This special issue of Studies in Law, Politics and Society examines a broad range of European case studies to consider the crucial role played by intermediaries, such as companies and lawyers, in the legal system.

This special issue of Studies in Law, Politics and Society examines a broad range of European case studies to consider the crucial role played by intermediaries, such as companies and lawyers, in the legal system.

The global shift from the direct holding of securities by investors to the current intermediated holding system raises many important legal issues. These include the impact of the intermediated holding system on the rights of investors, and the enforcement of those rights against intermediaries and issuers. The cross-border nature of many holding patterns adds another layer of complexity to these issues, and reduces legal certainty. Against this, intermediation offers benefits for many investors, including the ability to hold a cross-border portfolio with one intermediary, a reduction in costs and the facilitation of the use of securities in the collateral, repo, and securities lending markets. This book covers a number of legal topics relating to intermediated securities including the history of intermediation, the benefits and problems in the current intermediated holding system, and how future legal and technological developments could help to resolve these problems while retaining the benefits of intermediation. It also examines the possible impact of FinTech on this area, in particular the potential for Blockchain to be used in the issuing, holding and settlement of securities, the extent to which this will solve some of the difficulties that currently exist, and whether the use of Blockchain will create new difficulties that will need to be overcome. This book, which originated in a series of workshops organised by the Commercial Law Centre at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, will appeal to those interested in financial and corporate law, including academics, practitioners, policy makers and students.

Globally, there has been a shift from securities being held directly by an investor, to a situation in which many securities are held via an intermediary. The existence of one or more intermediaries between the investor and the issuer has a potentially significant impact on the rights of the investor, the role and obligations of the issuer, and on the position and responsibilities of the intermediary. However, different jurisdictions have dealt with the issues arising from intermediation in a variety of ways. In the UK, for example, the concept of a trust is used to explain the different rights and obligations which arise in this scenario, whereas in the US the issues have been addressed by legislation, in the form of UCC Article 8. This variety is problematic, given that it is possible for an investor to hold securities in a number of different jurisdictions. A new UNIDROIT Convention on the issue of Intermediated Securities, the Geneva Securities Convention 2009, aims to create a common framework for dealing with these issues. This collection of essays explores the issues that arise when securities are held via an intermediary, and in particular assesses the solutions put forward by the new Convention on this issue. It will be essential reading for practitioners and academics.

This volume focuses on transparency as the guiding principle for insurance regulation and supervisory law. All chapters were written by experts in their respective fields, who address transparency in a wide range of European and non-European jurisdictions. Each chapter reviews the transparency principles applicable in the jurisdiction discussed. While the European jurisdictions reflect different facets of the principle as emerging from EU law on insurance, the principle has developed quite differently in other jurisdictions.

This book explains what the internationalization of banking and finance means, and examines its extent and the reasons it has developed. The advantages and disadvantages of the new situation-and what is yet to come-are neatly sketched, along with the policy problems for national governments and international bodies.

This cutting-edge volume offers a theoretical and applied introduction to the emerging legal technology and informatics industry.

Employment services are at the centre of a complex web of rules deriving from the EU, national public law and from private agreements. This book examines the law and regulation of public services through case studies of the public employment services in EU member states.

Since the publication of the first edition of this book in 2005, the world of financial investment has experienced an unprecedented boom followed by a spectacular bust. Significant changes have been proposed and in some cases implemented in areas such as the structure of regulation, the organisation of markets, supervision of market participants and the protection of consumers. The second edition takes account of these developments, integrating them into an analytical framework that enables the reader to develop a critical overview of the role of general legal rules and specialised systems of regulation in financial investment. The framework focuses on the role of contract, trusts and regulation as the primary legal influences for financial investment. The first part explores the relationship between investment, law and regulation. The second part examines the nature of investments and investors, both professional and private. The third part discusses the central role of corporate finance and corporate governance in linking investors with enterprises that require external capital. The fourth part examines the nature, operation and regulation of markets and the participants that support the functioning of the markets. The objective remains to provide a broadly-based and critical account of the role of law in financial investment. "MacNeil's eloquent and informative distillation of the regulatory fundamentals of investment law gives his book much international relevance...a timely contribution to help readers decipher the seemingly inextricable maze of financial regulation...Practitioners and legal policy advisers will..welcome it. They should find enlightening the book's careful scrutiny of the trust and contractual foundations of investment law and practice." Benjamin J Richardson Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation, Vol 22 Issue 1, 2007 ...a fascinating and informative book...thoroughly recommended as a learned but at the same time very readable introduction to the law of financial investment Gerard McCormack Banking and Finance Law Review, Volume 21 No 2, June 2006 ...very informative tool that introduces in a very friendly and accessible manner the nearly inextricable world of financial investment laws. Fadi Moghaizel International Company and Commercial Law Review, Vol. 17 No 2, February 2006

Examines how intermediaries work on rule of law assistance in authoritarian Myanmar, based on interviews with 100 individuals.