Journal articles on the topic 'Creditore apparente'

It is now apparent that the governments of many developing countries will not repay their debts as initially contracted. Creditors and creditor governments must now adjust to the realization that full repayment is either infeasible or that enforcing full payment is undesirable from the point of view of creditor countries as a whole. The question now is what to do with these debts. The Baker and Brady plans have increased U.S. government involvement in the debt crisis and have allocated public money toward its resolution. The Kenen plan, discussed in this issue, proposes still more public involvement and, in all likelihood, more public money. Each of these plans is an ad hoc response to the impasse that has arisen between some highly indebted countries and their private creditors, and aspects of each plan may help resolve this impasse. But none of these plans confronts the features of international capital markets that led to the crisis in the first place. My argument here is that the debt crisis that began in 1983 arose from defects in how international capital markets operated the previous decade. A goal of any redesign of the institutions involved in these markets should be not only to resolve the current crisis, but to keep it from happening again.

AbstractEmbassy bank accounts are among the properties of states most widely present in foreign states. Accordingly, they constitute an ideal target for attachment by creditors. International instruments have largely upheld state immunity from execution regarding bank accounts, however. Likewise, state practice largely – and apparently increasingly – supports state immunity from measures of attachment, by applying a presumption that funds in embassy bank accounts are used for governmental non-commercial purposes. This approach is overly deferential to the state. Instead, it is argued that domestic courts should require that the state, at least partially, discharge the burden of proof regarding the nature (commercial/sovereign) of the funds in the bank account. A failure to discharge this burden should result in a rejection of immunity. Only such an approach adequately balances the interests of states and creditors, and does sufficient justice to the creditor's right of access to a court. In addition, it is argued that such a balance is also brought about by construing literally general waivers of immunity from attachment, as not requiring an additional specific waiver regarding embassy bank accounts.

In the aftermath of Argentina’s 2001 economic crisis, creditors not participating in the country sovereign debt restructuring insisted on full payment. The triplet of investment arbitration decisions upheld jurisdiction over the mass claims presented by the holdout creditors.1 Two cases were, however, accompanied by forceful dissents. Subsequently, opinions diverged into two camps on the legal appropriateness and policy desirability of using investment arbitration for solving sovereign default disputes: the first camp supporting the majority’s view, and the second siding with the dissenting arbitrators. This article analyses the two approaches as far as jurisdictional requirements for hearing the sovereign bond disputes are concerned as well as potential policy consequences of the use of investment arbitration for these types of disputes. The article assumes a critical position towards the reasoning of the three awards, mostly due to the misconceived apprehension of the requirement of territoriality. In the policy part, the article argues that even if one assumes that enhancement of the creditor’s rights is desirable (something which is debatable), investment arbitration does not seem to bring advantages towards that goal. First, the argument of better enforcement of arbitral awards seems to be more apparent than real. Second, as Bilateral Investment Treaties base their protection on nationality, this fact creates unjustifiable preference towards certain creditors and increases unpredictability. This uncertainty upsets the original contractual bargain agreed on the issuance of bonds and has negative repercussions in financial markets. The ad hoc nature of investment arbitration only furnishes the uncertainty. Lastly, investment arbitration is a tool for correcting past grievances. Tools for dealing with orderly sovereign defaults should focus on the preventive aspects of sovereign defaults. As a robust multilateral treaty system dealing with sovereign defaults is currently politically unfeasible, a better solution is to reinforce the current system of contractual protections such as collective action clauses or exit consents. Rather than attempting to expand the role of arbitration, resolving sovereign debt issues should be left to actors in financial markets (lenders and borrowers). Financial markets have always proved capable of dealing with sovereign defaults.

While neither its institutional, nor legal arrangements fundamentally contributed to the emergence of the Eurozone crisis in the late 10’s of the 21st Century, the crisis exposed significant weaknesses of the EU economic governance, especially its inability to achieve a sustainable level of budgetary discipline. The crisis in particular highlighted the existing divisions of the EU Member States into different integration groups having divergent interests. Notably, it sharpened the division between the Eurozone states and non-Eurozone ones, as well as between the creditor-countries and debtor-countries. The EMU reform agenda adopted after 2008 gave more weighting to the interests of the former states. The emerging post-2008 economic governance-reform arrangements also gave more weight to the ECOFIN Council, at an expense of the European Commission. In the resulting institutional setting, the main aim of the EMU reform agenda was to assure the stability of the Eurozone and to reinforce its resistance to economic shocks. In this context, however, benefits arising from the reformed EMU are unevenly distributed, as they are more likely to avail the Eurozone countries than non- Eurozone countries, and more the creditor countries than the debtor ones.

This article is about the problem of the debt incurred by countries of Latin America, preference being given to the notion of net transfer of currency as being the main element which can explain relations between debtors and creditors. It shows that the recent evolution in the attitude of the debtor states, as has been apparent since the meeting at Quito, in January 1984, up to that at Mar del Plata in September 1984, is accounted for by the inversion of the flow of the net transfer of money. Latin America today has become a net exporter of currency. Similarly, the future evolution between the pursuance of the monetary adjustment and the cessation of payment will be determined, in a large measure, by the scope and the meaning lying behind the net transfer of borrowed money. The economical, social and political consequences deriving from the actual reimbursement of the debt are such that they may promote the advent of regimes which will be compelled to implement deep structural reforms. Whether this comes about or not will depend a lot on the creditors.

MassimaLa sola allegazione del perseguimento, da parte del disponente, di un fine reale – frodare i creditori – divergente dalla finalità apparente del trust non vale a provare la simulazione del trust. È revocabile ex art. 2901 cod. civ. il trust autodichiarato a beneficio dei discendenti istituito dal disponente-trustee, fideiussore di una s.a.s. nei confronti della banca creditrice agente in revocatoria, successivamente al rilascio della fideiussione: l’eventus damni sussiste per il fatto che nessun ulteriore bene immobile residua nel patrimonio del disponente-trustee, a nulla rilevando che, ai sensi dell’atto istitutivo, il trustee può garantire i debiti verso le banche della s.a.s., pure considerato che mai il trustee si è avvalso di detta facoltà; la scientia damni in capo al disponente-trustee, requisito soggettivo richiesto in considerazione della natura gratuita del trust, si desume dalla qualità di socio della s.a.s. in capo al disponente-trustee (che era quindi a conoscenza del dissesto societario), dalla natura autodichiarata del trust e dal fatto che il disponente-trustee poteva discrezionalmente impiegare i redditi a vantaggio dei beneficiari (così permanendo nella disponibilità dei beni in trust).

AbstractBy pointing out the apparent contradictions between verses 4, 7 and 11, the diachronic approach has often considered Deut. 15:1-11 as work from disparate sources. However a close reading that takes into account the rhetorical and stylistic effects as well as the syntactic arrangements of this pericope may reveal that we are in front of a coherent whole. The redactor anticipates the objections by introducing restrictions and prolepses, by using insistence formula (e.g. intensifying infinitive) to persuade the target audience, and by valuing the debtor, who is presented as a brother. All these are strategies for convincing the creditor to implement a difficult law.

