remuneration strategies, along with regular salary reviews and robust recognition programs, to enhance performance. The study provides valuable insights for policymakers andbank managers aiming to improve organizational effectiveness through strategic human resource practices.

This research consists of verifying whether CIT has an effect on capital given the financing risk incurred. A review of several capital theories has shown that CIT is one of the main determinants of a firm's capital structure. The inclusion of CIT in capital structure models continues to divide the world of corporate finance. Debt interest deduction in computing CIT reinforces the controversy over the question of the capital structure that optimizes the tax savings provided by this deduction. The consequence is the existence of two opposing groups on the optimum capital structure: on the one hand, the group of those who believe that there is one and only one optimal capital structure, and on the other, the group of those who reject out of hand any possibility of an optimal capital structure. The sample starts with a case study of two hypothetical identical firms, one indebted and the other non-indebted, with the same profitable investment project over a period of time, and ends with 101 pairs of identical firms belonging to different classes of financing risk. The hypothesis of non-gratuity of cost and income is used, and capital markets are assumed to be pure and perfect. The results confirm that CIT has no effect on the structure, value, cost and return of capital for a given financing risk, and reveal the existence of a third source of financing called "public capital", whose cost is the corporate capital tax rate (CCTR). There is no longer any question of thinking about the optimum capital structure, which is a pure financial illusion. This paper is one of the first to show that CIT does not affect capital, and to propose a model that explains capital structure behavior in the presence of CIT. Paper type: Empirical Research  Stanislas Théodule Médard Dèwanou Comlan AGOSSADOU, (Researcher) Laboratory for Research on Performance and Development of Organizations (LARPEDO)  Faculty of Economics and Management (FASEG) University of Abomey-Calavi (UAC) - Benin,

Workforces are made up of individuals with differences in personal characteristics, differences that may be traced back to unique personality types and traits and – sometimes – neurodivergence. Due to the inherent subjectivity of the interpersonal relationships that form the foundation of a work environment, these differences in personal characteristics inevitably lead to tension. In addition, as part of managing a work environment employers frequently take decisions that may be influenced by views and perceptions regarding employees’ personal characteristics. This study starts with a descriptive examination of the meaning of personality and the influence that personality traits and types may have on employment. This is followed by a descriptive examination of neurodivergence, the various forms of neurodivergence, and the impact of these conditions on the work environment. Building on these descriptive and conceptual underpinnings, the legal implications of neurodiversity in the workplace are investigated by identifying which principles of the existing South African employment law framework may be utilised to provide protection and promote respect for neurodiversity and the neurodiverse differences between employees. This encompasses a discussion of the South African employment law rules relating to recruitment and selection of employees, some of the rules applicable to the day-to-day management of employees, and the rules relating to termination of employment that may be (in)directly influenced by considerations of neurodiversity. The focus thereafter shifts to consider the legal principles of employment discrimination law, where it is found that the listed ground of disability and an unlisted arbitrary ground may potentially be used as the applicable grounds of discrimination by employees if they are prejudiced due to their neurodiverse characteristics. In addition, the possibility that the rules on reasonable accommodation may be utilised as primary mechanism to properly regulate neurodiversity in the work environment and protect against prejudicial treatment of employees due to their inherent personal neurodiverse characteristics is also considered. The South African position and potential employment law rules that may apply to the management of neurodiversity in the work environment is compared to the position in the United Kingdom by focusing on the meaning of disability, the right to reasonable adjustments, and the right to request flexible working arrangements. Finally, the conclusions that may be drawn from this study are emphasised and are followed by some recommendations on how (reasonable) accommodation of neurodiversity in the work environment may appropriately be used as primary mechanism to provide employees with sufficient and appropriate protection of differences in neurodiverse characteristics. Even though this study focuses on neurodiversity and neurological differences between employees, the principles and recommendations from this study may be of value in relation to the appropriate management and regulation of all inherent differences between employees.

This collection of chapters tracks and explains the impact of the nine core United Nations human rights treaties in 20 selected countries, four from each of the five UN regions. Researchers based in each of these countries were responsible for the chapters, in which they assess the influence of the treaties and treaty body recommendations on legislation, policies, court decisions and practices. By covering the 20 years between July 1999 and June 2019, this book updates a study done 20 years ago.

"Chapter 16 The Impact of the United Nations Human Rights Treaties on the Domestic Level in Senegal" published on 09 Feb 2024 by Brill | Nijhoff.

