Thèses sur le sujet « Interessi, usura »

The anatocism is a mechanism that consists in taking compound interest for the creditor (from greek words “Ana” that means again and “tokos” that means interest). The thesis, in its first part, is oriented to showing the basis of the anatocism in the italian system and in other European country. Other aspects in the first chapter are: connection with money and interests. The second chapter is dedicated to the evolution of anatocism in Italy specifically in banking regulation: in effect a lot of questions have arisen around the application of anatocism by Italian banks. One of this problem was connected to the meaning of customary law. For twenty years Italian Courts had considered lawful the anatocism in banking system , but in 1999 the Supreme Court said that it was illegal because it wasn’t allowed by civil code (art. 1283). The job wants to retrace the story of anatocism and to examine in depth questions that are still open concerning the evolution of precedents (about the restitution of illegal compound interests, burden of proof and prescription period). Moreover wants to analyze the new law that probably decided that anatocism in banking system isn’t allowed anymore. The aim of the job is to meditate on basis of anatocism especially on its basic reasons and its connection with other type of interest.

The issue of usury is at the center of the current jurisprudential panorama, both for its economic ramifications and for the numerous interpretative doubts yet to be resolved. The usury suppression system was redesigned with Law n. 108/1996, who set out a framework to identify the usury threshold, a value beyond which interest rates are considered usurious. The aforementioned threshold rate is updated quarterly and is based on the average interest rates recorded for homogeneous categories of transactions, implicitly taking into account trends in the credit market. As the discipline is relatively young, in the past 25 years scholars have faced numerous hermeneutical questions, among which the study of the relationship between default interest and usury is particularly important. According to the majority opinion of the Court of Cassation, default interests relevant to the L. 108/1996. The main argument is the presumed homogeneity between interest and default interest, as both, in a way, represent the opportunity cost of capital. A further topic derives from the interpretation of art. 644 c.p. and 1815 c.c., introduced by D.Lgs., 29 December 2000, n. 394, which has resolved the doubts on whether default interest falls within the scope of the usury definition. Not only is it necessary to investigate whether default interest can be considered usurious, but also when it can be treated as such and hence subject to Law n. 108/1996. I will take into consideration the theories that have developed on the subject, to verify whether default interest should be added to the regular interest rate and other fees, or if penalty interest rates are to be assessed separately. The consequences of the possible usury of default interest will then be addressed, in order to understand if art. 1815 c.c. can be applied in a civil court and, if so, whether it also applies to regular interest rates. Finally, this paper will take into consideration the minority opinion - which seems preferable - according to which default interest rates do not fall under the scope of Law n. 108/1996, given that the current wording of the discipline seems to refer only to regular interest rates. In this perspective, however, the stipulation of manifestly excessive default interests does not remain without control by the legal system, since the clause that identifies the default rate can be subsumed within the genus of contractual penalties and therefore reduced in court if you have an excessive value.

Il tema dell'usurarietà dei tassi di interesse sui mutui e, più in generale, sui finanziamenti di ogni genere, ha subito un picco di interesse in giurisprudenza successivamente alla pronuncia n. 350/2013 della Corte di Cassazione. Buona parte degli operatori del diritto, infatti, ne ha fornito un'interpretazione massimamente estensiva, dando corso all'instaurazione di un elevato contenzioso con gli Istituti di credito. Tale situazione di incremento del contenzioso giudiziale ha offerto lo spunto per riflettere ed approfondire il tema dell'usurarietà dei tassi di interesse, tra usura originaria e sopravvenuta, sui rimedi civilistici di tutela del prenditore applicabili ai contratti divenuti usurari, come pure, da ultimo, per interrogarsi sull'incidenza del tasso di mora sulle soglie d'usura. Nel panorama delle soluzioni possibili, l'Autore conclude, quanto alle strutture rimediali applicabili all'usurarietà sopravvenuta, preferendo la tesi della nullità parziale ex art. 1419, secondo comma, c.c., con sostituzione automatica del tasso convenzionale divenuto usurario con il tasso-soglia ex art. 1339 c.c., nonché della rilevanza dei tassi moratori ai fini del computo del TEGM, del TEG e della soglia, offrendo spunti di riflessione per una riforma sistematica della normativa.