Payments made in full and final settlement have on several occasions presented interpretative difficulties for our judiciary, as will become apparent from this case discussion: Be Bop A Lula Manufacturing & Printing v Kingtex Marketing 2008 3 SA 327 (SCA). The Supreme Court of Appeal reversed the judgments of the trial court and the appeal court (full bench of the Cape Provincial Division) which were in favour of the creditor. In such cases, the essential enquiry is whether an agreement of compromise exists. A transactio or compromise (in the form of a legal agreement) exists where the relevant parties agree to settle previously disputed or uncertain obligations. Like any other agreement, a compromise is based on the contractual rules of offer and acceptance. The first material enquiry in this case wherein the debtor delivered the cheque payment to the creditor (in full and final settlement of the account), is whether 1) an intended offer of compromise exists; or 2) did the debtor merely intend to make payment towards an admitted liability. The court in the Be Bop (SCA) case came to the correct finding that an offer of compromise existed. Whilst the judgment is brief, the finding itself gives practical recognition to the principle that admission of liability for a specific amount, accompanied by payment (in full and final settlement), may still be accompanied by an intended offer of compromise, instead of merely making payment towards an admission of liability.

In the process of granting credit by the bank to the debtor, a careful analysis has been done, but in the implementation there are often many factors that can cause the debtor to become unable to repay the credit received. So as to guarantee repayment of credit given to the debtor, the bank asks for a guarantee from the debtor in the form of property or personal collateral. In accordance with the nature of the collateral, the collateral in the form of land and buildings is generally preferred by banks because the value tends to be stable in the long run. Thus, it is necessary to have a regulation governing the guarantee of assets in the form of land and buildings so that an ease and certainty is obtained for the bank in obtaining repayment of loans given to debtors if in the future the debtor is apparently unable to repay these obligations. It is necessary to create a strong guarantee institution and be able to provide legal certainty for all parties with an interest in providing credit by banks, the government has enacted and enforced it. to impose Mortgage Rights cannot be withdrawn or cannot be terminated by any reason except because it has been implemented or has expired. The provisions are intended so that the encumbrance of the Underwriting Right is actually implemented so as to provide legal certainty for the holder and the giver of the Underwriting Right.

This article makes some comparisons between the Australian corporate rescue provisions and those proposed to be adopted in South Africa in the Companies Bill 2007. By so doing it may assist in the debate in South Africa over how the legislation is framed as the experience in Australia may be useful as an indicator of issues to be considered. One of the findings of the comparison is that the aims of the Australian legislation and that proposed in South Africa are almost identical. The article identifies a clear concern in the South African proposals with the position of employees which is not apparent in Australia. On the other hand there appears to be less concern in South Africa with the position of secured creditors than is evident in the Australian provisions. The article also notes that the South African proposals do not divide the procedure clearly into a decision-making stage and the period whilst the company is operating under the rescue plan. The Australian provisions provide for a clear break between a period where the creditors have yet to make a choice about the company’s future and the period once a plan (or deed of company arrangement) has been adopted. The article also finds that the South African model of rescue as proposed does cover many similar areas as identified in the Australian legislation. It therefore argues that there are sufficient similarities to suggest that much will be common in the experience if they are adopted into the legislation.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance may be one of the strategies firms adopt to enhance their financial flexibility in response to an increasingly uncertain environment and difficult sustainability conditions. We use A-share listed firms in China from 2015 to 2020 as samples to test the influencing mechanism of ESG performance on financial flexibility. The empirical results indicate that ESG performance significantly enhances financial flexibility. The mechanism results show that financing constraints mediate ESG performance and firms’ financial flexibility. The additional analysis suggests that environmental uncertainty and market attention have significant positive moderating effects. That is, the promotion effect of firms in high uncertainty environments is more apparent, and the same is true in high market attention. This study supports instrumental stakeholder theory, signaling, and social impact hypothesis. It has enlightenment significance for firms, investors, and creditors to evaluate ESG performance and government departments to formulate relevant policies.

Tension often arises when Chapter 6 business rescue practitioners (BRPs) are appointed by directors to rescue their distressed businesses. Regulating by means of standard agency contracting becomes irrelevant in the resulting multiple relationships. Looking through the agency lens, using analytic autoethnography and compiling narratives, this paper explains the perceptions of what appear to be quasiagency relationships and obtains a better understanding of these. The findings suggest that the apparent principal-agent relationships suffer from asymmetries of goals, information access, informal power and diverging perceptions of moral hazard, transaction costs and adverse selection. As a solution, contracting has been shown to have limited value owing to outcome uncertainty and measurability. This is because the tasks of the BRP are non-programmable and term-dependent. The findings provide filing directors, shareholders, creditors, regulatory authorities and BRPs in this newly instituted regime, with enhanced understanding of how the relationships manifest in practice and overcome the non-contractibility of the newly formed relationships.

Laasch v. Turenne raised important questions about the available options for the enforcement of foreign judgments in Alberta and emphasized the need for foreign judgment creditors to act very quickly indeed to secure such enforcement. Nathan Laasch was just 16 years old when, in November 2000, he suffered heart failure which resulted in his serious and permanent disability. He lived in Montana and had attended the office of the defendant, Dr. Turenne, on two occasions complaining of episodes of a rapid heart rate, chest discomfort, and lightheadedess. Dr. Turenne also lived in Montana where she practised medicine. She had apparently concluded that she could not diagnose the cause of Nathan’s problems, but nonetheless prescribed and administered a beta-blocker. It transpired that Nathan was suffering from Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and that beta-blockers were contraindicated for that disease.

In this article, the need for the adoption of trusts into civilian jurisdictions has been analysed by placing a special focus on commercial trusts. It has been argued that, the trust may offer an added value for these legal systems as it is more advantageous in terms of asset management, investment and financing purposes. In the context of asset management and investment, the trust is compared with the fiduciary contract and even though both legal instruments serve the purpose of separating management and beneficial ownership; it has been concluded that the trust fulfils this function more successfully thanks to both the property dimension and the obligation dimension that are incorporated into it. In the context of traditional financing, the advantage of the trust manifests itself in case of multi-source financing – more clearly, in case of loans acquired by multiple lenders. Here, the added value of the trust is apparent with regard to the composition of common security packages, which constitutes a significant advantage from various perspectives for both borrowers and creditors.

