Bibliographie sélective OHADA

Enfant terrible du droit des contrats, le contrat de franchise entretient des rapports tumultueux avec le droit de la concurrence. L'effet cumulatif induit par la franchise peut faire craindre une domination du marché et une dépendance des franchisés, comme des partenaires du réseau. Ces effets anticoncurrentiels sont cependant contrebalancés par les effets positifs de ce mode d'organisation sur la concurrence. En effet, la mise en œuvre d'un savoir-faire éprouvé transforme les franchisés en meilleurs compétiteurs sur le marché, leur permettant de développer une concurrence plus efficace. L'approche du contrat de franchise par le droit de la concurrence n'est est pas moins empreinte de vigilance. Le droit de la concurrence s'attache à minimiser l'influence de la franchise dans les relations entre les parties au contrat. Ainsi, tant le droit des concentrations que le droit des ententes visent à éliminer toute influence excessive du franchiseur sur la conduite des affaires du franchisé. Dans les rapports entre les tiers e le réseau, le droit de la concurrence peine cependant à donner une pleine consistance juridique à ce dernier, notamment s'agissant du problème de la revente parallèle. Le réseau n'est finalement pris en considération par le droit de la concurrence que pour en juguler l'impact sur les tiers.

The aim of this thesis is to examine several issues that banks confront in emerging and less developed economies such as SME financing and bank governance mechanisms. We first provide an overview of the level of bank SME financing in an economy where banks are mandated by law to lend to SMEs. We find large banks, foreign-owned, and well-managed ones to have low small firm financing exposures. Using a newly-gathered survey data of Philippine banks, we find that all banks perceive the SME market to be profitable. However, banks lend less to SMEs because of their opacity and that lending technologies are largely underdeveloped to serve small firms. Moreover, our results show that credit scoring and factoring are the arms-length lending technologies that are most suited to small firm lending. Examining the impact of income diversification on profitability on Philippine commercial banks, we find smaller banks, foreign banks and banks that lend less to SMEs to derive larger gains from a shift towards non-interest income. Investigating the effects of different governance mechanisms on bank risk taking in an economy where foreign ownership restrictions exist, our results indicate that minority foreign owners have a positive impact on bank performance, particularly, at lower levels of control manifested by dominant domestic shareholders. We also tackle the impact of ownership concentration on bank risk in less developed economies using an institutional approach. The results show that an increase in ownership concentration is associated with higher risk but better quality of institutions mitigates the negative impact of ownership concentration, notably in reducing credit risk. L'objectif de cette thèse est d’examiner les problèmes des banques dans les pays émergents et moins développés, tel que le financement des PME et les mécanismes de gouvernance bancaire. Nous étudions l’état de financement bancaire des PME dans un pays où les banques sont obligées d’allouer une part de leurs prêts aux PME. Nous trouvons que les grandes banques et les banques étrangères allouent moins de crédits aux PME. En utilisant un sondage que nous avons réalisé auprès des banques philippines, nos résultats montrent que le secteur des PME est perçu comme un marché rentable. Les banques sont contraintes à prêter aux petites entreprises à cause de l’opacité de ces PME. Le credit scoring et le factoring sont les techniques de financement les plus adaptées pour financer les petites entreprises. En examinant l’impact de la diversification du revenu sur la rentabilité des banques commerciales, nous trouvons que les banques étrangères et les petites banques bénéficient de l’augmentation des revenus hors intérêts. Nous testons l’impact des actionnaires étrangers minoritaires sur le risque bancaire dans un pays où les actions détenues par les étrangers sont limitées. Nous trouvons que les banques domestiques peuvent diminuer leurs créances douteuses lorsque le droit de vote des actionnaires minoritaires étrangers augmente. L’étude de la structure actionnariale des banques dans les pays moins développés montre qu’une augmentation de la concentration de la structure actionnariale est associée à un niveau de risque plus élevé. Toutefois, de meilleures institutions peuvent atténuer l’impact de la concentration de la structure actionnariale en réduisant le risque de crédit.

