Bibliographie sélective OHADA

This dissertation suggests a new theory of lex mercatoria that takes into account the complex and spontaneous order of international commerce. Since the emphasis is put on the nature of this order, the concept of lex mercatoria is examined as an ex post governance mechanism resolving contractual disputes with a view to maintaining and restoring the order of international commerce, without focusing on the traditional distinction of the doctrine between national and non-national legal rules applicable to the substance of such disputes in explaining the concept. The aim is to reflect lex mercatoria’s subtle effect on the practice of international arbitration, and to provide an explanation of lex mercatoria as a solution to the problems of the institution of international arbitration in terms of uncertainty and unpredictability of awards, rather than representing it as a factor aggravating those problems. Lex mercatoria is defined as the law of adjudication of the disputes arising from international commercial contracts on the basis of a few substantive and procedural principles, under which the reasonable expectations of the parties to a particular contract become the single source of their contractual rights, obligations and risk allocations. The argument is that lex mercatoria can be applied to both the choice of law analyses and the substance of the disputes in international arbitration. In choice of law analyses, lex mercatoria addresses specific difficulties relating to the conflict of laws through a principled decision making, such as the applicable conflict rules, and the interpretation of the parties’ intentions as to the applicable substantive rules. In its substantive application, lex mercatoria deals with, either as lex contractus or as lex fori, the interpretation, supplementation and correction of the contract as well as the applicable national laws in accordance with the basic principles, on which the order of international commerce rests.

This dissertation suggests a new theory of lex mercatoria that takes into account the complex and spontaneous order of international commerce. Since the emphasis is put on the nature of this order, the concept of lex mercatoria is examined as an ex post governance mechanism resolving contractual disputes with a view to maintaining and restoring the order of international commerce, without focusing on the traditional distinction of the doctrine between national and non-national legal rules applicable to the substance of such disputes in explaining the concept. The aim is to reflect lex mercatoria’s subtle effect on the practice of international arbitration, and to provide an explanation of lex mercatoria as a solution to the problems of the institution of international arbitration in terms of uncertainty and unpredictability of awards, rather than representing it as a factor aggravating those problems. Lex mercatoria is defined as the law of adjudication of the disputes arising from international commercial contracts on the basis of a few substantive and procedural principles, under which the reasonable expectations of the parties to a particular contract become the single source of their contractual rights, obligations and risk allocations. The argument is that lex mercatoria can be applied to both the choice of law analyses and the substance of the disputes in international arbitration. In choice of law analyses, lex mercatoria addresses specific difficulties relating to the conflict of laws through a principled decision making, such as the applicable conflict rules, and the interpretation of the parties’ intentions as to the applicable substantive rules. In its substantive application, lex mercatoria deals with, either as lex contractus or as lex fori, the interpretation, supplementation and correction of the contract as well as the applicable national laws in accordance with the basic principles, on which the order of international commerce rests.

O presente estudo envolve-se com o tema da União Africana. Na sua abordagem procura analisar a relação do mercado comum africano com o desenvolvimento sustentável, transitando interdisciplinarmente em vários campos de conhecimentos, com ênfase nas Relações Internacionais, Direito Internacional, Economia, Política e História. A investigação, nesse sentido, tem como hipótese a afirmação de que a consolidação do processo de integração política do continente poderá, em primeiro momento, apresentar-se como medida necessária à sua unificação, para que seja realizado, em um segundo momento, por meio da integração econômica, o tão almejado mercado comum africano e seu desenvolvimento sustentável. Tal abordagem abrange diversas variáveis, especialmente o fenômeno do regionalismo, a integração política e econômica e o desenvolvimento sustentável. O objetivo principal consiste em abordar o universo da criação, evolução e consolidação da União Africana e do desenvolvimento sustentável, como instrumentos de superação das dificuldades da integração política e econômica da África. O resultado da pesquisa positiva a confirmação da hipótese, reconhecendo de que a unificação política será fundamental ao processo de integração econômica, rumo ao estabelecimento do mercado comum africano e seu desenvolvimento sustentável.This study involves the themes of the African Union and the sustainable development. In its approach it seeks to analyze the relationship of the African common market with sustainable development, transiting across disciplines in various fields of knowledge, with an emphasis on International Relations, International Law, Economic Policy and History. The scientific research relates to consolidation of the African Union and the sustainable development, whose chance to work is expressed in the sense of asserting that the consolidation of the process for political integration of the African Union may be first, presented as a measure for political unification of Africa and then, follow in a second step, to materialize through economic integration, its targeted African common market and the sustainable development. Such an approach includes several variables, especially the phenomenon of regionalism, the political and economic integration and the sustainable development. The main objective is to address the universe of creation, evolution and consolidation of the African Union and sustainable development, as a means of overcoming the challenges of political and economic integration of Africa. The result of the positive research confirms and recognizes the fact that the materialization of the African Union will help in the process of political and economic unity toward establishment of a common market and its sustainable development