The bank insolvency, hinged upon the new resolutions tools, particularly the bail-in, with its controversial right, bestowed upon an administrative authority, to covert/ write off/reduce the creditor’s rights should the bank fail, has played havoc in some EU jurisdictions, such as Italy. In this country, where the banking system has been put under intense pressure in the last five years, the application of the new rules has been sui generis, in some cases with an apparent misapplication of the new legal framework. Additionally, the existence of some constitutional values in the Belpaese, where the savings are expressly protected, may suggest that the judicial authorities, particularly the Italian Constitutional Court, may in the future decide to be more courageous in the way some fundamental legal provisions should be interpreted in their relationship with the new framework. Bank insolvency, Bail-in, resolution tools, constitutional values, Italy, savings’ protection

Recent years have witnessed a phenomenal upsurge in the number of corporate bankruptcies. The vulnerabilities which were lying dormant within contemporary bankruptcy regimes suddenly became apparent, causing concerns within the international corporate community. Consequently, researchers, practitioners and policy makers from all over the world got actively engaged in emphasizing the importance of efficient bankruptcy reforms for promoting rescue culture. The primary objective of an insolvency framework should be to provide quick, transparent and cost effective solutions for the resolution of financial distress and promotion of a synergetic environment conducive for the proliferation of healthy debt repayment practices, increased trust factors between creditors and debtors and a better survival rate for viable businesses. In this paper we present a qualitative review of various insolvency reforms introduced in nearly 189 economies over a decade (2005 to 2015), for the efficient resolution of financial distress. For data collection purpose, we use World Bank Database from Doing Business Reports (2005-2015). We provide latest data on the recovery rates, costs, time for resolution based on recent statistics (until June 2015). Finally, we present a list of most popular reforms in bankruptcy and also when possible the effect of their application. This is one of the comprehensive surveys on worldwide corporate bankruptcy reforms. *

Recent years have witnessed a phenomenal upsurge in the number of corporate bankruptcies. The vulnerabilities which were lying dormant within contemporary bankruptcy regimes suddenly became apparent, causing concerns within the international corporate community. Consequently, researchers, practitioners and policy makers from all over the world got actively engaged in emphasizing the importance of efficient bankruptcy reforms for promoting rescue culture. The primary objective of an insolvency framework should be to provide quick, transparent and cost effective solutions for the resolution of financial distress and promotion of a synergetic environment conducive for the proliferation of healthy debt repayment practices, increased trust factors between creditors and debtors and a better survival rate for viable businesses. In this paper we present a qualitative review of various insolvency reforms introduced in nearly 189 economies over a decade (2005 to 2015), for the efficient resolution of financial distress. For data collection purpose, we use World Bank Database from Doing Business Reports (2005-2015). We provide latest data on the recovery rates, costs, time for resolution based on recent statistics (until June 2015). Finally, we present a list of most popular reforms in bankruptcy and also when possible the effect of their application. This is one of the comprehensive surveys on worldwide corporate bankruptcy reforms. *

The abolition of the Ostroh majorat (ordynacja) was one of the most disputed issues, which provoked sharp controversy in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the second half of the 18th century. It started with the Kolbuszowa transaction of 1753, a document that violated the will of the founder of the majorat and split previously indivisible possessions between the creditors of the last owner of the majorat, Prince Janusz Aleksander Sanguszko. It is believed that this resolution was adopted by the Prince due to difficulties he experienced. Incompetent management of the extensive estates x inherited from his mother, and huge debts slowly pushed Sanguszko into the financial abyss, which he tried to avoid by distributing inherited land. The article analyzes two treatises, the authors of which, representing the interests of different political clans, discuss the legality of Sanguszko's actions. The author of the first of these works, Tomasz Dłuski, justifies the position of the Czartoryski "Family", which was in favour of the Kolbuszowa transaction. His opponent, Piotr Hadziewicz, apparently linked to the camp of Grand Crown Hetman Jan Klemens Branicki, insisted on the indivisibility of the majorat. The paper presents the arguments of both authors.

The purpose of this paper is to examine two South Africa legislations dealing with over indebtedness of a consumer. It is clear that in terms of the South African law, section 129 (1) and 130 (3) of the National Credit Act provide that a creditor provider who wishes to enforce a debt under a credit agreement must first issue a section 129 (1) (a) notice to the consumer (the purpose of the notice is to notify the consumer of his/her arrears). On the other hand, the South African National Credit Act encourages the consumers to fulfil the financial obligations for which they are responsible. The second legislation to be examined which serve or appear to serve same purpose as the National Credit Act is the Insolvency Act. It therefore, postulated that the compulsory sequestration of a consumer in terms of the Insolvency Act would stand as an alternative remedy for a credit provider before she/he can have recourse mechanisms, such as debt review that are focused on satisfaction of the consumer’s financial obligation , in terms of the provisions of the National Credit Act. The paper determines to what extend these measures comply with the constitutional consumer protection demands. The legislature had been pertinently cognizant of the Insolvency Act when it lately enacted the National Credit Act. This is much apparent from the express amendment of section 84 of the Insolvency Act to the extent set out in schedule 2 of the National Credit Act

Dower was a rather peculiar institution of the old French customary law that, according to some, still subsists in modern Quebec law. At first blush, dower seems to be in complete opposition to the main thrust of old French law, whose primary- concern for the protection of lineage allowed hardly any right to be created in favour of spouses. Indeed, dower granted to the wife important rights, bearing on the husband's biens propres, i.e. property coming from his lineage or not included in the community and therefore normally entitled to the strictest protection. The wife's rights consisted in a usufruct on one-half of the husband's bien propres. Considering both the basis and the extent of those rights, therefore, dower appears as a most unusual provision in favour of the wife. The advantages of dower were, however, more apparent than real. This comes out clearly when one examines the rights of children under the dower, as well as the manner in which the institution was transformed. Dower then appears as a mere reduction of the rights of full ownership previously vested in the wife. Such reduction favoured the children, who emerged as the main beneficiaries of dower. They were the owners of the property upon which bore the wife's usufruct. And their rights were safeguarded as against every other party, including their mother and father, as well as the latter's creditors. The history of dower therefore illustrates the manner in which legal institutions may be transformed to suit changing ideas and mores.

Punch's Mr. Dunupis indeed in an awful position. Having fled to France to escape his English creditors, he finds himself in the midst of the French Revolution of 1848. The question that he must answer – what is worse, revolution in France or bankruptcy in England? – is one that preoccupied Victorians at midcentury, when a wave of European revolutions coincided with the domestic financial crisis of 1845–48. In classic accounts of nineteenth-century Europe, 1848 is remembered as the year when a crucial contest was waged between political revolution, identified with the Continent, and capitalism, identified with Britain. According to Eric Hobsbawm, the failure of the 1848 revolutions to effect lasting political change ushered in “[t]he sudden, vast and apparently boundless expansion of the world capitalist economy”: “Political revolution retreated, industrial revolution advanced” (2). For mid-nineteenth-century Britons, however, the triumph of capitalism was by no means assured. In what follows, I look closely at how Victorian journalists and novelists imagined the British financial crisis of the 1840s after this event was given new meaning by the 1848 French Revolution. Much of this writing envisions political revolution and the capitalist economy in the same way as thePunchsatirist does – not as competing ideologies of social progress but as equivalent forms of social disruption. As we will see, at midcentury, the ongoing financial crisis was routinely represented as a quasi-revolutionary upheaval: it was a mass disturbance that struck terror into the middle classes precisely by suddenly and violently toppling the nation's leading men and social institutions.