ABSTRACT The statue 108 of 1996 has strongly modified the crime of usury originally introduced by the Italian Criminal Code in 1931, in which it was perfectly reflected the criminological pattern of the “loan shark”. Indeed, whereas the new article 644 c.p. provides for the presumption of usury, it does not consider the traditional binomial take advantage - state of need; instead, in order to establish the criminal liability, it recurs to the overtaking of a rate specified through normative elements and referred to the conditions of the market. So usury has been transformed into a crime safeguarding the public regulation of the credit market, partly demanded to the Ministry of Economy and Finance and, through it, to the Bank of Italy, with the definition in concrete terms of “usury interests” (art 2. l. 108) As a consequence, direct object of criminal-law protection is not the estate of the victim anymore, but – according to a scheme (especially) spread in the criminal legislation about economy and expression of an intervener State – an administrative “function” of credit market controlling. Such a pattern of incrimination, borrowed from the French legislation, allows to overcome the probation difficulties which contributed to the inefficiency of the previous rules, in front of a flooding criminal phenomenon; however, this anticipated safeguard of victim’s patrimonial freedom, is not justified with regards to the constitutional principles that legitimise the penal intervention (offensiveness / reasonableness). The result is a crime of mere aim, where the aim should be – common in the emergency legislation – to contrast the infiltration of the organized crime in the official financial system, with the consequent distorting effects on the legal economy. Thus, the recoils of the modification of the offence on the demands of protection, which contribute to define the constitutional statue of the criminal illicit, are even more unacceptable. The principle of legality is directly violated – notwithstanding the different opinion of the Supreme Court – by a mechanism of integration of the penal rule that leaves to the Administrative Authority the due to define completely the structure and the limits of the safeguard of the interests involved. But in a model fact situation framed with strong distinguishing features of special wrongfulness, even the resistance of the principle of personal liability lays it on the line by a well-established case law – after all, already confirmed referring to usury – which substantially excludes any excuse efficacy of the mistake of non-criminal law. On the other hand, the same advantages that the pattern of presumed usury ensures in terms of definitiveness (and correlatively of guiltiness) are frustrated by the provision – in anti-elusive function – of a subsidiary hypothesis, defined “in concrete”, because it gives back to the discretion of the judge the evaluation on the subsistence of usury and moreover it purposes the subjective element of victim’s “economical or financial difficulties conditions”, that seems anyway to play the role of objective condition of liability to punishment. However, what has relevant importance for this research is the effect of “criminological normalization” of the agent pattern, produced by the criminal policy option, i.e. the equilizing of the “loan shark” and the legal operator of the credit, usurer as the first one; even more because he operates inwards the bank industry or the financial intermediation thus he necessarily commits an aggravated usury, risking a punishment that – due to the recent increase of the edictal limits, with a clearly symbolical aim, without even considering the possibility of other special aggravating circumstances, although provided for the “criminal” usury – can reach the term of fifteen years of imprisonment. In the so-called “bank usury”, therefore, there is one more profile of irrationality of the precept, deriving from a punitive treatment which is absolutely out of proportion to the disvalue of the implied fact – as it is confirmed in comparison with the French law, which for the (remaining) crime of usury, provides for a punishment that is lower than two years of reclusion and which is rather, and rationally, accompanied with criminal sanctions for the company. The information that (even) high-profile exponent of the most important banks of our Country are under investigation for usury or charged with it is not surprising What disconcerts is that at the base of the charges is the partial failed-application of the administrative discipline of integration of the model fact situation of (presumed) usury, with substitution of judicial criteria. In fact, the quarterly decrees do not comply with the law where, on the basis of the Instructions of the Bank of Italy, with a violation of sub-section IV of article 644 c.p., they exclude from the global actual rate relating to a bank account some important elements of the cost of the credit, in particular the maximum overdraft bank charge. Since they are unlawful, decrees and Instructions should not be applied at all by the judge, with the consequent not-application of the penal rule, due to the unsuccessful integration of some requirements of the model fact situation. Every interpretative operation on the up mentioned regulations – to which the law refers for to define in concrete of the usury interests – shows itself as even more unlawful for violation of statutory reserve in criminal law; the substantially analogical method, with which in the famous Court of Palmi sentence 1732/2007 the maximum overdraft charge is considered relevant through the definition of a condition of presumed usury independent from the annual percentage rate of charge, is emblematical. It has to be considered against the logic as well as the principles, when, in other sentences, the judgement on the usury interest applied by the bank, (re)calculated with judicial criteria of accountant origin, assumes anyway as a criterion the global actual rate contained in the quarterly decrees and detected on the basis of the unlawful Instructions of Bank of Italy. A scenario of unsustainable uncertainty for the operators of the credit market descends from the many methods elaborated by the accountability, and it clearly shows the indeterminativeness of the rule, in absence of a binding choice of the Administration, indeed therefore provided by the law. The effects of the not-application – judicial substitution of the criteria established by the administrative regulations on the plane of the guiltiness are determinant: even sustaining that the mistake on the determination of the usury interests, in which the exponent of bank relying incurs on the Instructions of Bank of Italy, fell upon the precept and not upon the fact, it could be only interpreted as unavoidable, hence excusable according to article 5 c.p., at least because it is generated by the same Authorities to which the law refers to integrate the precept. It is not the first time that the Courts, in front of the unsatisfactory control practiced by the competent Authorities, bend their interpretations in order to comply with the needs of the consumers against the bank’s system abuse of power – it is well known the overruling on the lawfulness of anatocism. It is easy to understand, hence, how much the new model fact situation of usury, that lends itself to claiming of contractual nature, could lead the Courts in temptation – while the Solidarity Fund for the victims of usury has just offered incentives to instrumental denunciations. As in the previous case of “turned up usury”, the Legislator had to take part; but statue 2 of 2009 resolves only partially the question, that still remains open with regards to the other elements excluded from the global actual rate, among which the capitalization of the interests. Nevertheless, concerning the conduct, the recent Court opinions about bank usury agree to not very respectful interpretations of the typicality, when they had recognized the subsistence of the crime in case, for the effect of the jus variandi, the tax applied to an opening of credit on an account was fixed by the bank at a higher level than the reference threshold. The crime is in this way reduced to the mere accountancy of usury interests. However, in absence of a promise of the higher interests requested, through a specific acceptation of the new economic conditions by the client, the statutory rule claims an effective giving of them, hence, the assessment of a fair remittance on the account after the unilateral variation of the rate. On this point, anyway, the Courts fall on a topic that is made even more awkward by the same doctrine that, interpreting restrictively the formula “make someone give or promise”, in order to arrive, through the article 644-ter c.p. concerning usury time-bar, to a reconstruction of usury as a permanent crime, where the conduct turns out in a behaviour of pure waiting of usury interests paying. The typical datum, puts the conduct of the crime in the phase of determination of the interests, giving it a meaning of claim, that after all permits a partial recovery in terms of extrema ratio of the penal intervention, as opposed to the private punishment of article 1815 of the Civil Code. In conclusion, the statue 108 of 1996 is the consequence of the umpteenth illusion of the post-modern criminal law: the illusion of preventing usury through the moralization of credit market. The result is a discipline, not only deeply compromised from a constitutional legality point of view, according to every single aspect (from offensiveness / reasonableness to subsidiarity, from legality to guiltiness), but especially, self-defeating in comparison to the pursued objective, because – forcing the official circuits of credit through the threshold – it contributes to the rationing of the weakest subjects and, as a consequence, it supports an illegal market; aside it remains the further tightening caused by some applications of the Courts. Certainly, the remedies against usury cannot be completely submitted to criminal law, requiring, rather, a suitable economic and social politics, that weighs upon the causes of the criminal phenomenon. Such causes consist, first of all, especially on the ineffectiveness of credit system, which the new configuration of crime has progressively increased. A serious policy against usury, therefore, should be expressly focused on assuring the access (and the maintenance) of legal credit to deserving subjects, even perceiving the same direction just taken by the statue 108, through the creation of the fund of prevention of usury and through some changes on protest discipline. Something has been recently done, through several provisions focused on competitiveness or through the A.B.I. agreement of 2003; but it is not enough. In any case, the model fact situation of presumed usury must be eliminated, at least in the banking and financial system, according to which mechanisms of administrative and even criminal control must be presumed, on a preventive point of view, against undue advantages, but through the due precision and adequacy in the individualization of tortious behaviours; but, especially, the system of control should be enforced, to prevent every instrumental use of the financial system by usury criminality (especially in case of organized-crime).