Milletlerarası ticarette, acenteler aracılığıyla yapılan ticarî işlemlerin önemli bir yeri vardır. Acenteler, tacirler ad ve hesabına sözleşme akdettikleri için, doğrudan temsil hükümleri doğmaktadır. Milletlerarası unsurlu acente ilişkisine uygulanacak hukuk ve bu statünün uygulama alanına giren meselelerin tespiti, kanunlar ihtilâfı hukukunda tartışmalı konulardan biridir. Bu çerçevede, acente ilişkisine uygulanacak hukuk, acente iç ve dış ilişkisi dikkate alınarak tespit edilmektedir. Acente iç ilişkisine uygulanacak hukuk, karşılaştırmalı hukukta ve Türk hukukunda akit statüsüne tâbi tutulmaktadır. Buna göre, acente ve temsil olunan, iç ilişkiye uygulanacak hukuku açıkça ya da zımnen serbestçe seçebilirler. Hukuk seçimi anlaşmasının yokluğunda ise, sözleşmeyle sıkı ilişkili hukuk esas alınır. Sözleşmeyle sıkı ilişkili hukukun tespitinde ise genellikle acentenin işyeri tercih edilmektedir.Acente dış ilişkisine uygulanacak hukuk ise, temsil statüsü olarak anılmaktadır. Buna göre, acente ilişkisinde temsil yetkisine uygulanacak hukuk bakımından, karşılaştırmalı hukukta ve Türk hukukunda, irade muhtariyeti reddedilmektedir. Ancak Avusturya hukuku, İspanyol hukuku ve La Haye Temsil Konvansiyonu'nda sınırlı hukuk seçimine imkân tanıyan düzenlemeler vardır. Milletlerarası acente ilişkisinin gereklerine uygun olarak, temsil olunanın seçtiği hukukun üçüncü kişi tarafından açıkça kabulü şartıyla böyle bir hukuk seçimi geçerli kabul edilebilmelidir. Acente dış ilişkisine uygulanacak hukukun, objektif kriterlere göre tespitinde ise, genellikle acentenin işyeri hukuku tercih edilmektedir. Ancak acentenin işyerinin olmaması ya da üçüncü kişinin bu işyerini bilmemesi hâllerinde, acentenin işyeri hukuku yerine temsil yetkisinin kullanıldığı yer hukukunun bu çerçevede ortaya çıkan ihtilâflara uygulanması kabul edilmektedir. The business transactions are made through agents have important role in the international trade. The direct agency relationship occurs through the agent. Because the agent serves with continuing authority to conclude contract on behalf of and in the name of its? principal. The law applicable to agency relationship with foreign element and finding of it?s application area?s topics are controversial in conflict of laws. In this context, the law applicable to agency relationship is determined according to internal side and external side of this relationship. The internal agency relationship is normally founded on the agency contract and, as such, is governed by the general principles of private international law applying to the contracts in comparative law and Turkish law. According to this, principal and agent may choose expressly or impliedly the law applicable to the internal agency relationship between them. If principal and agent have failed to indicate the law governing, it becomes necessary to determine the law with which the agency contract is most closely connected. In general, this maybe the law of the country in which the agent has his place of business.The law applicable to external agency relationship is known as the agency statute. According to this, the party autonomy has not been adopted as regards the agency statute in comparative law and Turkish law. But there are some exceptional regulations which adopt the resticted party autonomy. For example, Austrian law, Spanish law and, The 1978 Hague Convention on The Law Applicable to Agency allow party autonomy which is resticted. So, the law applicable to external agency relationship may be chosen in accordance with international agency relationship as long as third party expressly adoptes the law principal choices. While the law applicable to external agency relationship is determined in respect of objective criterias, in general, the agent?s place of business is prefered in comparative law like Turkish law. Nonetheless if there is no agent?s place of business or, the third party couldn?t know this place, this matter is governed by the law of place in which the agent act.