Though corporate social responsibility became commonly debated in the last forty years of the twentieth century, at least as early as the nineteenth century, the notion that the company has moral responsibilities became apparent. The corporate social responsibility framework continuously adapts to global market needs. Given the recent advent of corporate social responsibility and sustainability concepts, as well as methodologies and criteria used to meet standards of "fair" business. However, a common connotation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has not been standardized, although the CSR-related principles and norms are now being established. Between academicians and professionals, there is an increasing concern in corporate social responsibility. Companies are also supposed to be open not only to their creditors but to society at large. Margolis and Walsh (2001) and Orlitzky et al. (2003) presented round-about ninety-five analytical data on CSR and financial results over the period 1972 to 2001. CSR was an independent variable in these studies; while financial output was variable based. Fifty-three percent had a positive relationship with them, twenty-four percent had no partnership with them, nineteen percent had mixed relationships with them, and five percent had harmful relationships with them. Dam (2008) has presented analytical data on CSR and financial results, but there was one difference and one aspect that was normal. The novelty of the study was the distribution of empirical findings in tabulated form focused on asset returns (ROA), equity returns (ROE), selling returns (ROS), Tobin's Q, and stock market returns, and it was popular that only empirical findings were tabulated from 1972 to 2001. For companies and prospective scholars, the findings of this study are important regarding corporate social responsibility and consumer behaviour.

This paper is a study of the influence of economic policy uncertainty on the capital structure of companies operating in the Russian market. The sample size is particularly notable (over 16,000 companies and 230,000 observations are included) insofar as previous studies have invariably used smaller selections due to the complexities of data processing. Several hypotheses are proposed and treated which concern the interrelations between company debt policies and the status of individual, sectoral, or industry relevant commercial activity, where the constant threat of economic uncertainty due to political or other external machinations affects the market. This research paper examines the following capital structure determinants: profitability, asset structure, company size, tax shield, non-debt tax shield, growth opportunity, and risk. The following methods are applied to test a series of nine hypotheses proposed as the most salient indicators of the present state of academic consensus: the Pool model (Pool), the fixed effect model (FE), and the random effect model (RE). In this context, the influence of economic uncertainty on the status of different debt types in 16,882 Russian companies between 2000 and 2017 was studied using the economic policy uncertainty index calculated in 2012. The results serve to confirm many of the extant hypotheses in the academic literature in the area of capital structural evaluation. For example, it is immediately apparent that the influence of uncertainty is of less significance for large companies as regards all types of debt (joint, short-term and long-term), due to their greater stability and lower risks for creditors. Among other conclusions, it is confirmed that as long as serious government participation is characteristic of the Russian banking system, the efficacy of the debt financing system is not equal for all sectors, and those sectors which are of strategic importance for the state are particularly resilient in troubled economic periods. However, interestingly, in the case of a short-term debt leverage such influence does not materialise. From a theoretical point of view this paper will be useful for researchers studying the fluctuating market conditions of developing or transitional markets (the large sample size will make this study particularly attractive for further evaluation at all levels of academic analysis). An understanding of the multivariate interrelations described in this paper may also be useful to company managers and investors who will gain insight into the consequences of fluctuations in levels of economic uncertainty for different types of companies.

SummaryThe paper concerns the situation in which an evaluation of outstanding claims is discounted, in anticipation of investment return earned by the funds supporting that liability. Factors bearing upon the choice of an appropriate rate of return to be assumed in this evaluation are considered.The ‘standard approach’ to this problem is criticized in two main respects:(i) there is usually no statement (indeed, no consideration) of whether the discounted value of outstanding claims is to be associated with assets at book, market, or some other value;(ii) the discounting of outstanding claims is often performed by means of an assumed ‘inflation gap’, i.e. an assumed difference between future rates of inflation and investment return.Various other matters germane to the determination of an appropriate rate of investment return are listed in Section 2.Sections 3 and 5 deal particularly with points (i) and (ii) raised above. It is suggested that, in certain circumstances, an evaluation of outstanding claims which fails to address (i) or is carried out on an ‘inflation gap’ basis will be virtually meaningless.Section 4 deals with the case of an insurance fund in which assets are matched with technical liabilities by amount and term. The considerations which would cause the rate of investment return projected in these circumstances, to differ from that projected in the case of an absence of matching are discussed.Section 6 deals with the issue of exactly which assets are to be regarded as supporting the liability for outstanding claims. It is apparent that the identification of such assets will affect the rate of return to be regarded as referable to outstanding claims. Particular matters considered include:(i) assets to be associated with acquisition of new business (and hence not with outstanding claims);(ii) debtor and creditor items. particularly outstanding premiums and inwards loans.Section 7 gives a numerical example of the projection of future rates of investment return. This is done by means of a computer projection of various items of a hypothetical insurance fund, taking into account projected future:(i) interest rates;(ii) rate of growth of new premium;(iii) the required distribution of assets by sector;(iv) profitability of business underwritten.Conclusions on the various matters considered are dotted through the paper. For convenience, they are collected together in Section 8.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is, first, to discuss if the Portuguese corporate tax reform, implemented in 2014, moved the system towards international trends. Second is to analyse in what areas the similarities and disparities are more pronounced when assessing the Portuguese reform against the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base, the Mirrlees Review or other relevant international guidelines. Finally, it assesses how a European country under a bailout could significantly reform the corporate tax. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology employed is based on a mix of the legal research method and case study analysis. The legal method will be applied under comparative income taxation, and the case study will draw on the Portuguese reform to broaden the discussion about critical issues like the participation exemption regime and its place in the taxation of international income flows. The paper will analyse core issues in international income taxation, the present state of corporate tax harmonization in the European Union, discuss the main issues that were dealt by the Portuguese tax reform and offer a critical assessment of tax policy choices that underpinned the reform. Findings – During the past decades, Portugal was increasingly out of line with international trends in corporate taxation. The bailout asked for the Portuguese Government in 2011 placed a heavy burden in public finances, with an apparent lack of room to follow international trends of corporate tax reform. However, it can be concluded that, after convincing the troika that investment and growth were paramount to overcome the severe economic and social crisis that fell upon the country, the corporate tax was seen as an important policy tool to promote these goals. The reform was thus possible even in the context of a restrictive public finance situation, and followed most guidelines put forward in highly regarded international reports. Practical implications – A broad corporate tax reform, including rate reduction, a participation exemption regime, a more flexible rule on cost acceptance, an extension of loss carry over period, to name a few, was possible in a very constrained public finance situation. By placing the emphasis on moving the system towards international trends and promoting measures to enhance investment and growth, international creditors could accept such a reform. Also, a consensus with the main opposition party was a very important factor in securing much needed political support. Originality/value – The findings from what can be considered as an experiment in corporate tax reform in tough economic and social times can be useful to policymakers, tax authorities and international bodies dealing with tax reform processes. The impact on managerial decisions such as investment and financing is also relevant.

