Commercial Law Commons^™

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 …

The Recent Decline And Fall Of Freedom Of The Press In English Law, Vaughan T. Bevan

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

A television company broadcasts a program criticizing a nationalized corporation and disclosing documents passed to it secretly by one of the corporation's employees. The corporation asks the television company to reveal the identity of the employee. The television company refuses and eight of nine judges ultimately decide that the refusal is unjustified.

That, in essence, is the story of British Steel Corp. v. Granada Television, Ltd. If this situation had arisen in the United States, legal consequences probably would be unremarkable in view of the law's considerable experience with such matters. The novelty posed for English law, however, and the …

Extraterritorial Effects Of United States Commercial And Antitrust Legislation: A View From "Down Under", Warren Pengilley

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

British Commonwealth lawyers, in general, and Australian lawyers, in particular, traditionally maintain a conservative view of the extraterritorial reach of commercial legislation. As a result of the Alcoa decision in 1945, if not earlier decisions, the United States courts have espoused fairly grand ideas on the stretch of their judicial writ. In fact, the "effects" doctrine was first proclaimed in 1909 by the United States Supreme Court in American Banana Co. v. United Fruit Co. In this case, the Court proclaimed that the United States has the power to punish "acts done outside [the] jurisdiction but intended to produce and …

Recent Development: Procedure--Right To A Jury Trial In Actions Against Corporations Owned By Foreign Governments, William A. Zan Blue

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Three federal circuit courts of appeals recently have held that United States citizens are not entitled to a jury trial in an action against a commercial corporation owned by a foreign government. The Second, Third, and Fourth Circuit Courts of Appeals agree that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), the sole basis for federal subject matter jurisdiction, provides only for nonjury trials in legal actions against commercial corporations owned by a foreign government. These courts also agree that this statutory denial of a jury trial does not abridge a citizen's seventh amendment right. These decisions are important because of the …

Comparative Analysis Of Systems Of Domestic Taxation Of Controlled Foreign Corporations, Jamie S. Martin, A. Dale Wilson

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note outlines the existing law and practice of the domestic taxation of CFC's in the United States, United Kingdom, France, West Germany, and Japan, each of which exhibits a high level of economic and industrial advancement. United States developments are important because the statutory provisions of Subpart F have been adopted, with modifications, by other nations, including West Germany and Japan. The United Kingdom and France, on the other hand, have not yet adopted an integrated statutory scheme providing for domestic taxation of CFC's. These countries attack tax evasion schemes utilizing foreign controlled companies primarily through general laws, exchange …

Case Digest, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Case Digest--

Spouse of Injured Seaman May Recover Damages for Loss of Society under Maritime Common Law

Federal District Court Lacks Jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1350 over Fraud Action Brought by Alien when Claim Fails to Implicate a Treaty or Body of Rules Governing Relations between Foreign States

Jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act Requires at Least a Finding of International Shoe "Minimum Contacts"

Appellate Court will not Review the Post-Settlement Appeal of a Pre-Settlement Provisional Remedy without District Court Consideration of the Intervening Events

Foreign States are Subject to Liability for Non-Commercial Torts arising from the Commercial …

Negotiation Techniques For Warranty And Enforcement Clauses In International Licensing Agreements, Brian G. Brunsvold

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The pre-negotiation planning procedure shows that information for the planning steps is needed from marketing and production personnel, lawyers, researchers, engineers, management, and a licensing specialist. A licensor usually cannot afford to have all of these personnel present at the negotiating sessions. A licensing negotiation proceeds most efficiently when the negotiating team includes people who are familiar with marketing the licensed product and experienced in the technical details of the subject matter to be licensed. A lawyer is also necessary to provide legal advice during negotiations and draft or review the negotiated agreement. There are some situations in which an …

Domestic International Sales Corporations (Discs): How They Provide A Tax Incentive For Exports, Garrison R. Cox

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note examines the logical and empirical validity of the reasons for the passage of the DISC legislation. Basically, the DISC legislation was prompted by the negative trade balance in 1971, a novel phenomenon in post-World War II United States. Providing a tax break on producers' export income was viewed as a way of reducing trade deficits by stimulating exports. On its surface, using "tax expenditures" to reach this goal seems logical, or at least benign. But when one considers that the primary thrust of the legislation was to encourage small producers to enter the export market, the logic of …

Book Reviews, Robert Belton, Dr. Nasrollah S. Fatemi, Ann L. Hollick

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Book Reviews ================

Equal Employment Policy for Women: Strategies for Implementation in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe

Ronnie Steinberg Ratner, ed.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press. Pp. xxii, 520

Reviewed by Robert Belton

-------------------------------------

The Host State of Transnational Corporations

Juha Kuusi

England: Saxon House. 1978. Pp. 117. $25.25

Reviewed by Dr. Nasrollah S. Fatemi

----------------------------------

The Enclosure of Ocean Resources: Economics and the Law of the Sea

Ross D. Eckert

Stanford: Hoover Institution. 1979.Pp. xvi, 390. $16.95

Reviewed by Ann L. Hollick

Commercial Hardship And The Discharge Of Contractual Obligations Under American And British Law, John J. Gorman

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

There are several doctrines under which contractual obligations have been judicially discharged. This Note will examine the United States doctrine of commercial impracticability or commercial impossibility and the English doctrine of frustration of contract or frustration of the commercial objective. The focus of this Note therefore is on those situations in which discharge from contractual obligations is sought because of supervening economic hardship. Part II provides a brief historical account of the development of the English common law doctrine of impossibility. Part III traces the development of the United States concept of commercial impossibility and commercial impracticability from the early …

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 …

Duty Of Directors With Respect To Potential Violations Of U.S. Law By Foreign Subsidiaries, Stephanie M. Phillips

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This article considers whether the directors of a parent corporation breach their fiduciary duty to the shareholders and the corporation when they fail to obtain information concerning the business affairs and activities of a foreign subsidiary or to investigate fully the activities of a subsidiary, when those directors have information that the subsidiary may be violating United States law. These issues were originally raised in connection with alleged violations of the Rhodesian Sanctions Regulations and United States restrictions concerning sales to South Africa and Namibia by the wholly owned foreign subsidiaries of United States corporations. In response to allegations that …

The Troublesome Workings Of The Judgments Convention Of The European Economic Community, Errol P. Mendes

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The problems involved in the jurisdiction by consent provisions in article seventeen and the special rules for insurance claims in articles seven through fifteen have to some extent been dealt with by the provisions of the Judgments Accession Convention as have the problems arising under the hire purchase and credit sale transactions. Nevertheless, a comprehensive definition of the term "consumer sale" is needed from the European Court.

There can be little doubt that both lawyers and litigants who are affected by the Convention, would prefer to operate under the conflict of laws rules of their own nations which, although complex, …

A Comparison Of The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act And The Draft International Agreement On Illicit Payments, Margaret H. Young

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Congress advocates the position that foreign bribery in a commercial context contributes to foreign relations problems, a perception of corporate immorality, and erosion of the free market system. By enacting the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA), the United States initiated a unilateral attack on the problem of commercial bribery abroad. Commentators frequently criticize the FCPA's unilateral approach, noting that it places United States companies at a competitive disadvantage overseas.

It is generally recognized that multilateral support is necessary before significant progress can be made in halting the prevalent practice of payments to foreign officials for business advantages. In …

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 …

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 …

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Of 1977: A Private Right Of Action?, Mary F. Lyle

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (the Act) was passed as a consequence of revelations of foreign and domestic bribes, kickbacks, political payoffs and other questionable financial practices by corporations throughout the past several years. The Act requires issuers of securities subject to the registration and reporting provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to comply with specific accounting standards. In addition, the Act provides for civil and criminal liability when an issuer or any domestic concern not an issuer uses the mails or any instrumentality of interstate commerce in furtherance of certain payments to foreign officials...

The …

Foreign Discovery And U.S. Antitrust Policy--The Conflict Resolving Mechanisms, Donald L. Flexner

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

A look back at the last thirty years of United States antitrust's foreign "voyages of discovery" among friendly nations reveals a picture too often resembling not so much an era of good feeling as a thirty years war. Following hard upon Judge Hand's famous formulation of the "effects" doctrine in Alcoa in 1946 the Antitrust Division conducted a series of investigations in which compulsory process was used to seek documents located in foreign nations. Prodded by what they viewed as U.S. antitrust authorities' impermissible overreaching, the affected countries began to enact defensive "blocking statutes." The passage by Canada's Ontario Province …

Case Digest, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

A Time Charterer is not Liable as Owner Pro Hac Vice for Injuries Incurred by Employees of the Vessel's Owner in the Course of their Employment

U.S. Violation of Regulation in Deportation Proceeding Renders Alien's Deportation Unlawful only if Such Violation Prejudiced the Alien's Interests Protected by the Regulation

Where Information Regarding Weight of Suitcase Checked with Airline is Undocumented, Liability Limitation of the Warsaw Convention does not Apply