Countries enter into double tax agreements with the economic objective of preventing double taxation of cross-border transactions. To achieve this objective, the contracting states agree reciprocally to restrict their substantive tax law. That is, a major policy of double tax agreements is to reduce double taxation of residents of states that are parties to the agreement. Residents of third states sometimes contrive to obtain treaty benefits typically by interposing a person or a conduit entity in one of the contracting states. In order to ensure that a resident of a contracting state who claims treaty benefits is entitled to them in substance, double tax agreements should be interpreted according to their substantive economic effect. Generally, double tax agreements follow the pattern of the OECD Model Tax Convention. The OECD Model Convention addresses the double taxation of dividends, interest and royalties, commonly collectively known as "passive income", in Articles 10, 11 and 12 respectively. These provisions usually operate by reducing withholding tax imposed by a source state on passive income that flows from the source state to a resident state. In order to prevent a resident of a third state from obtaining a source state withholding tax reduction by interposing a person or a conduit entity in the resident state, the OECD Model Convention requires the immediate recipient of passive income to be the "beneficial owner" of that income. That is, the OECD Model Convention requires the immediate recipient to be an owner in a substantive economic sense. Courts and commentators have difficulty in interpreting and applying the concept of beneficial ownership to conduit entities that are corporations, commonly referred to as "conduit companies". They have attributed the cause of the difficulty to the absence of a definition of the term "beneficial owner" in the OECD Model Convention. This thesis argues that the difficulty in applying the beneficial ownership concept to conduit companies has arisen not because of the absence of the meaning of the concept, but because logically and from an economic perspective the concept cannot be applied to companies in general, not to conduit companies in particular. The beneficial ownership test was meant to be a test of economic substance. From an economic perspective, the benefit or the burden of a contract entered by a company is economically enjoyed or borne by its shareholders. That is, in substance a company cannot be considered as owning income beneficially. From this consideration, it follows that conduit companies can never be considered entitled to treaty benefits. Nevertheless, the OECD Model Convention applies the beneficial ownership test to conduit companies pursuant to an assumption that at least in some cases conduit companies can be the beneficial owners of passive income. The Model Convention's assumption is based on the legal perspective that courts conventionally adopt. According to this legal perspective, companies hold income beneficially because they exist as separate legal entities from their shareholders. Courts find themselves battling these opposing perspectives when applying the beneficial ownership test to conduit companies. In order to make income tax law work efficiently, courts that are obliged to determine whether to honour claims to treaty benefits made by conduit companies have preferred to employ the legal perspective. Courts have justified this approach by adopting surrogate tests for the actual beneficial ownership test. Most of the surrogate tests do not relate to the concept of ownership at all. This thesis categorises the surrogate tests as "substantive business activity" and "dominion". By analysing reported cases, the thesis identifies deficiencies in these tests. One of the proposed outcomes of the thesis is to suggest an alternative approach for deciding conduit company cases. The thesis suggests that courts should consider an arrangement as a whole and investigate reasons for the existence of an immediate recipient of passive income in the specific corporate structure. The thesis also recommends amendments in the official commentary on Articles 10, 11 and 12 of the OECD Model convention in order to address the conceptual shortcomings inherent in those Articles.

En matière d’information dans les sûretés personnelles, le droit français connaît une très grande disparité entre le cautionnement, la garantie autonome et la lettre d’intention. Pour ce qui est du cautionnement, son souscripteur, lorsqu’il s’agit d’une personne physique, bénéficie de multiples obligations d’information, qu’il s’agisse du moment de la formation du contrat ou de celui de son exécution. Ces obligations d’information, procédant à la fois du législateur et de la jurisprudence, ont été inspirées par les caractéristiques accessoire et dangereuse du cautionnement. En effet, la caution, à partir du moment où elle prend le risque de se substituer à la défaillance éventuelle du débiteur cautionné, on s’aperçoit très aisément de l’intérêt pour elle d’être informée de la situation financière de celui-ci, ainsi que de l’évolution de la dette garantie, c'est-à-dire sa propre dette. S’agissant en revanche de la garantie autonome et de la lettre d’intention, aucune obligation d’information ne s’impose, quand bien même le signataire de tels documents serait une personne physique. Il est vrai qu’à la différence d’une caution, un garant autonome s’engage à payer une dette qui est déterminée indépendamment de l’obligation garantie. Du fait de l’indépendance de son engagement, le garant autonome n’a alors aucun intérêt à être informé de l’évolution de l’obligation de base. Pour des raisons différentes, le souscripteur d’une lettre d’intention n’a, lui non plus, aucun intérêt à être informé de l’évolution de la dette garantie. En effet, à la différence d’une caution ou d’un garant autonome, l’émetteur de la lettre d’intention n’a a priori aucune obligation de payer. Son engagement est de faire ou de ne pas faire. Pourtant, l’on ne peut ignorer que la garantie autonome et la lettre d’intention peuvent par hypothèses s’avérer plus dangereuses que le cautionnement. Aussi, la question n’a pu être éludée quant à la possible extension à leurs souscripteurs des obligations d’information données au profit de la caution. Il est certainement difficile de répondre à une telle interrogation. En effet, si l’argument a fortiori, reposant sur l’idée de danger, permettrait l’alignement de l’information du garant autonome et de l’auteur de la lettre d’intention sur le même régime que la caution, l’exigence d’interprétation restrictive des exceptions permet néanmoins de récuser un tel alignement. Á ce sujet, il est à noter que les textes relatifs à l’information de la caution visent exclusivement celle-ci. De surcroît, un tel alignement signifierait, sans conteste, la mort de la garantie autonome et de la lettre d’intention qui, on le sait, relevant principalement de la liberté contractuelle, s’adaptent difficilement à la rigueur qui accompagne les obligations d’information de la caution. In french legal system, the obligation to inform the guarantor depends on whether the guarantee involved is a surety bond, a standby letter of credit or a comfort letter. As to surety bond, the issuer, when it is a natural person, is due to be informed at any time of the contract. Since surety bond is a collateral and dangerous contract, the need for its issuer to be informed could easily be explained. On that subject, it should be borne in mind that standing surety for a debtor means paying his debts when he failed to do so. In others words, being surety means taking the risks to pay someone’s debts. Therefore one can easily figure out the need for a surety to be informed about the financial problems of the debtor and the evolution of the guaranteed debt. Unlike the surety, french laws makers require no legal information concerning the issuer of standby letter of credit or comfort letter, should the issuer be a natural person. The reasons relied up on the fact that, contrary to surety bond, standby letter of credit is not collateral contract. The issuer of such a letter agrees to pay a sum which is wholly different from the one relying on the main debtor. Because he is not paying the same thing as the main debtor, the issuer of standby letter of credit has no need to be informed about the evolution of the main debt. For different reasons the signatory of comfort letter has, either, no need being informed about the evolution of the guaranteed debt. On that subject, it should be noted that contrary to surety and issuer of standby letter of credit, subscriber of comfort letter has no payment obligation in principle. It is an obligation to do or not to do which is different from the obligation of payment. However we can not ignore that in some cases standby letter of credit or comfort letter could be more dangerous than surety. Thereupon the question has been asked to extend the scope of surety’s legal information so that it includes the others guarantors. This question is very difficult to answer. Though the even more so reasoning, relying on the idea of risk, permits the extension of surety’s informative measures to the others guarantors, the doctrine of strict interpretation of exceptions can be used as an opposing argument. On that subject, it should be noted that all the surety’s informative measures are drawn from legal texts that aim only surety. Furthermore, extending surety’s informative measures will simply be a death sentence to the others personal guarantees which rely mainly on the doctrine of free will of parties to a contract.