The lower part of the post-Variscan succession around Exeter, south Devon, England, comprises some 800 m of breccias, with subordinate sandstones and mudstones, which rest upon Devonian and Carboniferous rocks folded during the Variscan Orogeny and are overlain, disconformably, by the Aylesbeare Mudstone Group (Early Triassic?). These deposits comprise the most westerly of the early post-Variscan successions preserved onshore in northwest Europe and lie to the south of the Variscan Deformation Front; they are assigned to the Exeter Group (new term). Geochronological and palaeontological studies, in conjunction with detailed geological mapping, show that the constituent formations comprise a lower (Late Carboniferous(?)–Early Permian) sequence separated from an upper (Late Permian) sequence by an unconformity which represents an hiatus with a duration of at least 20 m.y. The lower sequence contains volcanic rocks dated at between 291 and 282 Ma (Early Permian) and pre-dates intrusion of the nearby Dartmoor Granite (280 Ma). In the overlying, palynologically-dated, Late Permian sequence, older breccias contain clasts of the Dartmoor Granite aureole rocks, and younger ones contain clasts of that granite. The lower sequence occurs mainly within the Crediton Trough, an east–west trending, partly fault-bounded, sedimentary basin that probably formed by extensional reactivation of a Variscan thrust. Breccias in this sequence formed largely on alluvial fans; the common occurrence of debris flows and a down-fan passage from gravity flows into fluvially deposited sediments is typical of deposition on semi-arid fans. The upper (Late Permian) sequence is more widespread but includes similar deposits overlain, at the top of the Exeter Group, by aeolian dune and interdune deposits. Correlation within the laterally variable facies associations which comprise these sequences has been achieved using a combination of sedimentary facies analysis, sedimentary geochemistry, and petrographical and geochemical clast typing. The stratigraphy revealed within the Exeter Group is broadly comparable with that recognized in the early post-Variscan Rotliegend successions elsewhere in Europe. This similarity may, however, be deceptive; the upper part of the Exeter Group may be coeval with the Zechstein, and apparently correlatable major unconformities in the group and the Rotliegend may reflect different events in the Variscan fold-belt and Variscan Foreland areas, respectively.

The Insolvency Act defines a disposition for purposes of the act and states that a voidable disposition does not include a disposition in compliance with an order of court. Section 29 of the act defines a voidable preference for this section as a debtor’s disposition of his property made not more than six months before the sequestration of his estate. A sequestration is defined with reference to a sequestration order, which means any order of court whereby an estate is sequestrated and includes a provisional order. In the Mercantile case the marriage of the respondent and his erstwhile wife was dissolved by a divorce order of the divorce court in January 2020. Incorporated into the court order is the settlement of the parties’ respective claims regarding their matrimonial property regime. The parties had been married with a classic antenuptial contract that excluded any community of property, community of profit and loss or any accrual sharing. Notwithstanding the fact that the judgment indicates otherwise, section 7(3) of the Divorce Act could not have applied in the light of the settlement agreement. This section is applicable only in the absence of any agreement between the parties regarding the division of their assets. Only where section 7(3) applies is the court granted a wide discretion to order that such assets, or such part of the assets, of the other party as the court may deem just, must be transferred to the first-mentioned party. The final settlement of the erstwhile couple’s property regime was consequently not as a result of the court’s exercising its statutory discretion but the result of the agreement sanctioned by the court’s order. In accordance with the agreed settlement, the husband was compelled by the court order to transfer a house in Gallo Manor registered in his name as immovable property to the erstwhile wife. This property was unburdened by any registered limited real security right such as a mortgage bond. The transfer was completed in March 2020 when the property was transferred into the woman’s name in accordance with the requirements of the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937. Mercantile Bank attained a provisional sequestration order against the respondent in October 2021 and apparently, according to Maier-Frawley J’s judgment, indicated its intention to rely on section 29 of the Insolvency Act to claim the reversal of the transfer of the immovable property as an alleged voidable disposition of a valuable asset from the estate of the respondent as debtor to the detriment of the claimant and other creditors. It is submitted that the six-month limit forms an unsurpassable hurdle and bars the application of section 29 in this matter. In addition, any reliance on eg section 31 of the Insolvency Act that refers to collusive dealings before sequestration without an equivalent six-month time bar will be barred by the explicit definition of a disposition in the act that excludes a disposition in compliance with an order of court. It may be doubted whether it is justified to waste additional costs and the time of the high court in light of the foregoing in this matter. Where the legal position is crystalized the court is left without a contrary discretion.

Joint possession and settlement needed revival in 2011, yet the Legislator did not do much about it. It took from jurisprudence the regulations regarding joint possession (in the broad sense) and simply built a legal regime that in no way can satisfy the economic and social needs of joint holders. And the possibility to enter a management agreement remains in a very theoretical level that is far from practical reality, where such an agreement between joint owners does not exist. Settlement – the place where joint owners end their joint possession – was the second item that required modifications. In 1864, the Legislator took the declarative effect of settlement from French law without an analysis of its consequences on the economic level. Families were protected, but third parties, holders of real rights on the joint goods were sacrificed. This made settlement unattractive and unwanted. In 2011 the Legislator correctly identified the problem and offered the solution – that had been adopted by the French legislator since 2006, even under the rule of the declarative effect – a real subrogation with a particular title: resettlement of the guarantee on the assigned goods. This is sufficient for the rights of guaranteed creditors to be maintained in all cases. With this, the right of each joint owner to fully and efficiently use his joint ownership right was insured. Was another change in this area needed? Apparently not. Nevertheless the Legislator unexpectedly decided in 2011 to renounce the fiction of the declarative effect. What did it replace it with? The translative effect of Roman law? No! It imagined a new effect of settlement: the constitutive effect. The shock of the change was mainly felt psychologically. At that time, the fiction of the declarative effect corresponded to a psychological perception according to which the heir held the goods directly from the decreased, perception that was well grounded after more than 140 years of existence. Just as the fiction of the declarative effect – in fact a rule born out of conjunction –generated numerous debates over centuries, the new constitutive effect of settlement was had to accept in notary practice. The cause? The fear that the new consequences of the constitutive effect will conflict with the imperative rules of the community of goods in the case of settlement parties who were married on the settlement date. Indeed, any community matrimony regime is able to absorb in the settlement estate any goods purchased or obtained with onerous title by any of the spouses. But, the joint ownership right of settlement was that of an own goods. Moreover, the whole settlement was disputing own rights of the married settlement party. The doctrine limited itself to announcing the introduction of the constitutive effect without building a detailed analysis of its effects on the matrimony regimens. On our part, we suggested, at first an exhaustive analysis of the consequences of the translative and declarative effect of settlement. The purpose was to identify a ‛natural’ legal side of settlement that is its constants. Then we proved that the constitutive effect should be unitarily interpreted and applied. First of all, settlement produces a replacing effect. The share is replaced with an exclusive ownership right. It is natural that the exclusive ownership right obtained by each settlement party has the legal nature of the share it replaces. In the marital community field, this is an own goods of the married settlement party. Then, in case of settlement with allowance – that is expected to generate even more controversies – we have shown that is division does not degenerate settlement in two legal acts: settlement and sale. The settlement party who paid the allowance does not purchase anything; the settlement party receiving the allowance does not sell anything. The Legislators does not authorize such an idea, especially now that we are on the realm of the constitutive effect, where the idea of an exchange between settlement parties is excluded. The constitutive effect of settlement with allowance should be unitarily applied. For the married settlement party, the payment of the allowance represents an obligation to give that has the legal nature of an own obligation. Only its execution is carried out by using common funds of the spouses. And the increase acquiring of the goods is not a purchase in itself as it is made in the same spirit of the replacement effect of the share.