In South Africa, before the Financial Advisory and Intermediaries Services Act (FAIS Act) and other insurance laws came into existence, intermediary services regarding the rendering of insurance products have always been regulated by the law of agency and mandate. This means that the Roman-Dutch principles provided for the standards to which the conduct of intermediaries was to comply with when rendering insurance services. The mandate of intermediaries in terms of the Roman-Dutch Principles also included the fact that they had to act with care, skill and in good faith. When the FAIS Act came into operation, it introduced several detailed rules and minimum standards for insurance intermediaries to comply with, and these minimum standards are not limited to qualifications, experiences and characteristics of honesty and integrity that an intermediary must comply with, but they also stipulated in detail what an intermediary must do when discharging insurance intermediary duties. The FAIS Act is the leading legislation when it comes to the regulation of intermediary services. The FAIS Act, under section 16, provides for a General Code of Conduct for Authorised Financial Services Providers and their Representative (GCC), which contains a set of rules that are applicable to all intermediaries. These rules under the GCC are aimed at ensuring that insurance customers are provided with material facts that will enable them to make a prior informed decision and that their reasonable financial needs concerning insurance products will be carefully considered so that they can be provided with a product that will be suitable to satisfy their needs. Furthermore, in terms of South African laws and practices, intermediaries play an essential role in the creation of legally binding insurance contracts. Insurance businesses are concluded through intermediaries. Considering that many insurance companies are juristic persons, and they can only conduct business by means of human agents, insurance laws make it compulsory for intermediaries to have skills, knowledge, and experience regarding insurance products that they are rendering to insurance customers. It is commonly believed that intermediaries with skills, knowledge and experience, they always act in the best interest of the client, and they ask relevant questions to assist the clients to disclose all material facts, and they always make sure that material facts are clearly communicated/disclosed to the insurer and insured to avoid future conflicts. The legal framework placed a duty on the intermediary to assist the insured to disclose all material facts and to explain all clauses contained in the insurance contract which may lead to the insurer repudiate its liability. Furthermore, an intermediary is at all material times expected to first consider the financial situation of the potential insured before determines a cover that will be best suitable for the insured’s needs. However, despite the best guidelines outlined by applicable insurance laws and regulations, mistakes are still being made by intermediaries, which lead to insurance customers to suffer the consequences of impractical intermediary services, and that has resulted in numerous complaints, legal disputes, debarments, and other regulatory actions. As a result of intermediaries’ continuous misconduct, insurers have been repudiating claims, and it has created a presumption that insurers conduct businesses to enrich themselves instead of protecting the interests of their customers as required by regulating legal framework. Therefore, so many people have lost confidence in the insurance industry due to unlimited court cases and complaints arising from misconduct or omissions of intermediaries, such as their failure to disclose material facts to the parties. Once it is found that material facts were not fully disclosed between the insurer and insured, both parties would have been deprived of their right to make an informed decision before consenting or signing a legally binding contract. Therefore, a need is created for intermediaries to be educated of their legal duties when rendering insurance services and that will help strengthen or restore the confidence of the public towards insurance industry.

The main aim of this thesis is to solve the uncertainties brought about by dismissals for off-duty misconduct. First, it should be acknowledged that the world as we know it has changed and continues to evolve. Dismissals have been significantly impacted by the use of social media outside the workplace. The legalisation of the use of cannabis by an adult person has also brought uncertainties in the way dismissals are handled, especially in cases where an employee consumes cannabis off-duty. These two aspects have significantly influenced dismissals for off-duty misconduct in South Africa, with employees alleging that their rights to privacy, dignity and freedom of expression are infringed. The thesis reveals that regardless of these modern changes, off-duty misconduct dismissal is still governed by the generic provisions of the Labour Relations Act 1995 and its Code of Good Practice: Dismissal. The thesis underscores the lack of clarity regarding the regulation of dismissals for off-duty misconduct in South Africa. Furthermore, despite the judiciary’s establishment of tests (the nexus test and the breakdown of the employment relationship), challenges in adjudicating off-duty misconduct cases persist. This thesis analyses the South African legal framework governing dismissals for off-duty misconduct. The research investigates the evolution of South African dismissal law, tracing its development from the pre-democratic era to the post-democratic era. This investigation scrutinises the shifts in the legal landscape regarding dismissals for off-duty misconduct. The analysis encompasses a range of legal instruments pertinent to South Africa, including legislation, international law, common law, and judicial precedent. The current need for a Code of Good Practice for off-duty misconduct dismissal is highlighted. This rationale is prompted by a comparative examination of other countries where, despite the absence of specific codes addressing off-duty misconduct, a proactive stance has been adopted to safeguard employees’ off-duty rights by enacting relevant legislation. These chosen states have statutes regulating employees’ off-duty conduct and clarifying which conduct is protected and in which circumstances. Consequently, the thesis proposes a Code of Good Practice: Dismissal for Off-duty Misconduct. This Code would assist in the uniformity of application of relevant aspects in determining the fairness of dismissals for off-duty misconduct, thus alleviating labour suits concerning this type of dismissal. The Code would also provide employers with guidelines on how to draft off-duty misconduct policies without infringing employees’ constitutional rights.