The thesis covers one of the investment standards of international investment law, namely the full protection and security standard. In Part I, the study is introduced in terms of structure and substance. Chapter 1 provides a description of the scope of the research topic and a definition of its terms and structure. Chapter 2 covers the historical development of the full protection and security standard. Part II deals with three fundamental issues concerning the standard: sources, interpretation and content. Chapter 3 contains a discussion dealing with the various sources of the standard. Each source will be studied independently. Chapter 4 will address general issues with regard to interpretation, such as to what extent the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties influences the process of interpretation. Chapter 5 deals with the content of the standard of full protection and security, including conceptual issues relating to the substantive elements of which the standard consists. Moreover, the chapter will ask questions as to which underlying issues are needed to explore when a due diligence assessment is made in order to determine whether a state has fulfilled its obligations to provide protection and security. Part III deals with issues relating to the violations of the standard. In Chapter 6, the violations of the standard and their many manifestations will be analyzed. The chapter will address whether certain fact-based scenarios can be established in which the standard is most commonly violated. Finally, Chapter 7 contains a summary of findings.

Although a substantial body of literature has developed in recent years in the area of cross-border insolvency, this scholarship has been dominated by scholars from the United States and Europe, so that a perspective from most of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries is lacking. This study addresses this perspective. It makes an in-depth examination and discussion of the challenges that SSA countries face in reform and application of cross-border insolvency law given the ever-growing multinational trade and investment. The study focuses on the risk of failure of SSA legislative processes to properly address the potential challenges of cross-border insolvencies in a manner that is sensitive to the local contexts and which provides a balance with international insolvency benchmarks. It examines cross-border insolvency theories; the global drivers for convergence of insolvency law through global insolvency norms; and the implications for cross-border insolvency regulations arising from cross-border trade and investment arrangements, such as the bilateral investment treaties, before considering the state and future of the legislative frameworks of SSA countries.

The trust figure in South Africa has undergone an interesting process of evolution during the last century – from a mere gratuity or private tax evasion tool to a proper family protection, business entity, investment, and structured finance vehicle. Its flexibility and multi-functionality positioned the trust as an ideal legal institution for many innovative ideas in the search for holistic business structures, economic empowerment transactions, general estate planning and risk protection initiatives, and ultimately, its application as financial instrument and structured finance entity. The development of both traditional and synthetic securitisation schemes in South Africa has been investigated, with some emphasis on the application of the special purpose institution, which may be in trust form. It is submitted that the application of the trust figure has developed without any significant contribution from the local legislator. A sound legal and regulatory framework is crucial for the creation of a strong future environment for legal and financial vehicles. The question is, however, whether the current South African legal framework for the application of the business trust, and also as a vehicle for financial instruments, is adequately sound and robust in light of the standards set in the international business and financial environment. It is submitted that the hybrid nature of the South African legal landscape is conducive for the development of sound legal systems in an ever-changing legal and economic reality. It is further submitted that in the development of proper legal frameworks, South Africa should position itself particularly in its context as a Southern African developing democracy. The South African trust development is compared with that of some foreign jurisdictions as well as with international conventions and treaties of relevance. Some recommendations for necessary changes are made and it is submitted that such future development of the trust figure should not take place haphazardly, but within the context of a structured regulatory model

