International Law Commons^™

Non-State Actors For Profit: Revisiting Transnational Corporations' Personhood And Responsibility Under International Law, Katayoon Beshkardana, Faraz Shahlaei

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The growing impact of Transnational Corporations (TCs) on international trade, investment, and human rights raises the question of international corporate responsibility. For international responsibility, TCs must be recognized as subjects of international law with legal personality. Apart from states as the primary subjects of international law, such status has been granted to inter-governmental organizations (IGOs). The factors that contributed to the IGOs’ recognition as international law subjects seem to be present for TCs today. While the International Court of Justice granted such legal status to IGOs, for TCs, the best path to recognition would be to establish a global authority …

“Say On Pay”: The Movement To Reform Executive Compensation In The United States And European Union, Marisa Anne Pagnattaro, Stephanie Greene

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

In the aftermath of an array of economic failures, there is a growing movement to reform executive compensation. Concerned that executive compensation structures reward inappropriate risk taking and create a short-term perspective, the United States and the European Union are taking steps to reform the ways executives are compensated. Part I analyzes governmental and regulatory action in the United States, including SEC disclosure rules and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Part II details new initiatives in the European Union that recommend changes to remuneration for directors of listed companies and remuneration in the financial services sector, …

More Than Best Friends: Expansion Of Global Law Firms Into The Indian Legal Market, Chris Vena

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Over the past half century, there has been an accelerating trend towards liberalization in the legal services industry. International free trade agreements have sought to promote open markets for legal services. The United States, United Kingdom, many European countries, Australia, Japan, Russia, China, and Singapore have all opened their legal markets to foreign law firms. India is something of an anomaly in this regard. Although it has one of the world's largest economies and has benefited greatly from liberalization in many industries, India's legal industry remains closed. Competition for foreign capital with other developing nations, particularly China, makes this an …

Law Without Order In Chinese Corporate Governance Institutions, Donald C. Clarke

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The substantive norms of Chinese corporate governance have been studied extensively inside and outside China. Yet much less attention has been paid to the Chinese institutional environment that determines whether and how far those norms will be made meaningful. While complaints about general lack of enforcement are common, less common are analyses that concretely tie institutional capacity to specific enforcement problems. This Article aims to fill that gap. It surveys a number of state and non-state channels for the enforcement of corporate governance rules and standards in China, from markets to regulatory bodies, looking at the specific capacities of each. …

Lowering The Cost Of Rent: How Ifrs And The Convergence Of Corporate Governance Standards Can Help Foreign Issuers Raise Capital In The United States And Abroad, Kyle W. Pine

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Since the early 1990s the United States has experienced a dramatic growth in the number of foreign firms choosing to trade their shares in U.S. markets. Meanwhile, Europe and other markets have not experienced this effect to the same extent. there has been an observable worldwide growth in stock market capitalization since the 1990s with an increasing number of foreign issuers choosing to cross-list their shares abroad, usually in the United States. Traditional explanations for why firms choose to cross-list have focused primarily on access to trade in more liquid markets. A more convincing theory for why firms cross-list, attributed …

Ec Reforms Of Corporate Governance And Capital Markets Law: Do They Tackle Insiders' Opportunism?, Luca Enriques, Matteo Gatti

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Company and capital markets laws are rapidly evolving everywhere: there are few countries around the world where they have not been the subject of reform or where at least a reform agenda has not been devised. There are various reasons for this, both global and local. Among the global (or common) reasons for reform, two at least deserve to be singled out: large-scale market crises or prominent economic scandals, and financial development.

A Road Map For Corporate Governance In East Asia, Chee Keong Low

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Much has transpired since the inadequacies of corporate governance practices in East Asia were glaringly exposed by the Asian financial crisis. The crisis brought to the foreground numerous deficiencies, which had common roots in excessive over-leverage as well as the lack of transparency, disclosure and accountability. These issues have been explicitly recognized with the release of the White Paper on Corporate Governance in Asia by the Asian Roundtable on Corporate Governance in June 2003.