AbstractAs was the case with silversmiths (Note 3), many more cabinet-makers were wcrking in Amsterdam during the second half of the 18th century than in any other city in the Dutch Republic, the names of 195 of them being now known as opposed to 57 in The Hague and 32 in Rotterdam (Note 2). Most of those 195 names have been culled from the few surviving documents of the Guild of St. Joseph in Amsterdam, to which the cabinet-makers belonged (Note 4), supplemented by other sources, such as printed registers of craftsmen and shopkeepers (Note 6). Another important source is the newspaper the Amsterdamsche Courant with its advertisements placed by craftsmen themselves, with notices of sales, bankruptcies, lotteries and annual fairs and with advertisements concerning subsidiary or related trades. Since these advertisements were directed at the consumer, they often contain stylistic descriptions such as are not found elsewhere. Moreover, they aford valuable clues to archival material. Hence an investigation of all the advertisements from the years 1751-1800 has formed the basis for a study of Amsterdam cabinet-making, some results of which are presented here. Such a study is doomed largely to remain theoretical. The records can hardly ever be linked with surviving pieces, as these are virtually always anonymous since Amsterdam cabinet-makers were not required to stamp or sign their work. Moreover, only a few pieces of Dutch 18th-century furniture have a known provenance, so that it is only rarely possible to link a piece with a bill or another document and identify its maker. Thus it is not yet possible to form a reliable picture of a local Amsterdam style, let alone embark on attributions to individual makers (Note 8). In this light special importance may be attached to two commodes of the third quarter of the century which are exceptional in that they bear a signature, that of Andries Bongen (Figs. 1, 2, Notes 10, 11). These commodes, being entirely French-inspired, illustrate a specific and little-known aspect of Amsterdam cabinet-making. French furniture was so sought after in Amsterdam at that period that in 1771 a strict ban was imposed on its importation in order to protect local cabinet-makers (Note 12). It had begun to be imitated even before that and the commodes by Bongen exemplify this development. Andries Bongen, who was probably born in Geldern, south of Cleves and just east of the border of the Dutch Republic, is first recorded in Amsterdam in May 1763 on his marriage to Willemina, daughter of the smith Lambert van der Beek. He registered as a citizen on 5 July 1763 and became a master cabinet-maker some time between March 1763 and March 1764 (Note 19), so that, accordirtg to the Guild regulations, he must previously have trained for two years under an Amsterdam master (Note 20). At the time of his marriage he was living in St. Jorisstraat, but by the end of 1766 he had moved to Spui and between 1769 and 1771 he moved again, to Muiderpleinlje. When he and his wife made their will in 1772, their possessions were worth something under 8000 guilders (Note 23). This suggests that the business was quite flourishing, which seems to be confirmed by the fact that Bongen received a commission from the city of Amsterdam in 1771. Two more pieces were made for the city in 1786 and 1789, but in the latter year Bongen was declared bankrupt. The inventory of his possessions drawn up then (see Appeytdix) shows how parlous his conditions had become, his goods being valued at only 300 guilders. The reference to a shop indicates that Bongen sold his own furniture, although he had no stock to speak of at that point. The mention of eight work-benches, however, sugests that his output had previously been quite large. This is confirmed by the extent of his debts, notably that to the timber merchant Jan van Mekeren (Note 27). Other creditors included 'Rudolfeus Eyk', who probably supplied iron trelliszvork for bookcases and the like (Note 28), and the glass merchants Boswel en Zonen (Note 29) No debtors are listed and the only customer who can tentatively be identified is a 'Heer Hasselaar' who might be Pieter Cornelis Hasselaer (1720-95), several times burgomaster of Amsterdam between 1773 and 1794 (Note 30). Bongen died three years after his bankruptcy, at which time he was living in Nieuwe Looiersstraat. He appears to have continued working as a cabiytet-maker up to his death and his widow probably carried on the business until her own death in 1808, but nothing is known of this later period. The clearest insight into the character of part of Bongen's output is aforded by the advertisement he placed in the Amsterdamsehe Courant of 4 December 1766, describing three pieces of furniture 'in the French manner'. This is the first announcement by an 18th-century Amsterdam cabinet-maker of work in the French style. Bongen mentions two commodes decorated with floral marquetry, a technique which had flourished in Amsterdam in the late 17th and early 18th centuries (Note 34), but which had largely fallen into disuse on the advent around 1715 of a more sober type of furniture with plain walnut veneers on the English model (Note 36). In France a form of floral marquetry reappeared in the 1740s, being further developed in the following decade under the influence of Jean-François Oeben (1721-63). From the late 1750s there are indications of the presence of pieces of French marquetry furniture in the new style in Amsterdam (Notes 42, 43). The earliest explicit description of floral marquetry appears in a sale catalogue of 5 June 1765 (Note 44), while in another of 25 March 1766 (Note 46) many French pieces are detailed. Obviously, then, Bongen was endeavouring to capture a share, of this new market. The reappearance of elaborate marquetry on Amsterdam-made furniture was the result of a desire to emulate the French examples. The two commodes described in Bongen's advertisement can be identified with the one now in Amsterdam (Fig.2) and the one sold in London in 1947 (Fig.1). The latter still had more of its original mounts at the time nf the sale (Fig. 4) and the two probably formed a pair originally. The unusual fact that they are signed indicates that Bongen intended them to serve as show-pieces to demonstrate his skill at the beginning of his career (cf. Note 51, for another craftsman from abroad who began his career in Amsterdam by similarly advertising a spectacular piece). The commode in Amsterdam, with all its original mounts, demonstrates most clearly how close Bongen came to French prototypes, although his work has many personal traits nonetheless. In the marquetry the vase on a plinth on the front and the composition of the bouquets on the sides are notable (Fig.5), as are the large, full-blown blooms. The carcase, made entirely of oak, is remarkably well constructed and has a heavy, solid character. The commodes are outstanding for the complete integration of the marquetry and the mounts, in the manner of the finesl French furniture. The mounts presenl a problem, as it is not clear where they were made. They do not appear to be French or English, but one hesitates to attribute them to Amsterdam, as it is clear from documentary material that ornamental furniture-mounts were hardly ever made there in the second half of the 18th century. The mounts advertised by Ernst Meyrink in 1752 (Note 53) were probably still of the plain variety of the early part of the century and there is no further mention of mounts made in Amsterdam in the Amsterdamsche Courant. Once, in 1768, the silversmith J. H. Strixner placed an advertisement which refers to their gilding (Note 55). There is virtually no indication either of French mounts being imported and there is little Dutch furniture of this period that bears mounts which are indisputably French. In contrast to this, a large number of advertisements from as early as 1735 show that many mounts were imported from England, while among English manufacturers who came to sell their wares in Amsterdam were Robert Marshall of London (Note 60), James Scott (Note 61), William Tottie of Rotterdam (Note 62), whose business was continued after his death by Klaas Pieter Sent (Note 64), and H. Jelloly, again of Rotterdam (Notes 66, 67). It seems surprising that in a period when the French style reigned supreme so many mounts were imported from England, but the English manufacturers, mainly working in Birmingham, produced many mounts in the French style, probably often directed expressly at foreign markets. On the two commodes by Bongen only the corner mounts and the handles are of types found in the trade-catalogues of the English manufacturers (Figs. 7, 8, Notes 65, 70). The corner mounts are of a common type also found on French furniture (Note 71), so they doubtless copy a French model. The remaining mounts, however, are the ones which are so well integrated with the marquetry and these are not found elsewhere. Recently a third commode signed by Bongen has come to light, of similar character to the first two (Fig.3). Here all the mounts are of types found in the catalogues (Figs.7-10, Note 72). Apparently Bongen could not, or did not choose to, obtain the special mounts any more, although he clearly wanted to follow the same design (Fig. 6). This third commode was undoubtedly made somewhal later than the other two. The marquetry on it is the best preserved and it is possible to see how Bongen enlivened it with fine engraving. Because this piece is less exceptional, it also allows us to attribute some unsigned pieces to Bongen on the basis of their closeness to it, namely a commode sold in London in 1962 (Fig.11, Note 73) and two smaller, simpler commodes, which may originally have formed a pair, one sold in London in 1967 (Fig.12, Nole 74) and the other in a Dutch private collection (Figs.13, 14). The first one has a highly original marquetry decoration of a basket of flowers falling down. On the sides of this piece, and on the front of the two smaller ones, are bouquets tied with ribbons. These were doubtless influenced by contemporary engravings, but no direct models have been identified. The construction of the commode in the Netherlands tallies completely with tltat of the signed example in Amsterdam. The mounts are probably all English, although they have not all been found in English catalogues (Fig.15, Note 76). A seventh commode attributable to Bongen was sold in Switzerland in 1956 (Fig.16, Note 