"En l'absence de Convention multilatérale adoptée par la Communauté internationale régissant le domaine de l'exploration et l'exploitation des ressources naturelles, cette thèse de doctorat contribue à identifier un nouvel encadrement juridique substantif et processuel international ayant une valeur stabilisatrice des investissements pétroliers et miniers transnationaux. En effet, le contrôle de l'exploitation des ressources naturelles a été de tout temps une préoccupation pour les États. Dans les années 60, il a fait l'objet des tensions entre pays du Nord et du Sud en prévision d'un Nouvel Ordre Économique Mondial. Ces tensions ont connu une issue avec l'adoption à l'ONU de certains instruments et résolutions qui plaçaient le domaine des ressources naturelles sous la souveraineté de chaque État. Le régime de stabilisation des contrats d'investissement pétroliers et miniers procédait alors par des garanties de protection gouvernementales, toutefois fréquemment remises en cause par les États en cas de nécessité. Ainsi, advenant un conflit, la protection des droits des compagnies extractives étrangères n'était recherchée qu'auprès des tribunaux de l'État partie au contrat, à défaut de recourir à la protection diplomatique qu'offre leur État de nationalité. Face aux risques politiques, les juristes internationalistes ont proposé un régime fondé sur des techniques contractuelles de stabilisation, de gel et d'intangibilité par lesquelles les États hôtes renoncent à l'exercice de leurs prérogatives souveraines. Ces dernières années, ce régime traditionnel a subi de profondes mutations attribuées notamment au passage du contrat de concession au contrat de partage de production ainsi qu'à la multiplication des traités de couverture des investissements dans un contexte géopolitique grâce à l'entrée en jeu des pays émergents comme la Chine, l'Inde, l'Afrique du sud et le Brésil. Face à ces mutations, le débat juridique sur la stabilisation s'est reposé en termes d'enjeux nouveaux qui justifient de vérifier en droit, l'hypothèse de l'émergence d'un nouvel encadrement du droit public international positif et procédural des investissements pétroliers et miniers transnationaux. L'étude de cette hypothèse adopte les modes contractuel et extracontractuel comme structure des deux parties de notre thèse à partir desquelles s'articulent les régimes classique et nouveau de stabilisation. La première partie, envisage la stabilisation par l'élection du droit international public au titre de lex contractus qui s'applique par référence ou par rattachement et par l'arbitrage conventionnel suivant lequel, la validité de l'engagement donnée par les pays fournisseurs dans le contrat participe à la levée de leurs prérogatives souveraines tenant à l'immunité de juridiction et d'exécution. La seconde, cherche à mettre en évidence l'émergence d'un nouvel encadrement de stabilisation des investissements pétroliers et miniers à l'abri de la protection diplomatique, au sein duquel participe un double corpus international. Un corps de règles substantives de traitement et de protection dont l'application pourrait garantir une stabilisation efficace. Un autre corps de règles régissant la procédure internationale de résolution des litiges pétroliers et miniers transnationaux statuant sur la distribution des compétences domestiques et dénationalisées. Dans ce cadre, les compagnies d'énergie et leurs actionnaires acquièrent une capacité processuelle dans l'ordre international. Il envisage enfin, l'application du principe d'exclusivité des recours dénationalisés comme solution au conflit de juridictions et de décisions."

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This dissertation examines the tension inherent in the relationship between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as Member States Parties of the GATT/WTO and the GATT/WTO regime. It focuses specifically on the tension triggered off by the requirements of Article I – the Most-Favoured-Nation principle (MFN) and Article III – the National Treatment principle (NT) GATT 1994. It shows that while the non-discrimination principles are meant to promote trade liberalisation and economic growth, they produce the opposite effect in developing and least developed countries like ECOWAS and aggravate the tension between those countries and the WTO. It argues that the MFN is used to deny market access to the developing countries by exposing them to stiff but unequal competitive conditions and the NT to deny national governments the policy space to protect and promote national industries, employment and economic growth. It challenges the general assumption that the MFN and the NT are good and in the interest of all the WTO Members and rather identifies them as lynch-pins of economic development in the ECOWAS region. It also shows, contrary to the assumption of non-participation, how the ECOWAS High Contracting Parties are adapting their trading systems and harmonising their laws to the key provisions of Articles I and III of the GATT. It shows that the principles of non-discrimination are the outcome of the standard-setting procedures legally formulated as the SPS and TBT Agreements which favour the developed countries and how the Dispute Settlement Body has rejected the ‘aims-and-effect’ approach, taken a literal approach, overly emphasising trade liberalisation to the neglect of market access and economic development. This dissertation concludes that it is pre-mature for ECOWAS to assume Articles I and III obligations and recommends using the provisions of Article XXIV to build up effective influence through regional organisations and incrementally uniting to transform the GATT.This study is funded by the Brunel Law School