La legge 108 del 1996 ha trasfigurato il volto del delitto di usura introdotto dal Codice Rocco, nel quale si raffigurava perfettamente l’idealtipo criminologico dello «strozzino». Il nuovo art. 644 c.p., laddove contempla la modalità «presunta» di usura, prescinde, infatti, dal tradizionale binomio approfittamento-stato di bisogno, per fondare la punibilità su di un tasso-soglia individuato mediante elementi normativi giuridici e modulato sulle condizioni di mercato. L'usura è così trasformata in reato a presidio di una regolamentazione pubblicistica del mercato del credito, in buona parte demandata al Ministro dell'economia e delle finanze e, per suo tramite, alla Banca d'Italia, attraverso la definizione in concreto degli «interessi usurari» (art. 2 l. 108). Oggetto immediato della tutela penale non è più, pertanto, il patrimonio della vittima, ma – secondo uno schema diffuso nella legislazione penale complementare, specie in materia economica, ed espressione di uno Stato interventista – una «funzione» amministrativa di controllo del mercato del credito. Un tale modello di incriminazione, mutuato dalla legislazione francese, consente certo di superare le difficoltà probatorie che contribuivano all’ineffettività della precedente disciplina, a fronte di un fenomeno criminale dilagante; non si giustifica, però, in chiave di tutela anticipata della libertà patrimoniale del soggetto passivo, alla stregua dei criteri costituzionali di legittimazione dell'intervento penale (offensività/ragionevolezza). Ne deriva un reato di mero scopo, dove lo scopo dovrebbe esser quello – comune alla «legislazione dell’emergenza» – di contrastare l’infiltrazione della criminalità organizzata nei circuiti finanziari ufficiali, con i conseguenti effetti distorsivi sull'economia lecita. Sicché, ancor più inaccettabili si rivelano le ripercussioni della funzionalizzazione dell'offesa sulle ulteriori istanze di garanzia che contribuiscono a delineare lo statuto costituzionale dell'illecito penale. Direttamente violata – malgrado la contraria opinione della Suprema Corte – è la riserva di legge, da un meccanismo di integrazione del precetto penale che lascia all'Autorità amministrativa l’incombenza di definire compiutamente l'assetto e i confini della tutela degli interessi in gioco. Ma in una fattispecie per tal modo disegnata con forti connotati di antigiuridicità speciale, pure la tenuta del principio della responsabilità penale personale è a rischio, a causa del consolidato orientamento giurisprudenziale – del resto, già confermatosi in tema di usura – che di fatto esclude qualsiasi efficacia scusante dell'errore su legge extrapenale. D'altra parte, gli stessi vantaggi che la figura presunta assicura in termini di determinatezza (e correlativamente, di colpevolezza) restano vanificati dalla previsione – in funzione antielusiva – di un'ipotesi sussidiaria di usura, detta «in concreto», poiché restituisce il giudizio di usurarietà alla discrezionalità giudiziaria e altresì ripropone il fattore soggettivo delle «condizioni di difficoltà economica o finanziaria» della vittima, che pare tuttavia svolgere, ora, il diverso ruolo di condizione obiettiva di punibilità. Ai fini della presente ricerca, peraltro, rileva principalmente l’effetto di «normalizzazione criminologica» del tipo d’autore, prodotto dall’opzione politico-criminale della riforma, ossia l’equiparazione allo strozzino dell'operatore legale del credito, usuraio allo stesso modo di quello; anzi di più, perché agisce nell'esercizio di un'attività bancaria o di intermediazione finanziaria e perciò commette necessariamente un'usura aggravata, rischiando una pena che – per effetto del recente aumento dei limiti edittali, con valore evidentemente simbolico, e senza nemmeno considerare il possibile concorso di ulteriori aggravanti speciali, pur concepite per l’usura «criminale» – può arrivare fino ai quindici anni di reclusione. Nell’usura per così dire «bancaria» si palesa, dunque, un ulteriore profilo di irragionevolezza della fattispecie, derivante da un trattamento sanzionatorio del tutto sproporzionato – com’è confermato dal raffronto comparatistico con la legge francese, la quale per il reato di usura prevede una pena che non supera i due anni di detenzione, cui piuttosto si aggiungono, coerentemente, sanzioni penali all’impresa. In ogni caso, non desta quindi scalpore la notizia che esponenti anche apicali dei più importanti istituti creditizi del nostro Paese siano indagati o imputati per usura. Quel che sconcerta, invece, è che a fondamento degli addebiti stia la parziale disapplicazione della disciplina amministrativa di integrazione della fattispecie di usura (presunta), con sostituzione di criteri normativi di fonte giudiziale. In effetti, i decreti trimestrali non sono conformi a legge, nella parte in cui, sulla scorta delle Istruzioni della Banca d'Italia, in violazione del quarto comma dell'art. 644, escludono dal tasso effettivo globale medio, relativo ai rapporti di affidamento in conto corrente bancario, alcune componenti del costo del credito, tra cui, soprattutto, la commissione di massimo scoperto. Ma siccome illegittimi, decreti e Istruzioni dovrebbero essere integralmente disapplicati dal giudice penale, con la conseguente inapplicabilità della norma incriminatrice, per la mancata integrazione di alcuni requisiti di fattispecie. Ogni operazione di ortopedia interpretativa sulla ridetta normativa secondaria – alla quale soltanto la legge rinvia per la definizione in concreto degli interessi usurari – si rivela, infatti, ancor più illegittima, poiché viola la riserva di legge in materia penale; emblematico è il procedimento sostanzialmente analogico con cui, nella celebre sentenza 1732/2007 del Tribunale di Palmi, alla C.M.S. è attribuita rilevanza attraverso l'enucleazione di una condizione di usurarietà presunta autonoma rispetto al T.E.G.(M.) di marca amministrativa. Si tradisce nondimeno la logica, prima dei principi, quando, in altre decisioni, il giudizio di usurarietà del tasso praticato dalla banca, (ri)calcolato secondo criteri giurisprudenziali per lo più di matrice peritale, assume comunque a parametro il T.E.G.M. riportato nei decreti trimestrali e rilevato in base alle illegittime Istruzioni della Banca d'Italia. Dalla molteplicità delle metodologie elaborate in ambito peritale deriva, poi, uno scenario di intollerabile incertezza per gli operatori del credito, che palesa l'assoluta indeterminatezza della fattispecie, in mancanza di una scelta vincolante dell'Amministrazione, perciò proprio prevista dalla legge. Decisivi, peraltro, sono i riflessi sul piano della colpevolezza della disapplicazione-sostituzione giudiziale dei criteri stabiliti dalla normativa amministrativa: anche a voler ritenere che l'errore sulla determinazione dell'interesse usurario, in cui incorre l'esponente bancario che abbia confidato sulle Istruzioni di Bankitalia, cada sul precetto e non sul fatto, esso non potrebbe che ritenersi in questo caso inevitabile, quindi scusabile ex art. 5 c.p., quantomeno perché ingenerato dalle stesse Autorità alle quali la legge demanda di integrare il precetto penale. Non è la prima volta che la magistratura, anche di fronte al deludente controllo esercitato dalle competenti Autorità garanti, piega le proprie interpretazioni alle esigenze di tutela della clientela contro lo strapotere del sistema bancario – fin troppo noto è l’overulling giurisprudenziale sulla legittimità dell’anatocismo. Si comprende, allora, quanto la nuova fattispecie di usura, che tanto facilmente si presta a strumento per rivendicazioni di natura contrattuale, possa indurre in tentazione la giurisprudenza – mentre il Fondo di solidarietà per le vittime dell’usura ha finito per incentivare denunce pretestuose. Come nella precedente vicenda dell’usura sopravvenuta, è così dovuto intervenire il Legislatore; ma la l. 2/2009 risolve solo parzialmente la questione, che rimane aperta riguardo alle ulteriori voci escluse dal T.E.G.M., tra cui la stessa capitalizzazione degli interessi. Nondimeno in punto di condotta, la recente giurisprudenza in materia di usura bancaria si è lasciata andare a interpretazioni assai poco rispettose della tipicità, quando ha senz'altro ravvisato il delitto nel caso in cui, per effetto dell'esercizio del jus variandi, il tasso praticato a un rapporto di apertura di credito in conto corrente sia stato fissato dalla banca in una misura che supera il tasso-soglia di riferimento. Il fatto di reato è per tal modo ridotto alla mera contabilizzazione di interessi usurari. Ma, in mancanza di una promessa dei più alti interessi richiesti, per mezzo di una specifica accettazione delle nuove condizioni economiche da parte del cliente, la norma incriminatrice pretende un'effettiva dazione degli stessi e, pertanto, l'accertamento di una congrua rimessa sul conto, a seguito della variazione unilaterale del tasso. Qui, però, la giurisprudenza cade su un terreno reso ancor più scivoloso dalla stessa dottrina, la quale muove da un'interpretazione riduttiva della formula legislativa «si fa dare o promettere», per arrivare, attraverso la norma sulla prescrizione dell'art. 644 ter, a ricostruire il delitto di usura come reato permanente, dove la condotta finisce per dissolversi in un comportamento di pura attesa del pagamento degli interessi usurari. Il dato tipico, invece, colloca la condotta del reato nella fase di determinazione degli interessi, attribuendole un contenuto di pretesa, che oltretutto consente un parziale recupero in termini di extrema ratio dell'intervento penale, rispetto alla pena privata del secondo comma dell'art. 1815 c.c. In definitiva, la l. 108 è il frutto dell'ennesima illusione del diritto penale post-moderno: di poter esso prevenire l'usura mediante la moralizzazione del mercato del credito. Il risultato è una disciplina, non solo fortemente compromessa sul piano della legittimità costituzionale, sotto ogni profilo (dalla offensività/ragionevolezza alla sussidiarietà, dalla legalità alla colpevolezza), ma addirittura, controproducente rispetto all'obiettivo perseguito, in quanto – costringendo i circuiti ufficiali del credito col tasso-soglia – contribuisce al razionamento dei soggetti più deboli e così favorisce il mercato illegale; e a parte rimane l'ulteriore irrigidimento causato da certe applicazioni giurisprudenziali. La verità è che la difesa contro l'usura non può affidarsi completamente al diritto penale, richiedendo, piuttosto, un'adeguata politica economica e sociale, che incida sulle cause del fenomeno criminale. E tali cause stanno, in primo luogo, proprio nell'inefficienza del sistema creditizio, che la nuova configurazione del delitto ha finito per aggravare. Una seria politica antiusura dovrebbe, dunque, anzitutto impegnarsi nell'assicurare l'accesso (e il mantenimento) al credito legale dei soggetti meritevoli, anche proseguendo lungo una strada appena imboccata dalla l. 108, con la creazione del fondo di prevenzione dell'usura e con le modifiche al regime dei protesti. Qualcosa, di recente, si è fatto, con i diversi provvedimenti per la competitività o con il protocollo di intesa A.B.I. del 2003; ma è ancora troppo poco. In ogni caso, la fattispecie di usura presunta dev'essere eliminata, quantomeno in ambito bancario e finanziario, dove restano ipotizzabili meccanismi di controllo in via amministrativo e magari penale, in chiave preventiva, contro indebiti approfittamenti, ma con la dovuta precisione e adeguatezza nell'individuazione delle condotte antigiuridiche; e soprattutto, andrebbe rafforzato il regime di vigilanza, per impedire ogni strumentalizzazione da parte della criminalità usuraia (specialmente quella organizzata).

