This volume of the Proceedings of the Nineteenth Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law encompasses all preparatory work and records of meetings which led to the adoption of the Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Certain Rights in Respect of Securities held with an Intermediary (the Hague Securities Convention). The signing of this Convention on 5 July 2006 by two of the world's major financial markets, the United States and Switzerland, shows the relevance of the new treaty. Traditional rules, based on physical transfers and direct holdings, are too diverse and inadequate to deal with securities which are nowadays transferred and pledged by electronic entries to accounts with clearing and settlement systems and other intermediaries. By identifying specific conflict rules, the Hague Securities Convention provides a means to remedy this lack of legal certainty which has characterized for too long the field of security transactions. The Proceedings will enable the financial world, but also legal practitioners and academics to grasp the background and full objectives of this very innovative international instrument.

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