Law Commons^™

Regulating Global Stablecoins: A Model-Law Strategy, Steven L. Schwarcz

Vanderbilt Law Review

Digital currencies have the potential to improve the speed and efficiency of the payment system. The principal challenge is retail: to facilitate day-to-day payments among consumers as an alternative to cash, both domestically and across national borders. Two models of digital currencies are becoming viable: central bank digital currencies and nongovernment-issued currencies that are backed by assets having intrinsic value (stablecoins or, when widely used internationally, global stablecoins). Because they are not government issued, global stablecoins present complex and novel cross-border regulatory challenges, including managing the costs of complying with a multitude of national laws and ensuring international legal enforceability. …

Foreword, Stephen M. Schwebel

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

I was glad to return to Vanderbilt Law School to take part in this Symposium on International Commercial Arbitration. I came because Jon Charney telephoned me last autumn to ask me to come. Jon Charney was a superb international lawyer and a splendid human being. He became a reigning expert on the Law of the Sea. But his interests in international law were wider than that wide subject. He wrote, for example, on the proliferation of international tribunals and on the position of the persistent objector in international law with exceptional acuity and insight.

Jon's professional accomplishments were increasingly large. …

Choice Of Law In Third-Millennium Arbitrations, Fabrizio Marrella

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

There is little doubt that third-millennium international arbitrators will face the flowering of a transnational rule such as the UNIDROIT Principles for international commercial contracts. They will be used to solve problems of characterization, preliminary questions, and choice of law to the merits of the dispute. In this sense, it appears clearly that these rules are to be construed under a triangular scheme. Thus, lex mercatoria and transnational rules like the UNIDROIT Principles will intervene more and more in the arbitral choice-of-law process in three competing contexts: (1) as a lex contractus; (2) as a means to interpret, supplement, or …

The Culture Of Arbitration, Tom Ginsburg

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The relationship between "legal culture" and the practice of international arbitration has received increasing attention in recent years. Many see arbitration as a meeting point for different legal cultures, a place of convergence and interchange wherein practitioners from different backgrounds create new practices. Some have suggested that this process has led to an emergent "international arbitration culture" fusing together elements of the common law and civil law traditions. Others see arbitration as a locus of conflict among traditions or as competition among various players.

This comment contests the view that the current state of convergence in arbitration is properly considered …

Emerging Leader Of The Tax Avant-Garde, Andrzej J. Burba

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In 1998, Poland's Minister of Finance Leszek Balcerowicz unveiled a plan to restructure the tax system. His fiat tax proposal promises numerous benefits to individual and corporate taxpayers with significant reduction in tax rates for both groups. The new plan offers to further strengthen Poland's growing economy--a consequence that is especially significant in light of the country's aspiration to join the European Union. It provides a remedy for virtually every ailment plaguing the current tax system and, most importantly, the reform offers to finance itself This Note argues that the plan should be adopted immediately for the following reasons: (1) …

Economic Globalization: The Challenge For Arbitrators, Ranee K.L. Panjabi

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

CHOICE OF LAW IN INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION

By Okezie Chukwumerije

Westport, Connecticut: Quorum Books, 1994. Pp. 219.

Arbitration at the municipal level is becoming more frequently used because it is regarded as a more expeditious process for resolving disputes. In the realm of labor relations, for instance, arbitration is often the dispute resolution method of choice and is incorporated in numerous collective agreements. In an arbitration the two parties usually select an arbitrator and jointly pay the costs of the process. In the collective agreement or contract, the parties stipulate the terms of the procedure that generally bind the arbitrator, …

Private International Law As A Means To Control The Multinational Enterprise, Dimitris Tzouganatos

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article explores the different approaches taken by the academic and judicial communities of Germany and the United States in their respective attempts to derive the optimal legal policy to deal with the multinational enterprise phenomenon. It attempts to assess the success of the Private International Law method as applied in most European countries by examining whether its criteria are operational and a reflection of economic reality. The Article also analyzes whether application of such criteria ensures the enforcement of the policies of the forum. It concludes by questioning whether the Private International Law approach is a viable alternative to …