77). It is unusual in that walnut is employed as the background for the floral marquetry, something virtually unknown in Paris, but not uncommon on German work of French inspiration (Note 78). That commodes constitute the largest group among the furniture in the French style attributable to Bongen should cause no surprise, for the commode was the most sought after of all the pieces produced by the ébénistes not only in France, but all over Europe. Two other pieces which reveal Bongen's hand are two tables which look like side-tables, but which have fold-out tops to transform them into card-tables, a type seldom found in France, but common in England and the Netherlands (Note 80). One is at Bowhill in Scotland (Figs.17, 19, 20), the other was sold in London in 1972 (Fig.18, Note 79). The corner mounts on the Bowhill table, which probably also graced the other one originally, are the same as those on the two small commodes, while the handles are again to be found in an English catalogue (Fig.21, Note 81). What sounds like a similar card-table was sold at auction in Amsterdam in 1772 (Note 82). In Bongen's advertisement of 1766 mention is also made of a secretaire, this being the first appearance of this term in the Amsterdamsche Courant and Bongen finding it necessary to define it. No secretaire is known that can be attributed to him. A medal-cabinet in the form of a secretaire in Leiden (Figs.22, 23) hasfloral marquetry somewhat reminiscent of his work, but lacking its elegance, liveliness and equilibrium. Here the floral marquetry is combined with trompe l'oeil cubes and an interlaced border, early Neo-Classical elements which were first employed in France in the 1750s, so that this piece represents a later stage than those attributable to Bongen, which are all in a pure Louis xvstyle. Virtually identical in form to the medal-cabinet is a secretaire decorated solely with floral marquetry (Fig. 24, Note 87). This also appears not to be by Bongen, but both pieces may have been made under his influence. The picture we can form of Bongen's work on the basis of the signed commodes is clearly incomplete. His secretaire was decorated with '4 Children representing Trade', an exceptionally modern and original idea in 1766 even by French standards (Note 88). His ambitions in marquetry obviously wentfar beyondflowers, but no piece has yet beenfound which evinces this, nor is anything known of the Neo-Classical work which he may have produced after this style was introduced in Amsterdam around 1770. Bongen may perhaps have been the first Amsterdam cabinet-maker to produce marquetry furniture in the French style, but he was not to remain the only one. In 1771 and 1772 furniture in both the Dutch and French mode was advertised for sale at the Kistenmakerspand in Kalverstraat, where all furniture-makers belonging to the Guild of St. Joseph could sell their wares (Note 89). The 'French' pieces were probably decorated with marquetry. Only a small number of cabinet-makers are known to have worked in this style, however. They include Arnoldus Gerritsen of Rheestraat, who became a master in 1769 and sold his stock, including a 'small French inlaid Commode', in 1772, and Johan Jobst Swenebart (c.1747 - active up to 1806 or later), who became a master in 1774 and advertised in 1775 that he made 'all sorts of choice Cabinet- and Flower-works', the last term referring to furniture decorated with floral marquetry. Not only French types of furniture, but also traditional Dutch pieces were now decorated with French-inspired marquetry,for example a collector's cabinet advertised in 1775 by Johan Jacob Breytspraak (c.1739-95), who had become a master in 1769-70; a bureau-bookcase, a form introduced in the first half of the century probably under English influence (Note 100), exhibited in 1772 (Note 99); and a display cabinet for porcelain supplied, though not necessarily made, by Pieter Uylenburg en Zoon in 1775 (Notes 101, 102). Even long-case clocks were enriched with marquetry, witness the one advertised by the clock-maker J. H. Kühn in 1775 and another by him which was sold by auction in Edam in 1777 (Note 104). The latter was, like the bureau-bookcase exhibited in 1772, decorated with musical instruments, again a motif borrowed from France, where it was used increasingly from the 1760s onwards (Note 105). A clock signed by the Amsterdam clock-maker J. George Grüning also has a case with marquetry of musical instruments. This must date from about 1775-80, but its maker is unknown (Fig. 25, Notes 106, 107). All four of the Amsterdam cabinet-makers known to have done marquetry around 1770 came from Germany and all were then only recently established in Amsterdam. In fact half of the 144 Amsterdam cabinet-makers working in the second half of the 18th century whose origins it has been possible to trace came from Germany, so the German element was even stronger there than in Paris, where Germans comprised about a third of the ébénistes (Note 108) and where they had again played an important role in the revival of marquetry. None qf the four in Amsterdam was exclusively concerned with marquetry. Indeed, for some of them it may only have been a secondary aspect of their work. This was not true of Bongen, but he too made plain pieces, witness the four mahogany gueridons he made for the city of Amsterdam in 1771 or the two cupboards also made for the city in 1786 and 1789 (Notes 111, 112).No marquetry is listed in his inventory either. Perhaps fashions had changed by the time of his bankruptcy. Such scant knowledge as we have of Amsterdam cabinet-making between 1775 and 1785 certainly seems to suggest this. In the descriptions of the prizes for furraiture-lotteries, such as took place regularly from 1773 onwards (Note 114), marquetry is mentioned in 1773 and 1775 (Notes 115, 116), but after that there is no reference to itfor about tenyears. Nor is there any mention of marquetry in the very few cabinet-makers' advertisements of this period. When the clock-maker Kühn again advertised long-case clocks in 1777 and 1785, the cases were of carved mahogany (Notes 121, 122). Certainly in France the popularity of marquetry began to wane shortly before 1780 and developments in the Netherlands were probably influenced by this. Towards the end of the 1780s, however, pieces described as French and others decorated with 'inlaid work' again appear as prizes in lotteries, such as those organized by Johan Frederik Reinbregt (active 1785-95 or later), who came from Hanover (Note 128), and Swenebart. The latter advertised an inlaid mahogany secretaire in 1793 (Note 132) and similar pieces are listed in the announcement of the sale of the stock of Jean-Matthijs Chaisneux (c.1734-92), one of a small group of French upholsterers first mentioned in Amsterdam in the 1760s, who played an important part in the spread of French influence there (Note 134). In this later period, however, reference is only made to French furniture when English pieces are also mentioned, so a new juxtaposition is implied and 'French' need not mean richly decorated with marquetry as it did in the 1760s. In fact the marquetry of this period was probably of a much more modest character. A large number of pieces of Dutch furniture in the late Neo-Classical style are known, generally veneered with rosewood or mahogany, where the marquetry is confined to trophies, medallions on ribbons, geometric borders and suchlike. A sideboard in the Rijksmuseum is an exceptionally fine and elaborately decorated example of this light and elegant style (Fig. 26) None of this furniture is known for certain to have been made in Amsterdam, but two tobacco boxes with restrained marquetry decoration (Fig.27, Note 136) were made in Haarlem in 1789 by Johan Gottfried Fremming (c.1753-1832) of Leipzig, who had probably trained in Amsterdam and whose style will not have differed much from that current in the capital. Boxes of this type are mentioned in the 1789 inventory of the Amsterdam cabinet-maker Johan Christiaan Molle (c.1748-89) as the only pieces decorated with inlay (Note 138). In the 1792 inventory of Jacob Keesinger (active 1764-92) from Ziegenhain there are larger pieces of marquetry furniture as well (Note 139), but they are greatly in the minority, as is also the case with a sale of cabinet-makers' wares held in 1794 (Note 141), which included a book-case of the type in Fig.28 (Note 142). Similarly the 1795 inventory of Johan Jacob Breytspraak, one of the most important and prosperous cabinet-makers of the day, contains only a few marquetry pieces (Note 144). The 1793 inventory of Hendrik Melters (1720-93) lists tools and patterns for marquetry, but no pieces decorated with it (Note 145). Melters seems to have specialized in cases for long-case clocks, the Amsterdam clock-maker Rutgerus van Meurs (1738-1800) being one of his clients (Note 146). The cases of clocks signed by Van Meurs bear only simple marquetry motifs (Note 147). The Dutch late Neo-Classical furniture with restrained marquetry decoration has no equivalent in France; it is more reminiscent of English work (Note 148). The pattern-books of Hepplewhite and Sheraton undoubtedly found their way to the Dutch Republic and the 'English' furniture mentioned in Amsterdam sources from 1787 probably reflected their influence. However, the introduction of the late, restrained Neo-Classical style in furniture was not the result of English influence alone. Rather, the two countries witnessed a parallel development. In England, too, marquetry was re-introduced under French influence around 1760 and it gradually became much simpler during the last quarter of the century, French influences being amalgamated into a national style (Notes 150, 151). On the whole, the Frertch models were followed more closely in the Netherlands than in England. Even at the end of the century French proportions still very much influenced Dutch cabinet-making. Thus the typically Dutch late Neo-Classical style sprang from a combirtation of French and English influences. This makes it difficult to understand what exactly was meant by the distinction made between ;French' and 'English' furniture at this time. The sources offer few clues here and this is even true of the description of the sale of the stock of the only English cabinet-maker working in Amsterdam at this period, Joseph Bull of London, who was active between 1787 and 1792, when his goods were sold (Notes 155, 156).