Mestrado em Finanças
Este trabalho propõe a comparação entre as restrições religiosas sobre usura nas religiões do Livro e também a análise das origens, manutenção e desaparecimento das proibições. Foi possível concluir que houve uma diluição do conceito de usura e que as restrições tiveram impacto nas actividades bancárias. Além disso, para contornar as proibições, a usura foi escondida em contractos complexos. Como o Islão é actualmente a religião com a maior taxa de crescimento da sua população também foi possível prever possíveis desenvolvimentos futuros da proibição islâmica da usura.
This work proposes a comparison of the religious restrictions on usury in the religions of the book and also the analysis of the origins, the maintenance and the disappearing of the prohibitions. I was able to conclude that there was a dilution in the concept of usury and that these restrictions had an impact in banking activities. Furthermore in order to circumvent the prohibition usury was concealed in complex contracts. As Islam is currently the religious group with the highest population growth I was also able to predict the possible future developments of the Islamic prohibition of usury.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

nÃo hÃ
Este trabalho trata de um estudo de caso que tem como objetivo investigar os efeitos da usura e do anatocismo no processo de endividamento bancÃrio em uma amostra de 60 operaÃÃes de crÃdito. Todas as observaÃÃes sÃo devedores inadimplentes e aguardando decisÃo judicial pertinentes à comarca de ParnaÃba, norte do estado do PiauÃ, tendo operaÃÃes contratadas no perÃodo de 1994 a 2003. Foi feita uma breve anÃlise dos aspectos histÃricos, jurÃdicos e econÃmicos da polÃtica de crÃdito no Brasil envolvendo os setores rural, comercial e industrial, declinando sobre os aspectos legais da cobranÃa bancÃria ante a conjuntura econÃmica. Como metodologia, utilizou-se uma pesquisa de campo, realizada com os 60 mutuÃrios quando do ajuizamento das operaÃÃes para auxiliar na avaliaÃÃo dos efeitos da usura e do anatocismo quanto à evoluÃÃo das dÃvidas. A conclusÃo a que se chegou à que a usura e o anatocismo foram fatores que contribuÃram para que tais operaÃÃes chegassem à situaÃÃo de inadimplÃncia. Ressalte-se, porÃm, que o poder de generalizar tais resultados à limitado, dada a falta de informaÃÃo do efeito da usura e do anatocismo sobre os tomadores adimplentes.
This case study aims to investigate the effects of usury and compound interest in the process of acquiring bank debt. The sample was made up of sixty (60) credit transactions, initiated from 1994-2003, all of which are in default and awaiting judicial rulings in the district court of ParnaÃba. A brief analysis of the historical, judicial and politico-economical aspects of credit in Brazil relating to the rural, commercial and industrial sectors is included with emphasis given to the legal aspects of debt collection and economic status. As methodology, a field study was undertaken, achieved with the sixty (60) borrowers during their judgment in order to assist the evaluation of the effects of usury and compound interest in the evolution of the debts. The conclusion reached is that usury and compound interest application were factors that contributed to the debt arriving at the point of default. It should be emphasized, however, that the power of said result does not extend to any and all type of credit transaction.