Books Received, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Books Received

The Utilization of Nuclear Energy and International Law By Vanda Lamm Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey: Humanities Press International, Inc. 1984 Pp. 151. $29.95

War, Foreign Affairs, and Constitutional Power By Henry Bartholomew Cox Cambridge, Massachusetts: Ballinger,1984. Pp. xx, 331 $35.00

Guidelines For International Election Observing Prepared by Larry Garber Washington, D.C.: The International Human Rights Law Group, 1984. Pp. iii, 90. $7.95

International Codes and Multinational Business: Setting Guidelines for International Business Operations By John M. Kline Westport, Connecticut: Qurom Books, 1985Pp. vi, 184. $35.00

Public Enterprises in Mixed Economies: Some Macroeconomic Aspects By Robert H. Floyd, Clive …

The Pitfalls Of International Commercial Arbitration, James M. Rhodes, Lisa Sloan

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The purpose of this Article is to examine the pitfalls of international arbitration on a broad scale. These pitfalls can be roughly grouped into two categories: (1) those endemic to the process of dispute resolution by a "private extra-judicial tribunal which derives its power from the agreement of the parties,"2 including difficulties unforeseen in the drafting of the agreement that add delay, complications, and expense to the proceedings; and (2) those related to using the rules of a particular institution. Ideally, planning and skillful drafting can eliminate both types of pitfalls and preserve the advantages of arbitration over other available …

Books Received, C. A. P.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Books Received ================

Documents on Prisoners of War Edited by Howard S. Levie Newport, Rhode Island: Naval War College Press, 1979. Pp. 841.

Chinese Family Law and Social Change in Historical and Comparative Perspective Edited by David C. Buxbaum Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, 1978. Pp. 553. Bibliography and Chinese-English Glossary

The Definition of Law By Herman Kantorowicz Edited by A. H. Campbell New York: Octagon Books, 1980. Pp. 89. $13.50

The Legal Regime of Islands in International Law By Derek W. Bowett Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana Publications, Inc.,1978. Pp. 337. Diagrams and Maps.

International Norms and National …

In Search Of An International Solution To Bribery: The Impact Of The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Of 1977 On Corporate Behavior, Steven M. Morgan

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Since enactment, the FCPA has been criticized for its ambiguity, pitfalls, and underlying policy weakness. For instance, a payment of $10,000 to a customs official by X Corporation in order to speed a shipment of perishables through customs would be a legal facilitating payment under the FCPA. Under the same circumstances, however, a $100 payment to a Cabinet minister who has the discretionary power to clear the shipment will subject the X Corporation to a million dollar fine and expose the guilty company officer, director or employee to a jail term of up to five years for violating the FCPA. …

Books Received, C. C. S.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

APPLICABLE LAW IN INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION By Julian D. M. Lew. Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana Publications,1978. Pp. 633.

COMPARATIVE LAW YEARBOOK Issued by The Center for International Legal Studies Germantown, Maryland: Sijthoff & Noordhoff, 1979. Pp. 300.

CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL LAW: A CONCISE INTRODUCTION By Werner Levi Boulder, Colorado: The Westview Press, 1979. Pp.391.

DIRECT INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE U.S. By Raymond J. Waldman Washington, D.C.: Transnational Investments, 1979.Pp. 413.

ENHANCING GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS Edited by J. I. Dominguez and others New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979. Pp. 270.

THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF LAW By Laura Nader Menasha, Wisconsin: American Anthropological Association, …

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Problems Of Extraterritorial Application, Shelley O'Neill

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, an amendment to the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act), criminalizes bribery of foreign officials and requires audit controls and accurate reporting of transactions by United States companies. By enacting the legislation, Congress condemned foreign bribery as distorting trade and investment, undermining public confidence in United States enterprise, and damaging foreign relations. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also opposed corporate bribery as a threat to managerial accountability to shareholders. President Carter, while signing the legislation, emphasized its basic policy considerations.