AbstractThis paper reviews the economic and historical literature on debt mutualization in Europe with reference to pre-1914 guaranteed bonds and the current Eurobonds debate. We argue that, notwithstanding the differences in scale and nature, debt mutualization solutions similar to Eurobonds were tried before, and the closest historical examples to the present debate are the pre-1914 guaranteed bonds. We highlight three key characteristics of debt mutualization, which are apparent both in the current debate and in history: moral hazard, debt dilution and conditionality. We show that the fears about short-run dilution and moral hazard were not unknown to pre-1914 market participants. These problems were partly addressed by mechanisms of conditionality such as international financial control. The historical evidence suggests that the dilution of outstanding obligations may be overplayed in the current debate. On the contrary, creditors’ moral hazard (ignored in current debt mutualization proposals) was as problematic as the usual debtor’s moral hazard –especially when the groups of countries guaranteeing the bonds and the creditor nations did not overlap entirely.

Abstract Whereas investment treaties and arbitration rules do not usually provide any explicit provision for mass claims in investment treaty arbitration, the Tribunal in Abaclat v Argentina established a landmark jurisprudence that allowed a massive 60,000 investors to bundle and bring their claims before a single arbitral tribunal. However, its reasoning has been severely criticised for its conclusion, which apparently favours bondholder protection at the expense of financial policy leeway of defaulted sovereigns: investment arbitration may adversely affect the orderly implementation of sovereign debt restructuring. This article attempts to take a more balanced approach towards this issue, by focusing on regulatory aspects of arbitral proceedings. A ‘regulatory’ investment treaty arbitration will not only provide creditor protection by opening the door for mass claims, but will also show a deference to an orderly restructuring by closing the door if circumstances so require.

Against the present-day rhetorical backdrop of globalisation, and the apparently “revolutionary” nature of information technology, the following paper strives to recount and reconsider the Indian experience of economic liberalisation in the thirty-year period from the introduction of economic liberalisation and deregulatory reform in 1966, to the fall of the Narasimha Congress government in the general elections of 1996. Particular attention is paid to the role of the state in the context of post-colonial India, and how Congress (I) under the leadership of Indira Gandhi introduced economic liberalisation, with the intention of easing poverty, to such an extent that by the end of the 1980s liberalisation, under the banner of New Economic Policy, had allowed India to realise unprecedented economic growth. The legacies of India’s economic liberalisation, however, deserve careful analysis. Economic growth engendered by liberalisation led to India becoming deeply indebted to foreign creditors, and would prove itself to be unsustainable. So much so that by the time Narasimha Rao came to power, in June 1991, India was on the verge of financial crisis, and was forced to seek IMF assistance. Under the auspices of the green revolution and then economic liberalisation, IMF and World Bank tutelage appeared to have sharpened the divisions amongst Indian society to such an extent that the Indian polity was in danger of failure or partial collapse. Given the magnitude and nature of India’s socio-economic problems, perhaps lessons could have been learnt from the example of Japan, and how it extricated itself from an externally driven agenda of economic liberalisation.