Cette thèse a pour objet de déterminer à quelles conditions l’arbitre international, saisi d’un litige relatif à un contrat de joint venture sino-étrangère, est susceptible d’apporter une solution aux cocontractants et une contribution à la construction du droit de l’arbitrage des investissements étrangers en Chine. L’examen des conditions d’accès à l’arbitrage et de la détermination et de la mise en oeuvre, par l’arbitre international, des règles de droit permettra de cerner les limites du caractère véritablement international de l’arbitrage auquel est soumis le contrat de joint venture sino-étrangère. La limitation de l’autonomie des parties en droit chinois de l’arbitrage et en droit international privé chinois impose des contraintes à l’arbitre international, siégeant en Chine ou à l’étranger tant pour apprécier la validité de la clause compromissoire et l’existence et l’étendue ratione personae et ratione materiae du consentement à l’arbitrage, que pour déterminer et appliquer les règles de droit auxquelles est soumis le litige. L’examen des solutions apportées par l’arbitre international permettra d’apprécier son apport substantiel à la clarification des conditions de formation du contrat de joint venture sino-étrangère, qu’il s’agisse des conditions de fond, tirées de la qualification des parties et de l’existence et de la sincérité de leur consentement au contrat de joint venture, que des conditions de forme, tirées de l’approbation des contrats d’investissement. Cet apport est confirmé en matière d’obligations des parties, par la reconnaissance et la diversification des obligations pécuniaires, de participation et de coopération auxquelles sont tenus les associés de l’entreprise commune

Post-independent Cameroon has grappled with the problem of systemic violation of civil and political rights (CPR) despite a transition from single party dictatorship to multiparty democracy in the 1990s. Various legislative measures including the adoption of a supposedly ‘rights friendly’ constitution in 1996 have done little to ameliorate that problem. This thesis adopts a concept of constitutionalism, based on contemporary international standards, to analyse the problem of CPR violations from the perspective of the constitutional arrangements in Cameroon. It examines the system of separation of powers, the method of securing judicial independence and the mechanisms for judicial review. The argument is made that the problem can be attributed in part to the predominant influence of the French civil law system in Cameroon’s bijural legal system. Although for historical reasons, Cameroon operates both the English common law and the French civil law, constitutional developments have continued to be influenced by the latter which lends itself to practices that are not sufficiently supportive of constitutionalism as defined herein. The thesis, however, goes further to explore how the constitutional system could be reinforced to provide a more conducive framework for the protection and enhancement of CPR. Drawing on two strands of arguments, one highlighting features of the common law system that can be more supportive of constitutionalism and the other which highlights the value of indigenous antecedents of constitutionalism, the thesis proposes the development of a contextual model which is more reflective of Cameroon’s peculiar legal and socio-political circumstances. It proposes what is described as an Optimal Integrative Approach (OIA) as a framework for developing a contextual model, more conducive for the protection and enhancement of CPR in Cameroon.

Esta investigación tiene como objetivo determinar la conveniencia de la implementación y el fomento del comercio electrónico en Guinea-Bissau, valorar su viabilidad, identificar los factores que condicionarán esta implantación y proponer un marco regulador adecuado que genere la confianza de los consumidores y proveedores de bienes y servicios. Para acometer este estudio se realiza un extenso análisis doctrinal, jurisprudencial y legal basado sobre todo en el ordenamiento jurídico español y en el derecho comunitario, que nos permitirá proponer un modelo adecuado para Guinea-Bissau. El resultado principal del trabajo es un análisis de la situación jurídica, económica y social en Guinea-Bissau a los efectos de la implantación del comercio electrónico que requiere a su vez el fomento de medios de pago electrónicos, en particular, dadas las condiciones del país y las características comerciales y sociales, de las tarjetas de crédito. De este modo, la investigación pretende concluir con la propuesta de un conjunto de medidas basadas sobre todo en la formulación de disposiciones jurídicas que contribuyan al desarrollo de la sociedad de la información y del comercio electrónico seguro. Además, se propone la reforma del Código Civil y de la Constitución del país, con el objetivo de que se regulen adecuadamente los aspectos relacionados con las nuevas tecnologías de la información y la comunicación y de brindar mayor seguridad jurídica a los entes intervinientes en las operativas de pago mediante tarjeta de crédito en el comercio electrónico. Palabras claves: autenticación y seguridad; medios de pago electrónico; tarjeta de crédito; confianza de consumidores y usuarios; riesgo; uso fraudulento; responsabilidad; comercio electrónico; obligaciones.