Ekonomi, finans ve hukuk bilimleri açısından farklı anlamlara gelen sermaye, başta pay sahipleri ve ortaklık alacaklıları olmak üzere, ileride pay sahibi olması muhtemel kişileri, ortaklıkla ilişki halinde olan diğer gerçek ve tüzel kişileri ve şirketlerin vergi mükellefi olması nedeniyle de devleti yakından ilgilendiren bir kavramdır. İktisadi faaliyetlerin yürütülmesinde hayati önemi haiz sermayenin çeşitli ekonomik nedenlerle ihtiyari ya da sermaye kaybında olduğu gibi zorunlu nedenlerle azaltılması mümkündür.Sermaye azaltımı müessesesi Türk Ticaret Kanunu'nun (TTK) 473, 474 ve 475'inci maddelerinde düzenlenmiştir. Sermayenin şirket alacaklıları için güvence oluşturma fonksiyonu dikkate alınarak, özü itibariyle bir esas sözleşme değişikliği mahiyetinde olan sermaye azaltımı diğer esas sözleşme değişikliklerinden farklı birtakım düzenlemelere ve sıkı kurallara tabi tutulmuştur.Ülkemizde uzun yıllar süren enflasyonist etkiler ve ağır işleyen maliyetli bir süreç gerektirmesi nedeniyle yaygınlık kazanamayan yapının; enflasyon oranlarındaki düşme eğilimine ve sermaye azaltımı sonucunu doğurabilecek şirket bölünmelerinin TTK ile yasal alt yapıya kavuşturulmasına paralel olarak eskiye oranla daha sık kullanılması beklenmektedir. Bu itibarla sermaye azaltımı müessesesinin, uygulamada yaygınlık kazanması öncesinde vergisel sonuçlarıyla birlikte ele alınması, irdelenmesi, tereddüt ve belirsizliklerden arındırılmış daha etkin işleyen esnek bir yapıya kavuşturulması önem arz etmektedir.Vergi kanunlarımızda sermaye azaltımının vergilendirilmesi hususunda açık bir hüküm bulunmamasına rağmen, uygulamada sermaye azaltımı neticesinde ortaklara yapılan ödemelerin kâr payı olarak nitelendirilmesinin ve kâr paylarının tabi olduğu vergilendirme rejimi kapsamında vergilendirilmesinin anayasal bir ilke olan vergilerin kanuniliği ilkesine uygunluğu tartışmalıdır.Bu çalışmada, ticaret hukuku, sermaye piyasası hukuku ve vergi hukuku bileşenleri dikkate alınarak eski ve yeni ticaret kanunu, vergi kanunları ve vergilendirme ilkeleri, sermaye piyasası mevzuatı, konuya ilişkin yargı kararları, vergi uygulamaları bir arada değerlendirilerek sermaye azaltımı müessesesi ve bunun vergilendirilmesi incelenmiş, başta sermaye azaltımının vergilendirilmesine ilişkin açık bir kanun hükmünün bulunmamasından kaynaklananlar olmak üzere uygulamada karşılaşılan sorunlara değinilerek bunların çözümüne yönelik öneriler geliştirilmiştir. Capital is defined differently in economics, finance and law and it is a subject of interest to various natural and legal persons such as shareholders, creditors, possible future shareholders and other stakeholders of the firm. Firms being tax payers, firms? capital is also a subject of interest to the state. Capital can be reduced voluntarily due to various economic reasons, or as a mandatory process in case of a loss of capital.In the Turkish legislation, capital reduction is regulated in Articles 473, 474, and 475 of the Turkish Commercial Code (TCC). Taking into consideration the protective role of capital for the creditors, capital reduction, which is in essence, a change in the Articles of Incorporation, is regulated with stricter rules than other changes to the Articles of Incorporation.Capital reduction has not been widely used in Turkey, due to the long lasting high inflation periods, and the process being slow and costly. Currently, with substantially lowered inflation rates, and the newly introduced changes to the TCC, setting the rules for corporate spin offs, which might result in capital reductions, the process is expected to be used much more frequently than before. Consequently, before it becomes widely used, it is important to analyze the process of capital reduction together with its tax impacts, and to suggest any revisions to the existing process, for eliminating any uncertainties and making the process more effective.Although there is no explicit provision in our tax laws related to the taxation of capital reduction, in practice, when there is a payment to the shareholders due to capital reduction, for tax purposes this payment is treated as dividend and taxed accordingly. However, it is debatable that this practice is in line with the constitutional principle that taxes can only be levied through laws.This study analyses capital reduction and issues related to its taxation, taking into consideration their relevance to commercial law and capital market law. Thus, the analysis collectively evaluates the provisions in the old and the new Commercial Codes, Tax Codes, Capital Market Legislation, related court decisions and taxation practices, identifies and suggests solutions to the problems encountered in practice, which mainly arise due to the fact that there is no explicit provision in the tax laws for taxation of capital reduction.