O presente estudo propõe uma análise sobre o tema da usura no pensamento de São Tomás de Aquino de forma a determinar sua aplicabilidade à questão dos juros remuneratórios tal qual se apresenta hodiernamente no Direito Brasileiro. Inicialmente a concepção de Aquino é avaliada à luz da tríplice base que a compõe: a Lei Natural, segundo a qual se considera a esterilidade do dinheiro e a justiça natural; a Lei Humana, tida aqui como o Direito Romano, do qual se absorve a noção de fungibilidade do dinheiro e a conceituação dos contratos de mútuo; e a Lei Divina, tomada por São Tomás de forma a corroborar aquilo que se depreende das demais leis. Na sequencia, a problemática dos juros e da sua extrapolação usurária é avaliada no âmbito do ordenamento jurídico pátrio, tanto sob o prisma de sua evolução histórica quanto das discussões que envolvem a matéria em nossos dias. Finalmente, partindo de uma conceituação de juros e usura compatível com o pensamento do Doutor Angélico, avaliaremos o que viria a determinar o preço justo nos contratos de mútuo financeiro com vistas a estabelecer parâmetros indicativos para a limitação das taxas de juros no Direito Brasileiro, tanto nas operações praticadas no âmbito civil quanto naquelas contratadas junto ao Sistema Financeiro Nacional
This study proposes an analysis of the theme of usury in the thinking of St. Thomas Aquinas to determine its applicability to the question of compensatory interest as it is now understood under Brazilian Law. Initially Aquinass concept is evaluated in the light of its triple base: Natural Law, which considers the sterility ofmoney and natural justice; Human Law, seen here as Roman Law, from which the notion offungibility of money and the conceptualization of mutuum agreements are derived; and Divine Law, taken by St. Thomas as a means of corroborating what is deduced from the other laws.Next, the critical issues involving interest and their usurious extrapolation are evaluated in the sphere of our national legal system, from both the perspectives of its historical evolution and of the discussions that involve the subject today. And finally, beginning with an appraisal of interest and usury compatible with the thinking of the Angelic Doctor, we will evaluate what woulddetermine the just price in mutuum contracts,seeking to establish parameters for an eventual limitation ofinterest rates in Brazilian Law, both in transactions involving non-banking entities and in those contracted within the National Financial System.

La deuda de intereses carece de regulación legal unitaria. Esta tesis tiene por objetivo destacar aquellas peculiaridades estructurales y sustanciales que le confieren un tratamiento específico dentro del Derecho de Obligaciones.

Desde planteamientos globales, el fundamento económico que parte de la productividad del capital, a través de teorías justificativas del devengo, coincide con la legitimidad de la deuda.

La evolución histórica explica su dimensión moral y dogmática y la intervención del legislador en la actualidad en un doble sentido: para advertir que no es libre el mercado monetario y para reprimir la usura, favoreciendo el equilibrio patrimonial.

Definición: obligación legal o voluntaria de entregar al acreedor una suma o cosa fungible homogénea con la principal y calculada por su disponibilidad temporal. De su naturaleza jurídica destacan tres caracteres estructurales: accesoriedad genética (no funcional, como manifiesta, por ejemplo, la posible prescripción extintiva independiente de la relación jurídica justificativa de su nacimiento), proporcionalidad (respecto a dos parámetros: la cuantía principal y el tiempo de disponibilidad) y pecuniariedad o fungibilidad, que configuran esta deuda genérica peculiar, con máxima aplicación del principio "genus nunquam perit".

El binomio Ley-voluntad privada debe relacionarse con la fuente de la obligación y con su determinación cuantitativa. La variación periódica del tipo de interés legal no evita la situación privilegiada de las deudas de demora tributarias y la desproporcionalidad comparativa e injustificada con deudas de intereses legales a tipo fijo. La cuantía de los intereses voluntarios se limita por la Ley de Usura de 1908, escasamente aplicada por la ausencia de criterios objetivos actualmente criticable, y por Derecho del consumo mediante el establecimiento de criterios esenciales de "transparencia" dirigidos a facilitar una correcta y adecuada información. La corrección del TAE se plantea, de "lege ferenda", precisamente por incumplir su pretendida función informativa sobre el coste total del crédito.

La productividad del capital justifica la equiparación frutos-intereses, destacándose devengo objetivo, independiente del rendimiento efectivo. Además, fundamenta la regla general de imputación preferente del pago de intereses en relación al capital, e incide en la posible resolución del contrato con obligaciones recíprocas por su impago, como indicio fundado de voluntad rebelde al cumplimiento.

Destacan dos funciones: retributiva (de contraprestación al acreedor principal por la detentación temporal del capital) y resarcitoria (que refuerza a la anterior a través de la presunción "iuris et de iure" del daño mínimo resarcible por mora "debitoris", especialidad del régimen de responsabilidad contractual).