By responding in part to the White Paper, this article sets out a "roadmap" whose ultimate objective is the enhancement of the practice of corporate governance …

Corporatization And Privatization: A Chinese Perspective, Yuwa Wei

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Although the enterprise reform in China has its own causes, it conforms to the current movement of commercializing public enterprises in a global sense. Thus, over the course of its enterprise reform, China has the advantage of drawing lessons and gaining wisdom from the experience of other jurisdictions. Consequently, China may achieve two goals, commercializing its public sector and standardizing the practice of its corporatized enterprises, at the same time. Meanwhile, the Chinese enterprise reform will provide an interesting case for comparative study, since the country is pioneering a different path in the process of corporatizing and privatizing its public …

Getting From Salbu To The Tipping Point: The Role Of Corporate Action Within A Portfolio Of Anti-Corruption Strategies, Thomas W. Dunfee, David Hess

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Salbu's "big questions" identify core issues for scholars on bribery and corruption. Salbu asks: (1) when may it be ethical to pay a bribe, (2) whether the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act's ("FCPA") provisions on "routine government action" permit us to distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate facilitative payments, (3) whether non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") should supplant the role of governments in fighting corruption, and (4) whether corporate principles can have an impact in the fight against corruption. Our focus is primarily on the latter question, but encompasses all of them. Implicit in Salbu's list is the question of whether a single magic …

A Role For The Wto In International Merger Control, Andre Fiebig

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Although this paper follows on those new proposals, and addresses many of the same problems, the international merger control regime proposed here fundamentally differs in its approach. Although there is certainly a beneficial role for an international institution in merger control, the current proposals are too ambitious. Instead of focussing on the allocation of cross-border transactions, this paper suggests that the focus should be on the cases which present no treat to competition, and yet are scrutinized by several different national competition law regulators. An international institution, probably within the framework of the World Trade Organization ("WTO"), should be created …

The Treatment Of Global Mergers: An Australian Perspective, S.G. Corones

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The purpose of this article is to examine some recent global mergers from an Australian perspective. The article begins by considering the administrative tribunal and Court structure in Australia, as well as the procedural, substantive. and remedial aspects of Australian laws regulating global mergers. It then considers the Merger Guidelines and their focus on the unilateral and co-ordinated post-merger effects that are likely to occur. The article examines a number of recent global mergers. including Coopers & Lybrand/Price Waterhouse, BAT/Rothmans, Pepsi Co/Smith's Snack Foods and Coca-Cola/Cadbury Schweppes, as well as their assessment by the ACCC. Finally, it considers some of …

Transnational Competition Law Aspects Of Mergers And Acquisitions, William M. Hannay

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

As more and more U.S. companies engage in overseas operations, even the most routine merger or acquisition seems to have a transnational component which requires analysis and perhaps premerger notification under an increasing number of foreign "competition laws" (or what we call antitrust laws). An understanding of those competition rules has become an imperative for American lawyers.

Perspective: Foreign Direct Investments In China - Practical Problems Of Complying With China's Company Law And Laws For Foreign-Invested Enterprises, Anyuan Yuan

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Foreign investors in China face a legal system and legal issues that are very different from those found in the United States. This article seeks to illustrate some of the important differences in China's corporate law that govern or affect foreign investors' interests. The purpose of this article is to help foreign investors become aware of legal problems and investment risks in creating a foreign-invested enterprise in China. This article also proposes changes to existing Chinese laws that will more reasonably accommodate the legal concerns and protect the legal interests of foreign investors (as well as incidentally benefiting domestic Chinese …

China's Evolving Company Legislation: A Status Report, Preston M. Torbert

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

As China's economic reforms have progressed, however, the need for a company law has become apparent. The two principal reasons are, first, the need to reform existing state-owned enterprises and, second, the need to create a means for foreign investment in reformed state-owned enterprises. For political reasons, there appears to be no perceived need for the company law to encourage larger privately-owned enterprises.

