International Trade Law Commons^™

Enhancing The Transparency Dialogue In The “Santiago Principles” For Sovereign Wealth Funds, Adam D. Dixon

Seattle University Law Review

The financial crisis ultimately caused Western governments to welcome sovereign wealth fund (SWF) investment as a way to put a floor under collapsing markets and to provide a set of voluntary principles that would underwrite SWFs’ claim to legitimacy in the international community. In the autumn of 2007, then U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, in conjunction with the International Monetary Fund, convened the International Working Group of SWFs (IWG) to draft a set of generally accepted principles and practices. These principles are referred to as the “Santiago Principles.” The implicit objective of these twenty-four voluntary principles is to promote greater …

Culture Wars: Rate Manipulation, Institutional Corruption, And The Lost Normative Foundations Of Market Conduct Regulation, Justin O'Brien

Seattle University Law Review

The global investigations into the manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) have raised significant questions about how conflicts of interest are managed for regulated entities contributing to benchmarks. An alternative framework, which brings the management of the rate process under direct regulatory supervision, is under consideration, coordinated by the International Organization of Securities Commissions taskforce. The articulation of global principles builds on a review commissioned by the British government that suggests rates calculated by submission can be reformed. This paper argues that this approach is predestined to fail, precisely because it ignores the lessons of history. In revisiting …

Dodd-Frank's Conflict Minerals Rule: The Tin Ear Of Government-Business Regulation, Henry Lowenstein

Marketing and Hospitality, Resort and Tourism Management

This paper examines an unusual provision included in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010), Section 1502 known as the Conflict Minerals Rule. This provision, having nothing to do with the subject matter of the act itself, attempts to place a chilling effect on the trade of four identified minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The provision and its subsequent rule, surprisingly delegated to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (an agency lacking subject matter expertise in minerals) presents a case and object lesson of almost every cost, procedural and legal error that can take place …

Universal Anti-Bribery Legislation 
Can Save International Business: A Comparison Of The Fcpa And The Ukba In An Attempt To Create 
Universal Legislation To Combat
 Bribery Around The Globe, Lindsey Hills

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

No abstract provided.

Judicial Authority In Wto Law: A Commentary On The Appellate Body's Decision In China-Rare Earths, Julia Ya Qin

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

The Next Generation Of Trade And Environment Conflicts: The Rise Of Green Industrial Policy, Mark Wu, James Salzman

Faculty Scholarship

A major shift is transforming the trade and environment field, triggered by governments’ rising use of industrial policies to spark nascent renewable energy industries and to restrict exports of certain minerals in the face of political economy constraints. While economically distorting, these policies do produce significant economic and environmental benefits. At the same time, they often violate World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, leading to increasingly harsh conflicts between trading partners.

This Article presents a comprehensive analysis of these emerging conflicts, arguing that they represent a sharp break from past trade and environment disputes. It examines the causes of the shift …

The Reasonable Information Security Program, Peter Sloan

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Our information inhabits a perilous world. Cyber theft, cyber extortion, mobile device loss, misappropriation of confidential business information, and unauthorized disclosures of protected information are real and present dangers for organizations of all sizes and across all industries.

Understanding The Limits Of The Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvement Act Using Tort Law Principles As A Guide, Rene H. Dubois

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protecting The Pachyderm: The Significance Of Ivory Trade Regulation For African Elephant Conservation, Sharon Montazeri

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note argues that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) should have accepted CoP16 Proposal 12 at its 2013 meeting, which sought to prohibit future proposals allowing the trade of elephant ivory for nine years. The proposal aligns with CITES' mission to protect endangered species by eliminating incentives for harmful trade practices. While CITES relies on member states to implement conservation measures, the note contends that a trade ban, coupled with additional protections and public education, is essential to prevent further declines in African elephant populations.

New Uncitral Arbitration Rules On Transparency: Application, Content And Next Steps, Lise Johnson

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

This paper discusses the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency in Treaty-Based Investor-State Arbitration, which were adopted in August of 2013 and went into effect on April 1, 2014. It draws on negotiating history to elaborate on the content of and purpose of each of the Rules’ provisions, and identifies options for and barriers to applying these Rules in future arbitrations.