Background Considering the declining situation of sustainability in global marine fisheries, World Trade Organization (WTO) members successfully concluded the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies(AFS) after 21 years of negotiations in 2022. As an the integral part of these negotiations, special and differential treatment (SDT) provisions provide developing countries with special rights and developed countries with the possibility to treat developing countries more favorably than other WTO members. Objective This study analyzed the role of SDT for fisheries subsidies in ensuring sustainable fishery governance by the rule of law, as well as the reflection of SDT under the AFS, to explore whether SDT can support sustainable fishery governance under the WTO framework. Methods This study is primarily based on official data and critical legal studies and used normative analysis and historical analysis to expose the essence of the SDT issue in the AFS as a political game in the legal form. Results The practical challenges in the implementation of SDT may affect the compliance willingness of member states. To overcome the obstacles, such as ambiguity and inefficiency, that impede the legalization process of sustainable global marine fishery governance, it is necessary to emphasize the value of SDT for the common interests of the WTO members in marine fisheries legislation. This will benefit the developing countries, especially the small island developing states, in the short term; and the common interests of developed and developing countries in the long term. Policy implications SDT facilitated the consensus between the developing and developed countries on issues such as illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing subsidies and overfishing subsidies. However, current SDT practices have deviated from the original intention of the fairness and democratic approach of global marine fisheries governance, which should take into consideration the specific situation of developing countries.

The awarding of public-private partnership (PPP) contracts through unsolicited bids is characterized by flexible domestic law, with the involvement of public and private players aiming to achieve the general interest objective of public infrastructure development and, by extension, national development. These players are helping to build the normative framework for PPP project activities by spontaneous offer, given their increasingly widespread use on the bangs of positive law, while their standards are classically deprived of the binding force attached to hard law. Marked by its normative guarantee, the flexible law of unsolicited bids is situated at the threshold of the mandatory, and is essential to PPP law. It produces legal effects by linking up with the hard law of PPP contracts, which is the law of the parties. This link between soft law and hard law has a major legal impact on the transformation of the law and legal certainty, for the benefit of investment confidence, especially international investment confidence. Faced with the limitations of positive law on the award of PPP contracts in unsolicited bids, and the difficulties of interpreting soft law and hard law standards, there is a need for harmonization with international practice. To this end, the instruments of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) on PPPs are being used to link up with Burundian hard law through a transposition mechanism. It is therefore possible that our positive approach to PPP contracting could be improved, highlighting the principle of competition and the exception of non-competition, while taking into account the win-win principle, risk sharing and performance. Finally, the article considers the adjustments to the hard law that would be necessary if Burundi were to decide to revisit the legal framework to make it more attractive to investment, and thus ensure the completion and financing of PPP contracts by spontaneous bidding.

Purpose This article aims to identify and review existing studies on the adoption and compliance of Internat ional Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Africa. Design/methodology/approach The methodology involves a sole focus on studies conducted with an African sample, using a bibliometric method and data from the Web of Science (WoS) database. Visualizations from VOSViewer and Biblioshiny software are employed to identify the dominant authors, journals and countries contributing to research in the region. Findings The findings reveal existing collaborations among authors in the field. However, the study emphasizes the need for additional research to enhance the intellectual structure of the research domain, as the majority of related documents are concentrated within twenty articles with at least one citation. Practical implications The practical implications underscore the importance of collaboration in practice, emphasizing the need for cooperation among corporations, experts and regulatory agencies involved in IFRS adoption and compliance in Africa. By fostering collaborative efforts and knowledge-sharing among corporations, experts and regulatory agencies, practitioners can enhance their understanding, streamline implementation processes and improve compliance methods. Originality/value This review is one of the few to explicitly conduct a bibliometric review of IFRS adoption and compliance studies in Africa, providing a foundation for future research to determine the current direction of IFRS studies in this region.

Sharing economy companies (sharecoms) have been internationalising rapidly, including entering African markets. Little research has been conducted on the strategies and behaviours of African sharecoms. Questions have been raised as to whether existing theories adequately explain the internationalisation of African firms. Thus, we analyse the internationalisation patterns of six African sharecoms, focusing on time, speed, and scope. The findings indicate that firms apply unique combinations of various internationalisation models. A novel pattern of internationalisation where the firms use “foreign gateway markets” as strategic “launchpads” before rapidly internationalising was also uncovered. Locational advantages, strategic networks, and relative technological advancement characterise the foreign gateway markets. We also propose the concept of “complex regional context” to define the context of emerging regions with many neighbouring countries with the potential for high levels of internationalisation but low levels of international business due to the lack of common enabling frameworks and institutions.

This paper aims to analyzing the influence of tax behavior on financing (financial leverage) behavior of corporate managers. The paper applies the generalized method of moments (GMM) to dynamic panel data. The sample used covers 21 firms, i.e. 11 banks for the period from 2011 to 2020 and 10 DFSs for the period from 2016 to 2021. It turns out that financial leverage behavior is influenced more positively by corporate income tax (CIT), then by dividends (DIVIDEND); and negatively by interest on debt (INTEREST), by cash flow (CASH_FLOW) and by past financial leverage (LEVERAGE(‑1)). This paper is one of the first to extend the literature by identifying the main determinants of financing behavior, notably the positive effect of corporate income tax (CIT).