La regla general presuntiva de la onerosidad resuelve la aparente antinomia entre los artículos 1755 y 1756 del Código Civil, mediante la presunción "iuris tantum" de que los intereses pagados no estipulados eran debidos, por lo que no pueden repetirse, e implica una inversión de la carga de la prueba en contra del deudor, que deberá probar el error en el concepto del pago si pretende la restitución.
La exigibilidad de la deuda, tras el devengo determinado por su vencimiento, se relaciona con el replanteamiento jurisprudencial del principio "in illiquidis non fit mora", que permite reclamar intereses moratorios sobre la parte indiscutida reconocida por la resolución judicial.

El anatocismo, siempre de origen legal, confirma la tesis de la sustantividad funcional de la deuda, ya que consiste en un régimen propio de intereses moratorias sobre los compensatorios vencidos y no satisfechos que principia con su reclamación judicial, aunque el potencial sobreendeudamiento del deudor debiera corregirse.
The interest debt lacks a unitary regulation.

This thesis remarks the structural and substantial peculiarities conferred by its specific treatment in the area of the Law of Obligations, having considered its economic basis.

The historical evolution explains its moral and dogmatic dimension and the legislative intervention to indicate that the credit market is not free and to restrain usury, favouring patrimonial balance.

Definition: legal or voluntary obligation consisting of handing the creditor a sum or fungible thing homogeneous to the principal and calculated in proportion to the period of availability. This peculiar generic debt, for which the rule "genus nunquam perit" has its maximum applicability, is genetically accessory (whilst not functionally, as proven, for instance, by the possibility of independent lapse), proportional (to the principal and to the period of availability) and pecuniary or fungible.

The dualism Law-private will have to be connected with the source and with the quantitative determination of the obligation. The periodical variation of the legal interest rate does not prevent the privilege of tax paying delay or the disproportion with debts at a fix rate. The Spanish Usury Law (1908), very seldom implemented, limited the quantity of interest established voluntarily, and Consumers Legislation prescribes "transparence". The "T.A.E." should be corrected for it does not attain its informative purpose.

The productivity of capital justifies the equalization fruits (returns)-interest, emphasizing its objective yield, independently of the effective one. It also explains the preferential imputation of payment to interest and it affects the possibility of rescission of a contract generating reciprocal obligations when interest is not paid.

Two functions stand out: retribution (exchange) and reparation ("iuris et de iure" presumption of minimum due compensation for delay in payment: speciality of contract responsibility).

Onerousity solves the apparent contradiction between articles 1755/1756 Cc, presuming "iuris tantum" that paid interest was owed in spite of non-stipulation.

Judicial revision of the rule "in iliquidis non fit mora" allows interest tor delay to be claimed on the uncontested fraction previously declared by the Court.
The specific rules for interest yielded by interest ("anatocismo") require correction to prevent potential overindebtment.

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Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa
The practice on interest on lent is present in everyday life. The Bible dealt with this issue, and the matter was a subject treated in the Code of Hammurabi and in the Roman Law. The loan interest, in the Middle Ages, was important to promote development, trade, marine exploration trips, and even in the Crusades. The Christian Church simultaneously condemned the practice of usury, that is, the lent on interest. But sometimes it not only authorized the practice, the Church did also benefit from it. Calvin, although personally contrary to the practice of lent on interest, realized the impossibility of its abolition and showed himself in favor of the lent on interest. Nonetheless, he separated between the loan for consumption and the loan for production, to be used to promote development. In his understanding, the loan for production was fair because the borrower, working out the money, intends to obtain a superior amount than the money taken. However, conscious that the interest affects directly the cost of living, resulting negatively to the poor, Calvin restricts and systematizes the loan on interest to aim two targets: 1) Our actions must glorify God; 2) Our benefits must affect positively the surrounding community.
A prática do empréstimo a juros sempre esteve presente na vida das pessoas, visto que a Bíblia, o Código de Hamurabi e o Direito Romano já tratavam do assunto. O empréstimo a juros na Idade Média foi importante para promover o desenvolvimento, sendo utilizado no comércio, nas viagens marítimas, e até mesmo nas épocas das Cruzadas. A Igreja Cristã, ao mesmo tempo em que condenava a prática da usura, isto é, empréstimo a juros, por muitas vezes não só autorizou mas, também, usufruiu de ganhos adquiridos com juros. Calvino, apesar de contrário à prática do empréstimo a juros, mas por perceber que seria impossível aboli-lo, manifestou-se de certa forma favorável à temática em questão. Todavia, separou o empréstimo de consumo, do empréstimo de produção, o qual foi utilizado para promover o desenvolvimento. No entender de Calvino, o empréstimo de produção era justo, pois, o que empresta nesta linha de ganho, pretende ganhar outro tanto superior o valor emprestado. Mas, consciente que os juros afetam diretamente o custo de vida, e os menos favorecidos financeiramente serão os mais afligidos, restringe e sistematiza o empréstimo a juros, com a dupla finalidade: 1) que as nossas atitudes glorifiquem a Deus; 2) que devem beneficiar a comunidade em que vivemos.

The major purpose of this dissertation is to explore the determinants of interest cost for state bonds. Various kinds of variables pertaining to issue characteristics, market characteristics, economic conditions, and political variables were statistically tested to assess their impact on the interest cost of state bonds. This research examines the variables found to be significant for local bonds, as well as some factors unique to state bonds, e.g., the types state agencies issuing debt and the effect of different state income tax policies.

Inspired by the visual allegory ("Conquista, embarcáronse a las Indias" fol. 73 of the Nueva corónica), Legnani contends that the development of the laws of peoples (jus gentium) by 16th century Spanish jurists should be analyzed within the corpus of commercial law (lex mercatoria) employed by sea merchants, bankers and mercenaries throughout the 15th and 16th centuries. This dissertation explores the movement from figure to fiction in discourses of capital and violence.
Romance Languages and Literatures