<p>This dissertation consists of three essays which examine topics at the intersection of law and finance.</p> <p>The first essay investigates the role of regulatory sanctions and reputational damage in financial markets. We study the impact of the announcement of enforcement of financial and securities regulation by the UK’s financial regulators on the market price of penalized firms. We find that reputational sanctions are very real: their stock price impact is on average almost 9 times larger than the financial penalties imposed. Furthermore, reputational losses are confined to misconduct that directly affects parties who trade with the firm (such as customers and investors).</p> <p>In the second essay we analyze the costs and benefits associated with secured creditor control in bankruptcy. We do it by studying the highly contested practice of UK pre-packs, where a deal to sell the business is agreed before publicly entering into bankruptcy. Contrary to widespread criticism that this procedure leads to collusion, we find no evidence of exploitation of conflict of interests and we find that it preserves the value of the business and maximizes recovery in circumstances in which a public announcement of bankruptcy would destroy value. In small businesses where secured creditors are concentrated the benefits of their control seem to outweigh the costs.</p> <p>Finally, in the last essay we examine whether mandatory shareholder voting prevents wealth destruction in corporate acquisitions. We study the UK setting where all large transactions must have shareholder approval. We observe that such Class 1 transactions always get consent. Nevertheless, there is a striking difference between the performance of acquirers between Class 1 and other transactions. The finding is most pronounced for transactions in a narrow neighbourhood of the size threshold, and is robust to a large set of controls for confounding effects.</p>

Infrastructure is one of the main parameters of economic growth and a country‘s competitiveness depends on the provision and maintenance of efficient and productive infrastructure assets. However, Nigeria, like most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest quantity and poorest quality of stocks of infrastructure assets in the world and this phenomenally poor infrastructure has remained an impediment to development in the country. Decades of sub-optimal investment, poor maintenance culture and the fact that the required infrastructure investments could not be accommodated within the available fiscal space as a result of budgetary constraints have all contributed to the Nigeria‘s infrastructure deficit. The immediate outcome of this however is that the available infrastructure assets across the Nigerian landscape are in decrepit state and absurdly inadequate. Besides, the present demand for basic infrastructure services has grown astronomically out-stripping the supply capacity of the existing ones. Closing the infrastructure financing gap will however require increased investment by private investors through creative financing in an enabling legal and financial environment. Outside the budgetary constraints, the absence of efficient maintenance and management of infrastructure assets and quality service delivery by the public sector are some of the reasons why procurement of public infrastructure stocks by government through the traditional approach is no longer plausible and hence, the general appeal of the public-private partnership framework. However, despite all the potentials, the public private partnership technique in Nigeria has not made an appreciable impact in closing the infrastructure gaps due to lack of access to long-term financing. It is against this back-drop that this study has sought to investigate how reforms of the legal and financial infrastructure could widen access to financing through innovative financial resource mobilization in scaling-up infrastructure development and service delivery to the teeming Nigeria population. Therefore, the central thesis of this study is that the inadequacy of appropriate laws and inefficient financial system are partly responsible for the huge financing gaps in the Nigeria‘s infrastructure market and with the legal and financial reforms, an enabling legal and financial environment that would open up space for resource mobilization through innovative financing techniques and sources will be created thereby widening access to long-term financing and increasing the appetite for private investment in the nation‘s public infrastructure assets and services. So, the overarching objective of this thesis is to explore how legal and financial system reforms can facilitate the development of financial models and instruments that can help mobilize financial resources to fund infrastructure and bridge the huge infrastructure financing gaps in Nigeria in a sustainable fashion. Given the infrastructure poverty that constrains economic growth and development in Nigeria, the outcomes of this proposed study would help inform the need for the legal and financial system reforms to unlock resources in addressing the problems of financing gaps in infrastructure projects development in Nigeria. Besides, such outcomes based on the Nigerian experience in infrastructure financing and development may be turned into valuable knowledge for policy –making and further research in Nigeria. Copyright

This dissertation analyses the content and justification of the notion of fiduciary duties in private law relations. The thesis promotes the following understanding of fiduciary duties: in a legal relation where one party undertakes to act in the interests of another, and acquires decision-making authority over the other's interests, such party undertakes a core duty to exercise his best judgement in the other's interests. The core judgement duty requires a fiduciary to exercise judgement based on relevant considerations. While what constitutes a relevant consideration can be determined objectively, the weight to be ascribed to each relevant factor is left at the fiduciary's subjective appreciation.Due to the existence of this core duty, the law imposes a set of proscriptive duties. The proscriptive duties require a fiduciary to manage situations of conflict of interest. Their purpose is prophylactic: they aim to prevent self-interest (or another duty to exercise proper judgement) from affecting the reliability of fiduciary's judgement in a conscious or subconscious way. The proscriptive duties protect the core duty to exercise judgement and, as a result, the beneficiary's right to a proper exercise of judgement by the fiduciary.