Counting Once, Counting Twice: The Precarious State Of Subsidy Regulation, Wentong Zheng

UF Law Faculty Publications

Subsidy regulation is in a precarious state. While it has been so ever since the conception of the current subsidy regulation regime, the recent disputes between the United States and China over the “double counting” or “double remedies” of subsidies have threatened the mere functionality of the current regime. This Article argues that the double counting controversy reveals the self-contradictions of the current subsidy regulation regime as to the fundamental question of why subsidies need to be regulated. These self-contradictions make it impossible to devise a coherent solution to the double counting problem within the framework of the current subsidy …

United States Food Law Update: Shrouded By Election-Year Politics, State Initiatives And Private Lawsuits Fill In The Gaps Created By Congressional And Agency Ossification, A. Bryan Endres, Lisa R. Schlessinger, Rachel Armstrong

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Observers of food law in the 2012 presidential election year witnessed a dramatic slowing of federal initiatives-perhaps arising from a desire by both Congress and the administration to avoid upsetting critical constituent groups during a year seemingly dominated by campaigns and endless talking points. For example, Congress failed to take action on a unique compromise between what some had considered mortal enemies-the Humane Society of the United States and United Egg Producers-that would implement a federal animal welfare standard for laying hens in return for abandoning ballot measures in various states. Similarly, the FDA waited until the early days of …

A Decade Of Registered And Unregistered Design Rights Decisions In The Uk: What Conclusions Can We Draw For The Future Of Both Types Of Rights?, Estelle Derclaye

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

Asia And Global Competition Law Convergence, David J. Gerber

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Protection Of Foreign Direct Investments In Developing And Emerging Markets Through The Instrumentality Of Arbitration: Fair Game?, Florence Shu-Acquaye

Faculty Scholarship

Investment treaties have tripled in the twenty-first century with over 170 countries signing onto bilateral investment treaties (BITs). Most BITs are made between a developed and a developing country, whereby a host country promises to protect home country's foreign direct investment (FDI) in exchange for the prospect of increased capital in the future. Hence, BITs tend to reduce the expected risks to FDI in that they stabilize a host country's existing investment environment, as well as provide a substitute for weak domestic laws and institutions that are often ill-equipped to protect FDI.

International Trade And Investments In The Philippines: Some Policy Issues And Implications For Further Research, Angelo B. Taningco

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

The Philippines has embarked on domestic economic reforms and the promotion of regional economic integration and multilateral trade liberalization with the purpose of strengthening international trade and investment. The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), in its Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016, has enunciated strategies that aim to improve the competitiveness of the domestic economy’s industrial and services sectors and narrow the country’s infrastructure gaps. In 2007, the Philippines, together with other Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) countries adopted the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint, with the countries agreeing to accelerate the transformation of the region to an AEC—a region …

International Trade And Fdi Literature In The Philippines: Development And Prospects, Hazel C. Parcon-Santos

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Trade and investment policies in the Philippines have undergone major shifts through decades. These changes have had important implications on the economy and have been extensively investigated by various scholars. Significant areas which may have important policy implications remain unexplored.

Legal Framework For Soviet Privatization, Olga Floroff, Susan Tiefenbrun

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Prospects For Satisfactory Dispute Resolution Of Private Commercial Disputes Under The North American Free Trade Agreement, Jonathan I. Miller

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Federal Judicial And Legislative Jurisdiction Over Entities Abroad: The Long-Arm Of U.S. Antitrust Law And Viable Solutions Beyond The Timberlane/Restatement Comity Approach, Michael G. Mckinnon

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

The 2012 Us Model Bit And What The Changes (Or Lack Thereof) Suggest About Future Investment Treaties, Lise Johnson

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In April of this year the US State Department released a new version of its model bilateral investment treaty (BIT). This text, like the various models the US has used over roughly the past 3 decades, represents the US’s basic policy position when it starts negotiations on investment treaties with other countries, and is therefore an important benchmark for the outcome US investors might hope for as a result of ongoing and potential future talks with countries such as China, Russia, and India. Overall, this new model text follows the approach taken by the US in its investment treaties over …

Inching Towards Consensus: An Update On The Uncitral Transparency Negotiations, Lise Johnson

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

From October 1-5, 2012, a working group of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) met in Vienna to continue work on how to ensure transparency in treaty-based investor-state arbitration. It was the working group’s fifth week-long meeting on the topic, but will not be the last. Although some issues were settled, many very significant ones remain contentious, and will be picked up again by the working group when it meets in February 2013.