The use of temporary employment services as a means to achieve flexibility in die labour market led to various complications due to a lack of proper regulation. The atypical formation of the triangular employment relationship, limited rights and less favourable employment conditions of the temporary employees, multiple authority figures and their liabilities under various circumstances and the impact thereof on such employee’ collective bargaining rights caused legal uncertainty in the absence of sufficient legislation to govern it. Temporary employment agencies developed certain methods in order to evade the restrictive labour legislation and employer duties imposed on them, namely by making use of automatic termination clauses (resolutive conditions) and by categorising the temporary employee as an independent contractor. Last mentioned would effectively exclude the temporary employee from labour legislation and the protection it provides. In reaction to abovementioned problems, trade unions have been objecting to the use of temporary employment agencies and went as far as demanding the total ban thereof. This raised the question in the South African Government whether said agencies should indeed be banned. The other option is a less restrictive approach and entails the attempt to regulate these agencies by amending the current labour legislation in order to accommodate temporary employment services. In light of the fact that various proposals to amend the current South African labour legislation (especially with regard to temporary employment services) have been published in the Government Gazette, it can be deduced that the social partners ultimately chose to regulate temporary employment agencies rather than ban them altogether. From an early stage the International Labour Organisation (ILO) provided rules and regulations for the management of employment agencies in general by way of conventions and recommendations. In 1997, in order to give effect to the labour standards identified by it, the ILO brought the Private Employment Agencies Convention into existence. This document could be applied to all temporary employment agencies on an international level. This document provides for administrative regulations, the duties of the agency and the client as well as the rights of the temporary employees concerned. The ILO recommends that all of its member states incorporate the principles contained within this document in their own legislation. Temporary employment services are also used in other legal systems. For purposes of this study, the English law (United Kingdom (UK)) and the Namibian law will be scrutinised. Similar issues to those recognised in the South African law have been identified in these countries. However, each has approached said problems in different ways. The Namibian Government banned the conducting and provision of these services by way of legislation in 2007. The constitutionality of the ban has however been questioned by the Supreme Court of Namibia, after which it had been found to infringe upon the fundamental freedom to carry on any business, trade or occupation. The ban was struck down as unconstitutional. The Namibian Government has since promulgated new legislation in which it removed the ban and replaced it with numerous amendments providing for the regulation of temporary employment services. Since 1973 the UK has been promulgating various instruments for the thorough regulation of temporary employment agencies. These instruments provide for the management of temporary employment agencies and the rights of the employees involved. The relevant legislative instruments have been updated regularly with the purpose of ensuring that the needs of all the parties concerned are met. The UK, as a member state of the European Union (EU), (which has also been providing for the regulation of temporary employment services in various directives), promulgated legislation specifically with the aim to give effect to the principles in the mentioned directives. By way of doctrines and the creation of a third category ―worker‖ the UK has been attempting to prevent any loopholes in their legal system with regard to temporary employment services and the rights of the employees involved. The aim of this study is to investigate all the important complications experienced with temporary employment agencies in order to indicate the impact the atypical circumstances have on the rights of the temporary employees. The degree to which, if at all, the South African law complies with the preferred labour standards identified by the ILO will be pointed out. A comparative study will be conducted, first by ascertaining in detail how the comparable issues in the UK and Namibian law are dealt with, and second by identifying which aspects in these legal systems could be of value to the South African law. Finally the potential effectiveness of the proposed amendments to the South African labour legislation will be analysed, during which recommendations for the unresolved issues will be provided. The recommendations are mainly aimed at achieving sufficient rights and legal certainty for the temporary employees associated with temporary employment agencies.

Cette thèse se propose d'analyser l'accès à la justice civile pour les victimes de violations de droits de l'homme commises par des entreprises multinationales, au regard des règles de compétence internationale des tribunaux de international privé en matière de responsabilité civile délictuelle. La recherche mettra en exergue la double fonction que peuvent endosser les règles de compétence de droit international privé dans ce domaine, en assurant, d'une part, un accès effectif à la justice et à la réparation pour les victimes de tels abus, et en participant, d'autre part à l'effort de régulation des entreprises multinationales sur le plan global.

No abstract available

This thesis investigates how International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) come to act within an organizational context. In particular, the thesis explores how the requirements for goodwill accounting and leasing influence organizational calculative practices, transforming and shaping operations management. Drawing on actor-network theory, this study moves away from a priori distinctions, following the construction and mobilization of accounting numbers across institutionalized boundaries within and around the organization. The empirical investigation took place in a large, worldwide active media group that is listed on a European stock exchange. The group is a particular interesting setting because of its diverse business structure and its German code-law accounting roots. Business combinations are a major growth factor within the industry and a high degree of decentralization in the organization placed responsibility for investment decisions at low hierarchical levels. Goodwill accounting and impairment testing were therefore highly significant calculative practices in the group. The study finds that the constitutive role of the financial reporting standards in the organization both solves tensions and dilemmas around the number and creates new ones when crucial interests are lost in translation. These tensions and dilemmas arise between the aim of standardization and closure for the construction of a legitimate value of the future, and the aim to mobilize numbers in order to motivate and create value for a future. Originally intended for the financial representation of organizational substance and performance, the standards become associated with operations management activities, helping to create the faithful records that sum up the organization. This interrelation helps to close concern around the representation of the future in a ‘fair’ value by distributing the calculative practices over a wide network of actors spanning inside and outside the organization. However, the relationship also forces a connection between calculations and ambitions that otherwise would have preferred to stay separate. This thesis offers a new perspective on IFRS implementation by emphasizing organizational activities. Through a focus on integration and the link between financial and management accounting, the ‘implementation problems’ highlighted in previous literature gain a refined theorization. When taking organizational practice seriously, integration becomes a process that may find temporal stability but will never be final. In the process, conflicts might be solved but new dilemmas will arise. In turn, concepts like decision usefulness, comparability and earnings management cannot exist in a stable form but are rather constructed in networks that disregard commonly assumed boundaries inside and around the organization.