Le respect de la propriété intellectuelle d'autrui dans la vente internationale de marchandises ; Une approche de la Convention de Vienne coordonnée avec le droit de la propriété intellectuelle L'article 42 de la Convention de Vienne impose au vendeur de livrer la marchandise libre de tout droit ou prétention de tiers fondé sur la propriété intellectuelle. L'obligation s'inscrit dans une logique de protection des facultés de revente et d'utilisation sur les territoires envisagés. Ses conditions d'entrée enjeu requièrent cependant l'analyse de ce que chaque contractant connaissait ou ne pouvait ignorer au sujet de la propriété intellectuelle du tiers. Ce passage de la Convention connaît des interprétations variées. Le courant jurisprudentiel dominant tend à retenir l'imputabilité systématique de l'acheteur professionnel tandis que le courant doctrinal dominant impose une rigueur beaucoup plus stricte au vendeur. Afin de contribuer à une interprétation plus uniforme et prévisible de l'article 42, le projet s'attache à le replacer sur la trame plus générale du commerce international, où le droit de la propriété intellectuelle pose des obstacles aux mouvements transfrontaliers des marchandises. L'article 42 est d'abord comparé avec la théorie de l'épuisement des droits, qui prévoit la fin d'une emprise du droit intellectuel sur les supports de création. Le mécanisme de l'article 42 est ensuite mis en parallèle avec les moyens qui sont accessibles aux parties à la vente pour prévenir le problème d'interférence avec les droits intellectuels. À la lumière des modes limités de publicité des droits intellectuels et de la complexité des régimes conçus pour protéger les créations, il appert que ce domaine ne permet pas de prévenir efficacement les risques pouvant contrecarrer la vente. La solution proposée par la Convention de Vienne est enfin confrontée aux principes généraux dont elle s'inspire. Ceux-ci disposent de présomptions d'égalité et de compétence à l'égard des opérateurs, lesquelles ne peuvent être repoussées que par une démonstration de déséquilibre substantiel. Le cas échéant, l'équilibre peut être rétabli par l'intensification des obligations d'information et de coopération sur les épaules du contractant qualifié au bénéfice du plus faible. Il ressort de la démarche que l'équilibre contractuel qui sous-tend l'article 42 se fonde sur une répartition particulière de la prévention. La spécificité des droits intellectuels le requiert. Le respect de ces droits dans la vente internationale revient donc généralement aux deux contractants.

This study examines the effect of corporate governance on the relationship between default risk and the earnings response coefficient (ERC). Using a sample of 2,004 firm-years comprising 334 firms listed on the Bursa Malaysia over a six year period from 2002 to 2007, this study tests whether corporate governance mitigates the effect of default risk on ERC while controlling for the established determinants of ERC — beta, growth, earnings persistence and size. Using reverse regression, the study confirms that beta is negatively related to ERC and that growth, earnings persistence and size are positively related to ERC. Default risk is found to be negatively related to ERC thus confirming that beta is only a partial measure of risk relevant to ERC. Corporate governance — as indicated by audit quality, audit committee expertise and independence, and board independence and board shareholding — mitigates the negative effect of default risk on ERC. The results of the study hold both for the pooled sample of 2,004 firm-year observations and on a year by year basis for the 334 firms in the sample. The results are also found to be robust to various sensitivity tests including to alternative measures of the variables. The study thus provides systematic and comprehensive additional evidence on the determinants of ERC. Of itself this is an important contribution to the literature but especially so given that the evidence comes from Malaysia — an emerging economy — whereas the existing empirical literature relates mainly to developed countries.

Les entreprises financent de plus en plus leurs biens d'équipement au moyen de contrats de location financière. Ce financement ne nécessite pas de fonds propres de la part de l'entreprise et permet aux établissements de crédit de conserver la propriété du bien. Celle-ci constitue une garantie considérable en cas de défaillance du locataire, situation à laquelle les établissements de crédit sont de plus en plus souvent confrontés. Toutefois, dans ce cas, les intérêts du bailleur financier s'opposent à l'intérêt collectif dans la mesure où les outils de production sont souvent indispensables au maintien de l'activité, nécessaire à la sauvegarde de l'entreprise tout comme au bon déroulement des opérations de liquidation. Cette thèse examine, dans une approche comparative franco-allemande, la conciliation des intérêts en présence. L'analyse est effectuée à travers l'étude des trois rôles du bailleur financier dans la procédure collective ouverte contre le locataire : cocontractant, créancier et propriétaire. Elle constate tout d'abord la nécessité de pouvoir maintenir le contrat de location financière après l'ouverture de la procédure malgré les inexécutions antérieures du débiteur. Elle envisage ensuite les conditions du paiement du bailleur financier. Enfin, elle présente les conditions de la restitution du bien au bailleur financier ainsi que les conditions de la levée de l'option d'achat. Cette étude fait ressortir la complexité du système français par rapport au système allemand pour des résultats pratiques similaires.