How Does Europe Regulate Powers Within Its Corporations? What Might The Answer Mean For The U.S.? An Essay And Review Of European Company Laws: A Comparative Approach, Donald C. Jr. Dowling

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

European Company Laws: A Comparative Approach is a compilation of ten essays by various authors on the jurisprudence of corporate control within Europe. The book focuses on the company laws within the various member states, somewhat to the exclusion of the emerging EC-level corporate laws. Yet while European Company Laws concerns itself with member states' internal company laws, the book's goal is much loftier than merely compiling the European states' corporate statutes into some sort of practitioners' guide. Rather, European Company Laws attempts to divine jurisprudential truths about the regulation of power within the European company by examining the European …

Joint Venture Law In The Soviet Union: The 1920s And The 1980s, Adam J. Albin

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Soviet law has only permitted the establishment of joint ventures within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during two separate periods. Similar political and economic considerations were major catalysts for the enactment of both joint venture laws, as well as for the similar themes running through them, though the periods are separated by approximately sixty-five years. Examination of both situations, instead of merely the present one, not only will provide a broader perspective of how the Soviets view joint ventures themselves, but will illustrate how Soviet legislation itself has evolved in considering free-market economic principles.

The Liability Of Corporations And Shareholders For The Capitalization And Obligations Of Subsidiaries Under German Law, Maximilian Schiessl

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

The Federal Republic of Germany, one of the United States' main trading partners, has a rather different approach to the liability of a parent corporation for the debts of its subsidiaries. In the United States, the affiliated enterprises doctrine is generally viewed as a subcategory of the piercing the corporate veil doctrine. Under German law, there is a sharp distinction between the general rules on piercing the corporate veil, which may also be applied to a parent-subsidiary relationship, and the special legal framework governing the Konzernrecht (law of affiliated enterprises). German corporation law is based on the assumption that in …

The Regulation Of Insider Trading In Germany: Who's Afraid Of Self-Restraint, Joseph Blum

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

From near total destruction forty-one years ago, the Federal Republic of Germany has emerged as the fourth wealthiest industrialized nation. Yet despite this wealth, the German capital markets remain miniscule in comparison to those of other industrialized nations. This development has had a significantly adverse effect on the ability of German companies to raise equity capital. The aversion of individual Germans to invest in equity securities can be explained on a number of levels. First, many investors find that fixed-rate bonds and similar securities provide equal if not better yields than stocks, without the concomitant risk. Another significant reason that …

Reconciling National Interests In The Regulation Of International Business, Stanley J. Marcuss, Dale P. Butland

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

In an increasingly integrated world where political and economic issues are deeply intertwined, the regulation of international business activity raises complex problems in international law. The existence of the multinational corporation, which is possessed of multiple identities and therefore subject to the jurisdiction of both "home" nations, where it is headquartered, and "host" nations, where its subsidiaries are located, makes the potentiality of jurisdictional disputes among nations particularly acute. While attempts to apply United States law to American foreign subsidiaries virtually ensures conflicts among jurisdictions, excusing subsidiaries from compliance with domestic law could seriously undermine comprehensive regulatory activity. It could …

German Merger Control: A European Approach To Anticompetitive Takeovers, Rolf Belke, W. David Braun

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

European free-market countries recently have begun to enact more laws regulating mergers and joint-ventures, with Germany at the forefront. In this article, Messrs. Belke and Braun intensively analyze the German merger control law, including the criteria that necessitate a report to the German Cartel Office, its application of the substantive merger control rules, and possible exceptions to an anti-merger ruling. They also explore the impact of the German law on international mergers and joint-ventures. Finally, they discuss in detail the first two German Supreme Court decisions that construed the substantive rules and contrast them with similar American cases.

The Effects Of United States Antitrust Laws On The International Operations Of American Firms, Melvin Schwechter, Richard Schepard

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

United States antitrust laws increasingly have affected the international activities of U.S. corporations. The business community maintains that these laws have hurt international operations. In this article, Messrs. Schwechter and Schepard consider five major areas of concern to American businessmen: potential antitrust attacks upon licensing agreements, use of the foreign sovereign compulsion doctrine as an antitrust defense, subject matter jurisdiction and discovery, application of the "rule of reason" to international joint ventures, and the multifaceted nature of antitrust enforcement. They then discuss the Justice Department's response to the business community and propose several recommendations that should help United States firms …