It is widely acknowledged that entrepreneurial companies play a key role in shaping a local economy. Entrepreneurial companies are a source of growth and innovation for an industry and provide jobs for the local population. However, entrepreneurs of high growth oriented companies rarely have the capital to finance their innovative ideas themselves and therefore also have to accept the risks associated with assessing and acquiring the necessary finance resources from other investors. The goal of this dissertation is to study the impact of venture capital (VC) finance on such entrepreneurial finance decisions. Although VC investors are a highly focused and specialized kind of investors that offer a wide range of differentiated services, it is to date still unclear how VC investors may reduce agency costs for other potential investors. The first study of this dissertation studies the effect of VC finance and associated VC ownership for finance decisions from other investors who have the potential to invest in these companies. This study demonstrates that VC ownership results into a larger supply of finance for the entrepreneurial company. Second, I find that VC ownership results into an even larger positive effect on capital investment decisions from equity investors as VC finance is typically also associated with the implementation of an equity-oriented corporate governance mechanism in entrepreneurial companies. VC ownership does not have an effect on the supply of finance from financial debt investors, however. Nevertheless, I find that debt finance is equally available for companies with VC ownership as compared to companies without VC ownership, which is a surprising result given the high risk associated with high growth companies that raise VC finance. Another important finding of this study is that the positive effect of VC ownership is stronger for repeated VC finance versus non-repeated VC finance. In fact, these results indicate that the effect of VC finance for entrepreneurial companies’ finance decisions is considerably larger if VC investors commit to further finance the company. The second study of this dissertation extends the first study and explores the effect of VC ownership on entrepreneurial finance decisions in different institutional settings. Although the effect of VC ownership is not limited to one specific institutional context, this study shows that its impact on entrepreneurial finance decisions is stronger in countries with a better quality of law enforcement and in countries where the entrepreneur is able to obtain a fresh start after bankruptcy. Specifically, in countries with a better enforcement of law, VC investors are more effective in reducing agency problems between entrepreneurs and potential investors. The attractiveness of a fresh start after bankruptcy will also be higher for an entrepreneur who raised VC finance, as VC investors focus more on maximizing the value of their portfolio rather than on the survival of individual firms. The third study acknowledges the fact that VC investors are not all equal and explores which VC investor types have more bargaining power versus the entrepreneur and how such differences in VC investor bargaining power affect company valuations in VC investment rounds. VC investor bargaining power is important because company valuations are the outcome of negotiations between the VC investor and the entrepreneur. We show that university VC firms and government VC firms negotiate lower valuations compared with independent VC firms. The proprietary deal flow of university VC firms and the limited competition in niche markets in which government VC firms compete will directly increase their bargaining power versus the entrepreneur, which these VC investor types then further exploit by negotiating lower company valuations compared with independent VC investors. Although differences in VC investor type did not affect entrepreneurial finance decisions in the first and second study, they do affect the equity stake that an entrepreneur will have to give up in order to raise VC finance and in order to a have a greater access to entrepreneurial finance from potential investors in the future.

This thesis comparatively analyses the SA income tax general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) in s 80A-L of the Income Tax Act 58/1962 and similar rules in Australia, Canada, the UK and the judicial doctrines in the US and the UK. It is argued that, while the SA GAAR may serve as a deterrent, it is going to have limited efficacy against impermissible tax avoidance due to the uncertainty it creates. It is argued that uncertainty will cause judicial activism to protect permissible tax avoidance, extensive and inconsistent judicial interpretation and confusion amongst taxpayers and SARS as to what constitutes permissible or impermissible tax avoidance. This thesis ends by recommending certain amendments, based on the comparative analysis, to the SA GAAR which can reduce uncertainty and thus improve it efficacy.