Price-Fixing: Hefty Penalties On Big-Biz Cartels Will Provide Level Playing Field To Small Businesses, John M. Connor, Robert H. Lande

All Faculty Scholarship

Cartels are illegal in India, as they are almost everywhere. They are subject to heavy fines. Why, then, do businesses frequently try to fix prices? Because doing so usually is profitable. On average cartels raise prices by more than 20%, and probably face less than a 25% chance of being caught and convicted. Based upon a sample of 75 international cartels, the authors calculate that the expected profits from price fixing almost always exceed the penalties. No wonder businesses often try to fix prices.

Consumer Choice As The Best Way To Describe The Goals Of Competition Law, Robert H. Lande

All Faculty Scholarship

This article is both a short introduction to the Consumer Choice explanation for Competition Law or Antitrust Law, and also a short advocacy piece suggesting that Consumer Choice is the best way to articulate the goals of European Competition Law and United States Antitrust Law.

This article briefly:

1. defines the consumer choice approach to antitrust or competition law and shows how it differs from other approaches;
2. shows that the antitrust statutes and theories of violation embody a concern for optimal levels of consumer choice;
3. shows that the United States antitrust case law embodies a concern for optimal levels of consumer …

“Advancing With The Times: Industrial Design Protection In The Era Of Virtual Migration”, Horacio E. Gutiérrez

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

Cornography: Perverse Incentives And The United States Corn Subsidy, Anthony Kammer

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Among the most important functions we have afforded to the U.S. Congress is the power to reshape social and economic incentive structures through legislation. Proceeding from the enumerated powers under the Constitution and using a complex toolbox of legislative and regulatory innovations, the federal legislature has enormous power to transform the types of behavior that people will perceive as self-interested throughout our economy and thus how those same people are likely to act. Congress can, among other things, create new forms of criminal and civil liability, establish entitlement systems, subsidize industries, encourage behavior through the tax code, regulate interactions among …

Addressing Climate Change Mitigation And Adaptation Through Insurance For Overseas Investments: The Example Of The U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Lise Johnson

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In 2008, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) estimated that investments of between US$540–570 billion in physical assets and other financial flows will be needed to adequately reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to combat climate change; additionally, tens and possibly hundreds of billions of dollars may be necessary to enable countries to adapt to the phenomenon’s challenges. Through climate negotiations under the UNFCCC in Copenhagen and Cancun, developed country governments committed to provide developing countries roughly US$30 billion between 2010 and 2012 and to mobilize approximately US$100 billion per year by 2020 for climate change activities. …

European Union Food Law Update, Emilie Majster

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Nutrition is increasingly important in both the European Union (EU) and in global food-related policy making. Governments, which up until recently have focused on regulating food products based on a food safety perspective, are now turning to regulate from a nutritional aspect.

Canadian Food Law Update, Patricia L. Farnese

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Provided below is an overview of the developments in Canadian food law and policy in 2011. This update considers the regulatory and policy developments and litigation activities by the federal government. This focus reflects the significance of federal activities in the food policy realm.

The Regulation Of Online Gaming Across Jurisdictions: Success, Standards And Stability, Peter Nelson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

In 2005 the gaming market was worth an estimated six billion dollars, half of that represented by online gambling revenues. However not all jurisdictions (countries) regulate the industry the same. Some jurisdictions allow the industry to flourish while some go as far as banning the industry all together. I gather data on all 75 global jurisdictions that have some form of online gaming. I analyze which regulations allow the industry to prosper while maintaining quality standards, and which regulations do not work. Preliminary analysis shows that the amount of years a country has allowed online gambling, as well as the …