The dynamics of our globalised world open the way for international trade and transactions between different countries; this may lead to conflicts in laws where transactions and trade may be subject to different legal systems. One of the biggest issues in international commercial law is disputes over the charging of interest, for example with regard to late payment, interest-based loans, or compensation for damages. Interest disputes are considered to be a complex area of law and even more complex in the international field. At the international level, interest claims may be connected to many areas of commerce and thus governed by various laws, which are different from one country to another; moreover, each country has its own interest rate and such rates are changeable according to the nature of law and economics under some jurisdictions. Furthermore, the concept of interest itself is affected by influences such as religious beliefs and economic, political and cultural trends. Interest can be treated as a substantive or a procedural matter. The settlement of these disputes therefore faces difficulties. Arbitration, as a method for settlement of disputes, is characterised by special features that assist in resolving these issues; but it faces some obstructions, especially in international commercial arbitration. The practices of arbitral tribunals and national courts in this regard are different. The results of different interpretations, approaches, and theories with regard to arbitration, at the pre-arbitration, during arbitration and post-arbitration stages, may also differ widely due to the diversity of financial and legal systems such as Common Law, Civil Law and the Islamic legal system – Sharia Law – across different countries. Each legal system has a different methodology and theories, even within an individual country under one legal system, and a state within a federal system has its own laws, which may have different interpretations in this respect. The New York Convention of 1958 on enforcing foreign arbitral awards was established in favour of arbitral awards and for the purpose of unifying international rules of arbitration. This Convention provides some procedural and substantive rules for the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, but also provides some grounds for refusal. These rules have been affected by different interpretations under different jurisdictions and legal systems, which lead to different perspectives on the matter of charging interest and settlement by arbitration. The outcome of applying the NYC under these interpretations often has the opposite of its intended effect: the rejection of foreign arbitral awards. Due to such ambiguities, courts occasionally intervene in arbitration in all its stages. The interventions of national courts occur in three stages: enforcement of the arbitration agreement, enforcement of the contract under the applicable law to the agreement, and enforcement of the foreign arbitral award. The confusion between substantive and procedural laws also creates confusion with respect to public policy, non-arbitrability and enforceability. In addition, there may be a lack of clarity on the scope of arbitration with respect to the parties’ agreement, whether or not the parties have agreed to the interest rates and periods and whether or not they have agreed to the authority of the arbitrator. These issues affect the enforceability of an arbitration agreement, the law applicable to the disputed contract, the freedom of parties, the authority of the arbitrators and the enforceability of the awarded interest. The thesis studies how arbitral awards containing interest have been interpreted across the three aforementioned legal systems under the NYC 1958 in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, England, France, and the US and the enforceability of such awards.

La crise économique de 2008 a secoué l’économie mondiale en laissant des séquelles dans divers secteurs, notamment dans celui de la banque dont le mode de fonctionnement et le rôle d’intermédiation ont montré leurs limites. La pratique de l’intérêt et la mise en œuvre du mécanisme de la spéculation ont été à l’origine de ces crises contemporaines. Face à cet événement des économistes, des politiques, voire même des banquiers, se sont levés pour trouver une issue à cette turbulence financière. Les premiers rapports et travaux rendus ont été presque tous orientés vers une problématique commune, les uns proposent une finance alternative à la finance conventionnelle et d’autres plaident pour une finance plus éthique. Les solutions suggérées recoupent les principes de la finance islamique. Cette dernière fonctionne en conformité avec les règles de la loi islamique : l’interdiction du riba, de la spéculation, ou encore l’application du principe de partage des profits et des pertes, alternative au riba dans le système islamique. Si du point de vue économique l’intégration de l’industrie islamique dans le système financier français ne pose pas de souci, tel ne semble pas être le cas au regard des règles juridiques qui gouvernent l’organisation et le fonctionnement des banques en France et celles qui régissent le droit des contrats. C’est pour cette raison, qu’il est nécessaire de voir si la banque islamique remplit toutes les conditions requises pour être érigée au rang d’une banque au sens des dispositions du Code monétaire et financier, autrement dit l’intérêt est-il une condition nécessaire pour une opération de crédit, permettant par la même occasion de qualifier une institution de banque ? Ces interrogations ne se limitent pas seulement sur le plan organisationnel, elles s’étendent aussi au fonctionnement de cette banque, car leur régime juridique et la qualification des produits utilisés dans ces banques islamiques méritent un examen judicieux afin d’en déduire le droit applicable en cas de contentieux. Notre thèse se propose d’apporter des solutions à ces interrogations ou, à tout le moins, d’essayer de trouver des voies pour faciliter l’accueil et l’intégration de ces banques en France
The economic crisis of 2008 shook the worldwide economy by leaving after-effects in various sectors, in particular in that of the bank where its operating process and its role of intermediation showed their limits. The practice of the interest and the placement of the mechanism of the speculation were at the origin of these contemporary crises. The first returned reports and work all were almost directed towards common problems, the ones propose an alternative finance with conventional finance and others plead for a more ethical finance. These suggested solutions recut with the principles of Islamic finance. The latter functions in accordance with the rules of the Islamic law: the prohibition of the riba, the speculation and the application of the principle of division of the profits and the losses, the alternate one of the riba in the Islamic system. So from an economic standpoint the integration of Islamic industry in the French financial system does not pose a concern such does not seem to be the case taking into consideration those and legal rule which controls the organization and the operation of the banks in France which governs the contract law. It is the interest for this reason, that is it is necessary to see whether the Islamic bank meets all the requirements to be set up with the row of a bank within the meaning of the provisions of the monetary and financial Code, in other words a requirement for an operation of credit and allowing by the same occasion to qualify an institution of bank? These interrogations are not limited only on the organisational level, they also extend on operation from this bank, because their legal mode and the qualification of the products used in these Islamic banks deserves a judicious examination in order to deduce the applicable duty in the event of dispute from it. Our thesis is harnessed to bring solutions to these interrogations or at least to try to find ways to facilitate the reception and the integration of these banks in France

