Law Commons^™

Montana's Foreign Capital Depository Act, David Aronofsky

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In 1997, Montana attracted national and world financial attention when Montana Governor Mark Racicot signed into law Senate Bill 83, the Foreign Capital Depository Act (Act), creating the first U.S. state-chartered financial entity designed solely for attracting non-U.S. capital. Depicted by skeptics as an unworkable "Panama without the Canal," "Switzerland of the Rockies" and "Rocky Mountain High," Montana is nonetheless pursuing a creative approach to increased state revenues that capitalizes on the state's unique privacy laws as well as innovative statutory drafting. The Act warrants attention from offshore assets owners and managers who seek U.S. stability in a state committed …

Secrets And Lies? Swiss Banks And International Human Rights, Anita Ramasastry

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article explores the relationship of Swiss banks and their tradition of bank secrecy to the activities of a particular group of depositors: war criminals and other human rights violators. The Article focuses on litigation brought in U.S. courts by plaintiffs seeking access to Swiss bank deposits made by the Nazis and Ferdinand Marcos. The Article examines the possibility of holding banks accountable under international law for assisting a customer who has committed a serious breach of international law. Part I introduces the role of bank secrecy in the current litigation. Part II describes the Swiss tradition of bank secrecy. …

Daiwa Bank Scandal In New York: Its Causes, Significance, And Lessons In The International Society, Mitsuru Misawa

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The New York Daiwa Bank scandal, which involved Daiwa Bank's concealment of $1.1 billion in losses from the illegal funding of U.S. Treasury bonds and the diversion of another $100 million in losses incurred by Daiwa Bank Trust Company, resulted in the most severe economic penalties ever imposed by the United States against Japan. These penalties included the termination of Daiwa Bank's U.S. operations and the reinforcement of the increased rates at which Japanese banks can borrow U.S. currency--the "Japanese premium." In addition, the Daiwa Bank case substantiated an international distrust of Japanese financial institutions, which are closely aligned with …

Fraud In The International Transaction: Enjoining Payment Of Letters Of Credit In International Transactions, Stephen J. Leacock

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Sztejn principles present to issuing banks a perplexing dilemma in international letter of credit transactions. Issuing banks that have received notice of fraud in the underlying transaction may yet be presented with documents that apparently conform to the letter of credit requirements by a seller who is not a holder in due course. If the bank refuses payment and a court determines that the fraud was not sufficiently egregious, the bank will be liable for breach of contract between the bank and the seller. But if the bank relies on the doctrine of separation and pays the draft, and …

Book Review, Robert C. Effros

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Mr. Crossick and Ms. Lindsay have collaborated to produce an analytical work entitled European Banking Law. The analysis is composed of four main sections: banking, credit, capital movement, and securities. Each section contains a description of the applicable major laws and regulations in the countries of the European Economic Community (EEC) as well as Portugal and Spain, and includes a summary of the relevant EEC directives and their supporting studies. On the whole, the authors' product is successful and useful, particularly in describing the EEC's attempts to accomplish the difficult task of harmonizing and coordinating banking and financial laws within …

Book Reviews, Whitney Debevoise, Roger S. Clark

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Fund Agreement in the Courts: Volume II By Joseph Gold Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund, 1982. pp.xii, 499.

Reviewed by Whitney Debevoise

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Transnational Legal Problems of Refugees 1982 Michigan Yearbook of International Legal Studies New York: Clark Boardman Co., 1982. Pp. xii, 646. $55.00.

Reviewed by Roger S. Clark

The Export-Import Bank Of The United States And South Africa: The Effects Of The Evans Amendment, Anthony N. Vance

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Evans Amendment is an example of legislation that had the opposite effect of that which was congressionally intended. The Amendment was designed as a compromise to keep the Eximbank in South Africa, but its effect has been the termination of Eximbank activity in that country.

The United States exporters that expected to be hurt by the termination of Bank activity have apparently been largely unaffected because of the availability of other financing sources, particularly within South Africa. As a result, foreign competitors with uninterrupted financing support from their own governments have failed to make significant inroads into the business …

The Establishment Of Foreign Bank Agencies And Branches In New York, Clifford D. Harmon

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In recent years foreign banking associations have played an increasingly important role in the United States money market. While foreign banks have been operating in the United States since the 1870's, no substantial foreign banking existed in this country until the early 1970's. Since that time, however, there has been rapid expansion, and by 1978 there were 210 foreign bank facilities controlling $66 billion in assets in the United States. Most of this activity is confined to New York, Illinois, and California.

New York alone accounts for three quarters of all foreign bank assets in this country. Although this concentration …

Recent Decisions, William W. Allen, Alexander A. Hassani, Peter A. Schuller

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

INCOME TAX--LIQUIDATION OF FOREIGN CORPORATIONS--SHAREHOLDERS IN A LIQUIDATING FOREIGN CORPORATION MUST INCLUDE IN THE CORPORATION'S EARNINGS AND PROFITS ACCOUNT THE AMOUNT OF RECAPTURED EXCESS DEPRECIATION REALIZED UPON THE SALE OF ITS ASSETS

William W. Allen

CUSTOMS DUTIES--ANTIDUMPING ACT OF 1921--THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY HAS No AUTHORITY TO TERMINATE A WITH-HOLDING OF APPRAISEMENT PRIOR TO THE PUBLICATION OF A DUMPING FINDING BASED ON A LIKELIHOOD OF INJURY DETERMINATION BY THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION

Alexander A. Hassani

INTERNATIONAL BANKING--BANKRUPTCY-FOREIGN BANKS NEITHER REGULATED BY NOR LICENSED To Do BUSINESS IN THE UNITED STATES MAY FILE FOR VOLUNTARY BANKRUPTCY UNDER THE NATIONAL BANKRUPTCY …