The Act responded to increasing revelations concerning the widespread practice …

Books Received, C. C. S.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS IN EUROPE

Edited by R. M. Goode and K. R. Simmons Published for the Faculty of Laws; Queen Mary College, University of London Boston: A. W. Sijthoff, 1978. Pp. 448.

COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

By Mauro Cappelletti and William Cohen Indianapolis, Indiana: Bobbs -Merrill, 1979. Pp. 628.

COMPARATIVE LAW: WESTERN EUROPEAN AND LATIN AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEMS

By John H. Merryman and David S. Clark Indianapolis, Indiana: Bobbs -Merrill, 1978. Pp. 1278.

THE DISCIPLINE OF LAW

By Lord Denning London: Butterworths,1979. Pp. 330.

INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS BETWEEN STATES

By Guy S. Goodwin -Gill Oxford: Clarendon Press, …

Parity Codetermination In West German Companies And International Law, Wilhelm Wengler

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

German Law on joint stock companies, in conformity with that of nearly all other countries, has long provided that the organs of the joint stock company (Aktiengesellschaft) consist either exclusively of the shareholders themselves (i.e., the general meeting of shareholders) or are elected by them (i.e., the Aufsichtsrat or supervisory board), or that such an elected organ in turn appoint another organ (i.e., the Vorstand or executive board). Ever since the "old" Labor Management Relations Act (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz) of October 11, 1952, however, only two-thirds of the membership of the supervisory boards of the larger joint stock companies are elected by …

Editor's Foreword, Harold G. Maier

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This issue of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law includes two presentations to the 1972 Symposium of the Vanderbilt International Law Society and Regional Meeting of the American Society of International Law. First, Henry Harfield of the New York Bar discusses the relevance of international and transnational law to international commercial transactions, with a special emphasis on the usefulness of the Uniform Customs and Practices for Commercial Documentary Credits. Secondly, Sheldon S. Cohen, a member of the District of Columbia Bar and past Commissioner of Internal Revenue, focuses on the United States tax implications of changing currency values. While four …

Report On The Regional Meeting At The Vanderbilt University School Of Law, Harold G. Maier

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This issue of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law includes two articles that are based on papers presented at the Regional Meeting by Henry Harfield and Sheldon Cohen. Both articles deal with current and timely questions in the international commercial field. As an introduction to those papers it may be useful to comment briefly on several of the more important questions that were raised during the panel discussion of the papers which closed the conference. This may be particularly helpful in view of the fact that Professor Friedmann's untimely death prevented him from completing the revision of his remarks for …

Recent Cases, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Plaintiff, a West German foundation, sued to enjoin infringement of United States trademarks by defendant, an East German "peoples-owned enterprise." The original Carl Zeiss Stiftung was created at Jena in 1889 with the required approval of the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach for the purpose of owning and operating an optical business for profit. In 1945, before Jena became part of the Soviet Zone, United States military authorities evacuated all members of the Zeiss Board of Management, as well as key personnel, to Heidenheim, Wuerttemberg, in the United States zone. In 1948, the Soviet Union expropriated all Zeiss assets in Jena, including …

Case Comments--International Law--Corporations--State Denied Standing To Sue For Injury, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Ltd.,(hereinafter referred to as Barcelona Traction) was incorporated under Canadian law in 1911 with its main office in Toronto. Several subsidiaries were formed, all under Canadian law, to develop, produce, and distribute electric power in the vicinity of Catalonia, Spain. To finance these operations, the company issued both peseta and sterling bonds, the shares in some of the subsidiaries providing security to a Canadian bank for the sterling bonds. Revenue produced by the subsidiaries from their operations in Spain was used to service the bond interest. Servicing was suspended for the duration of …