Cultural Exchange Agreements involving Payment Constitute Commercial Activity and are not Immune under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act

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. …

China's Joint Venture Law: A Preliminary Analysis, Preston M. Torbert

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

China's Joint Venture Law is an impressive step towards modernizing the Chinese economy with the help of Western managerial and technical help. It is, however, unclear and incomplete in several respects. In assessing the nature of the Joint Venture Law as it presently stands and in forecasting the changes that will be made, it is helpful to look both to the experiences of Romania and Yugoslavia as well as to China's own experience with compensation trade and joint state-private enterprises. Not only are these prior experiences valuable from an analytical point of view, but they are also useful as practical …

Recent Decisions, Jamie S. Martin, Margaret H. Fiorillo, J. Andrew Hoyal, Ii

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--COMMERCE CLAUSE--STATE TAX ON INSTRUMENTALITIES OF FOREIGN COMMERCE INVALID WHEN TAX RESULTS IN MULTIPLE TAXATION AND IMPAIRS FEDERAL UNIFORMITY IN REGULATION OF FOREIGN TRADE

Jamie S. Martin

-----------------------------

IMMIGRATION--LAWFUL UNRELINQUISHED DOMICILE--DEPORTABLE RESIDENT ALIEN MUST ACCUMULATE SEVEN YEARS OFLAWFUL DOMICILE SUBSEQUENT TO ADMISSION FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR DISCRETIONARY RELIEF

Margaret H. Fiorillo

----------------------------------

LONGSHOREMEN'S AND HARBOR WORKERS' COMPENSATION ACT--MANUFACTURER MAY SUE STEVEDORE FOR INDEMNIFICATION FROM LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF LONGSHOREMEN'S INJURIES--THEORY OF EQUITABLE CREDIT DOES NOT APPLY TO THE LHWCA

J. Andrew Hoyal, II

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, …

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 …

Case Digest, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

1. ADMIRALTY

"CONTACTS" TEST BASED ON 99 PERCENT AMERICAN OWNERSHIP OF A FOREIGN CORPORATION WILL NOT BE APPLIED TO CIRCUMVENT THE RECIPROCITY PROVISION OF THE PUBLIC VESSELS ACT

SEARCH OF A U.S. VESSEL ON THE HIGH SEAS PURSUANT TO STATUTE AUTHORIZING SAFETY INSPECTIONS BY THE U.S. COAST GUARD MAY NOT BE ASSISTED BY AGENTS OF OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES

LAND-BASED TORT PRINCIPLES OF NEGLIGENCE APPLY TO LIABILITY OF VESSELS FOR INJURIES TO LONGSHOREMEN RATHER THAN PRINCIPLES OF UNSEAWORTHINESS OR VIOLATION OF NONDELEGABLE DUTY

2. ALIEN'S RIGHTS

INTERRUPTION OF AN ALIEN'S PRESENCE IN THE UNITED STATES AND INVESTOR STATUS OF AN ALIEN …

Arms Transfers By The United States: Merchant Of Death Or Arsenal Of Democracy, Archibald S. Alexander

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Controversial events of the last few years have presented the American public with the question whether arms transfers by the United States have gotten out of hand. Has our country become the chief "merchant of death," as believed by many at the time of Senator Nye's investigation soon after World War I, or is it the "arsenal of democracy," as generally believed during and after World War II? This article deals with transfers of all kinds of non-nuclear arms from or by the United States, and it examines all types of transfers including grants, transfers on credit, government to government …

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 …

The International Centre For Settlement Of Investment Disputes And Development Through The Multinational Corporation, C. F. Amerasinghe

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The multinational corporation (MNC) as a significant phenomenon in development economics has probably come to stay. The problem for developing countries is how to harness the MNC's power for their own development, and at the same time, limit its all-too-available capacity and potential for unlimited exploitation and influence. Clearly, as pointed out by the Report of the Group of Eminent Persons, there remains much to be done substantively through the medium of the international convention and international organization, both to promote the role of the MNC in development and to control its operations in such a way as to ensure …

The Canada Business Corporations Act: Some Aspects Of Transnational Interest, Robert W.V. Dickerson, David L. Vaughan

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

With passage into law on March 24, 1975, of the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) it is probably safe to say by way of provocative introduction that Canada has enacted the most modern corporation law in the English-speaking world. The Act is to be proclaimed in force at the end of December, 1975. Although the predecessor statute, the Canada Corporations Act, will remain in force, no new corporations may be incorporated under it.