Most readers, especially those with car loans or home mortgages, know about "collateral"--property that the lender can take away from the borrower in the event that the borrower defaults. In low/middle income countries, it is understood that conservative lenders exclude firms from credit markets with their excessive collateral requirements. Usually, this is because only some property is acceptable as collateral: large holdings of urban real estate and, sometimes, new motor vehicles. Microenterprises, SMEs, and the poor have little of this property but they do have an array of productive assets that could easily be harnessed to serve as collateral. It is only the legal framework which prevents firms from using these assets to secure loans. In countries with reformed laws governing collateral, property such as equipment, inventory, accounts receivable, livestock are considered excellent collateral. This book aims to better equip project managers to implement reforms to the legal and institutional framework for collateral (secured transactions). It discusses the importance of movable property as a source of collateral for firms, the relationship between the legal framework governing movable assets and the financial sector consequences for firms (better loan terms, increased access, more competitive financial sector), and how reforms can be put in place to change the lending environment.

This book's prime audience is government policy-makers. It provides a policy framework for governments to increase micro, small and medium enterprises' access to financial services?one which is based on empirical evidence from around the world. Financial sector policies in many developing countries often work against the ability of commercial financial institutions to serve this market segment, albeit, often unintentionally. The framework guides governments on how to best focus scarce resources on three things: ? developing an inclusive financial sector policy; ? building healthy financial ins

The "Model Law" deals with security interests in all types of tangible and intangible movable property, such as goods, receivables, bank accounts, negotiable instruments, negotiable documents,

The economic empowerment of women is increasingly seen as one of the most important forces behind economic growth and the fight against poverty. Indeed, women's economic participation in an economy as entrepreneurs, employees, and leaders is recognized as a measure of a country's dynamism and viability. 'Gender Dimensions of Investment Climate Reform' provides fresh solutions to common issues that women entrepreneurs face. It presents actionable, replicable, and scalable tools for promoting gender-sensitive investment climate reforms that would benefit both women and men. The book enables development practitioners and policy makers who are not gender specialists to diagnose gender issues in an investment climate; design creative and practical solutions and recommendations for addressing gender constraints; and monitor and evaluate the implementation of those recommendations.

Seventeen in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 190 economies, Doing Business 2020 measures aspects of regulation affecting 10 areas of everyday business activity.

The second issue in a new series, Global Financial Development Report 2014 takes a step back and re-examines financial inclusion from the perspective of new global datasets and new evidence. It builds on a critical mass of new research and operational work produced by World Bank Group staff as well as outside researchers and contributors.

The book is unique. . . It brings together articles on the economics and the law of property rights, and combines these with case studies, observations of what works and what does not, and a checklist of things to watch for. . . This is a very useful book that should appeal to reformers working in the field, whether they are governmental officials trying to modernize their economies, or economists and lawyers working in developmental agencies. . . There are few other books or publications that bring together the views of experts working in this important, albeit somewhat neglected, are of financial sector plumbing. William P. Armstrong, Banking and Finance Law Review . . . a well-presented collection of interesting papers within which one finds a rich resource of information and perspectives on secured transactions reform from parts of the world which are often overlooked in comparative commercial law scholarship. Noel McGrath, Journal of Business Law . . . with its insightful analysis, interesting empirical studies and knowledgeable team of contributors, the book will be illuminating and useful not just for those interested in development, but also anyone who has anything to do with granting credit and taking security. Dora S. Neo, Singapore Journal of Legal Studies This is an excellent, unique book. The material is very well written and presented in a carefully thought-out, coherent way. It tells us a legal story of our own, unique time. Any lawyer working in transition economies, whether or not directly on reform projects, would find it of great interest. Even economists should perhaps take a look at it! Roger McCormick, Law and Financial Markets Review Secured transactions reform, also known as collateral or pledge law reform, is increasingly seen as an important building block for economic development. The commonly held view is that the availability and cost of credit, as well as the efficiency of the market for secured credit, are directly influenced by the laws affecting secured transactions and their implementation. However, there is still a lot of confusion about this relatively complex and technical area of the law and its role in promoting access to credit and economic growth. The chapters presented here provide, for the first time, a comprehensive and cutting-edge view of the subject from both a legal and economic perspective. They start at the macro level of financial systems, moving towards the behaviours of lenders (commercial banks and micro-lenders), policy options for government and the mechanisms of collateral law reform. By approaching the subject from different angles and experiences, the work advocates an inclusive approach to the subject where all stakeholders interests can be taken into account. It addresses the question of what role laws and institutions can play to encourage access to credit. This book will be of primary interest to those involved in economic development and the interaction between law and economics, either for practical reasons (for example, working on reform or providing advice on investment in transition economies) or for research purposes.

This collection of essays offers a unique insight and overview of the secured transactions law in many of the most important countries in Asia, as well as reflections on the need for, benefits of and challenges for reform in this area of the law. The book provides a mixture of general reflections on the history, successes and challenges of secured transaction law reform, and critical discussion of the law in a number of Asian countries. In some of the countries, the law has already been reformed, or reform is under way, and here the reforms are considered critically, with recommendations for future work. In other countries, the law is not yet reformed, and the existing law is analysed so as to determine what reform is desirable, and whether it is likely to take place. First, this book will enable those engaging with the law in Asia to understand better the contours of the law in both civil and common law jurisdictions. Second, it provides analytical insights into why secured transactions law reform happens or does not happen, the different methods by which reform takes place, the benefits of reform and the difficulties that need to be overcome for successful reform. Third, it discusses the need for reform where none has yet taken place and critically assesses the reforms which have already been enacted or are being considered. In addition to providing a forum for discussion in relation to the countries in question, this book is also a timely contribution to the wider debate on secured transactions law reform which is taking place around the world.

Using a firm-level survey database covering 48 countries, Beck, Demirgüç-Kunt, and Maksimovic investigate whether differences in financial and legal development affect the way firms finance their investments. The results indicate that external financing of investments is not a function of institutions, although the form of external finance is. The authors identify two explanations for this. First, legal and financial institutions affect different types of external finance in offsetting ways. Second, firm size is an important determinant of whether firms can have access to different types of external finance. Larger firms with financing needs are more likely to use external finance compared with small firms. The results also indicate that these firms are more likely to use external finance in more developed financial systems, particularly debt and equity finance. The authors also find evidence consistent with the pecking order theory in financially developed countries, particularly for large firms. This paper--a product of Finance, Development Research Group--is part of a larger effort in the group to understand firms' access to financial services.

Who are the agents of financial regulation? Is good (or bad) financial governance merely the work of legislators and regulators? Here Annelise Riles argues that financial governance is made not just through top-down laws and policies but also through the daily use of mundane legal techniques such as collateral by a variety of secondary agents, from legal technicians and retail investors to financiers and academics and even computerized trading programs. Drawing upon her ten years of ethnographic fieldwork in the Japanese derivatives market, Riles explores the uses of collateral in the financial markets as a regulatory device for stabilizing market transactions. How collateral operates, Riles suggests, is paradigmatic of a class of low-profile, mundane, but indispensable activities and practices that are all too often ignored as we think about how markets should work and be governed. Riles seeks to democratize our understanding of legal techniques, and demonstrate how these day-to-day private actions can be reformed to produce more effective forms of market regulation.