Il presente progetto di ricerca, avente ad oggetto gli interessi monetari e i profili civilistici dell’usura, cerca di offrire una ricostruzione storico-sistematica di questi istituti, quale sostrato indispensabile per affrontare poi le problematiche attualmente più delicate e controverse in materia, come il tema dell’usura sopravvenuta, la rilevanza usuraria degli interessi moratori e il difficile inquadramento degli oneri commissionali. Lo studio prende le mosse da una ricostruzione storica delle usurae, sia da un punto di vista giuridico, sia sui piani economico ed etico. Nel ripercorrere tale evoluzione, dall'epoca romana sino ai giorni nostri, viene messo in luce come tale tematica, innestandosi nel tessuto socio–economico di volta in volta rilevante, abbia conosciuto stagioni significativamente diverse, passando da un sistema in cui le usurae erano ammesse, seppur con alcune limitazioni, ad un lungo periodo di divieti, per tornare infine ad una loro reintroduzione a partire dall'Ottocento, ormai resa imprescindibile a fronte del ruolo produttivo assunto dal capitale e delle assolute peculiarità riconosciute al bene denaro. Il lavoro passa quindi ad effettuare un’analisi sistematica dell’istituto degli interessi monetari, spesso ridotto ad una descrizione della struttura dell’obbligazione o a partizioni funzionali tra loro contrapposte, nel tentativo di offrirne una visione d’insieme. Viene poi analizzata la disciplina delle limitazioni previste dal nostro ordinamento in tema di interessi monetari, come le prescrizioni sulla forma, le conseguenze per il caso del pagamento di interessi non dovuti, la disciplina dell’anatocismo e, ovviamente, la dibattuta regolamentazione dell’usura che ha posto una serie di questioni ermeneutiche sulle quali gli autori si sono confrontati per decenni, a partire dall'intricato coordinamento tra la disciplina civile e quella penale in merito. Le menzionate ricostruzioni degli interessi monetari e dell’usura consentono, infine, di affrontare le problematiche applicative oggi più rilevanti in materia, nel tentativo di individuare delle possibili soluzioni interpretative per una composizione delle numerose fratture che emergono nel dibattito quotidiano.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
法律學研究所
101
Criminal law 344th - Crime of Usury is a law that is widely applicable and has been frequently used in judicial practice. However, the reasoning behind the designs and the explanations of this law — i.e. its legal interests — are highly questionable. This thesis, based on the legal interest theory, questions the justification of the usury law. In the financial history of Taiwan, usury could be seen as a negative indicator of the robustness of the financial system; the usury behavior increased when there were flaws or imperfections in the financial system at that time and played an important role in providing short term funds to the financial support demanders. In the current legal system, usury has been categorized as one kind of property crimes. However, by examining the current usury law with the victim commitment theory, the author found there is no justification for the “urgency” and “recklessness” scenarios, which are stated in the current usury law, to deny the genuineness of the victim’s commitment. After examining other possible legally protected interest and still failing to find any justification, the author concluded the current usury law is unjustifiable from the perspective of the personal legally protected interest theory. From the historical background of the usury law in Germany, we could find a close connection between the usury law and the reflection of the Liberalism; there is a clear sign that the society’s expectation to social welfare has had a significant impact on the legislation of the usury law. Similarly, due to the society’s disparagement and the harsh punishment against usury, the legislation of the usury law in Taiwan has become neither the concern about the legally protected interest nor the feedback of the social conscience, but the result of the political considerations instead. This thesis argues that, as usury is merely one way to provide financial funds, the law that forbids such behavior not only conceals the real problems of the financial system, but also impedes the liquidity demanders from obtaining necessary funds. Such a law cannot be justified by either the legal interest theory or the utilitarian benefit measurements. Thus, the author concludes usury should be decriminalized. Finally, even if usury cannot be immediately decriminalized due to the current legislation trends, the author still like to suggest law makers to reconstruct the current usury crime based on the constitution elements of the usury crime in Germany to justify its position as a property crime.

La gestione dei costi del rapporto di finanziamento bancario rappresenta un terreno privilegiato d’indagine per comprendere le dinamiche degli assetti di forza e degli equilibri economici nei contratti di durata. Dal momento della negoziazione a quello esecutivo, emergono infatti plurime chiavi di lettura del sistema di distribuzione dei rischi e di manutenzione della relazione economica. L’insieme dei problemi suscitati dalla prassi fornisce, da questo punto di vista, notevoli indicazioni e consente di delineare rimedi efficienti ed equi nel ventaglio di ipotesi che possono presentarsi innanzi all’operatore giuridico, nel caso in cui il rapporto sia staticamente o dinamicamente sbilanciato a causa dell’opportunismo contrattuale o di una sopravvenienza rilevante. Autonomia privata e assetto giurisdizionale in senso ampio svolgono un ruolo essenziale in una realtà che muta continuamente forma, mescolandosi alla sfuggente materia economico-finanziaria: per questo motivo, è più che mai indispensabile ricostruire l’armamentario interpretativo del giurista a partire dall’analisi sul campo della giurisprudenza e della prassi bancaria. In tal modo, viene in evidenza l’insufficienza di soluzioni rigidamente dogmatiche: è preferibile, invece, differenziare le scelte rimediali sulla base di un’analisi multilivello, che coniughi il profilo economico con la dimensione etica del rapporto contrattuale. The cost management of bank financing represents an excellent topic to deal with the dynamics of economic balances in long-term contracts. From the moment of negotiation to the executive one, in fact, several keys to understanding the risk distribution system and the maintenance of the economic relationship emerge. The set of problems raised by the practice provides, from this point of view, significant indications and allows to outline efficient and equitable remedies in the range of hypotheses that may arise before the legal operator, in the event that the relationship is statically or dynamically unbalanced due to contractual opportunism or a significant contingency. Private autonomy and jurisdiction in a broad sense play an essential role in a reality that constantly changes form, mixing with the elusive economic-financial matter: for this reason, it is more than ever essential to reconstruct the interpretative instruments of the jurist starting from the analysis on the field of jurisprudence and banking practice. In this way, the insufficiency of strictly dogmatic solutions is highlighted: it is preferable, in fact, to differentiate the remedial choices based on a multilevel analysis, which combines the economic profile with the ethical dimension of the contractual relationship.

LL.M. (Banking Law)
The charging of interest and the variation thereof throughout the term of a credit agreement has, in a modern South Africa, become the rule rather than the exception. This is so because in a constant evolving economy it will not be viable for large financial institutions to commit themselves to fixed interest rates especially where a credit agreement such as a mortgage agreement may extend over many years. With this comes the question as to the extent of a credit provider’s discretion to vary interest rates and the manner in which it purports to do so. Naturally where the National Credit Act finds application in respect of a credit agreement the provisions thereof relating to interest and the variation thereof will determine whether a clause allowing a credit provider to vary the interest rate unilaterally is valid and enforceable. However in instances where the National Credit Act is not applicable to a certain credit agreement, especially in the case where the consumer is a juristic person, the interest rate levied and the variation thereof will fall to be decided in terms of the common law. The application of the common law in this regard is not without difficulty and there have been many conflicting decisions of our courts in this regard. Whilst the supreme court of appeal has finally decided on the matter of discretionary interest rate clauses it is no doubt that this issue will surface for many years to come. This dissertation explains the comparative positions of interest rate and variable interest rate clauses in terms of the National Credit Act and the common law.

This diploma thesis attempts to explain the background of the origin of Islamic interest-free banking, where the first part of the thesis is devoted to the attitudes of ancient jurisdictions towards interest in the Old Testament and the Christian middle ages. It also tries to explain the basic principles of Islamic banking's functioning, the specific products it offers, and to show its position and practices in selected Muslim and European countries.