{"title":"The right to defence in proceedings in the case of a financial penalty being imposed for infringement of banking law by a supervisory authorities in Germany and Poland","authors":"Weronika Stawińska-Artecka","doi":"10.4467/22996834flr.22.018.16527","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4467/22996834flr.22.018.16527","url":null,"abstract":"The article aims to present the model of proceedings in the case of a financial penalty being imposed for infringement of banking law in Poland and Germany and verify whether the parties' right to defence is ensured. The above issue is extremely topical, especially in light of the number and amount of financial penalties imposed by banking supervisory authorities. The article's thesis assumes that the legal regulations in force in Poland and Germany make the indicated guarantee a reality. The article highlights the role of financial market supervisory authorities, whose activities, including the imposition of financial penalties, translate into the safety of the banking sector. Detecting and then sanctioning banking law violations motivates financial market participants not to commit such violations. First, based on an analysis of judicial decisions and international law norms, the criteria that an exemplary model implementing the principle of the right to defence should meet were established. On the other hand, the following part of the article compares the legal framework in Poland and Germany and verifies whether the legal provisions provide the parties with the guarantees in question when imposing a financial penalty for violations of banking law.","PeriodicalId":54052,"journal":{"name":"European Company and Financial Law Review","volume":"309 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73469855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Golden Power and Anti-Takeover Corporate Mechanisms","authors":"Francesca Prenestini","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.4075962","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4075962","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract 591 The golden power regime allows the Italian government – as a last resort, if facing a threat to national interests – to oppose the acquisition of control of companies operating in strategic sectors. This article analyses the relationship between golden power and anti-takeover mechanisms provided for by Italian law, with particular focus on anti-takeover defensive techniques and increased voting rights. The study aims to identify methods of interference and overlaps between external and internal defence tools so as to understand if, when, and under which limits internal corporate defence mechanisms can represent a valid (and desirable) alternative to the use of golden power in precluding the acquisition of corporate control. The analysis shows that where the acquisition of control is more contentious, all available defence tools potentially come into play and the difference in purpose between the diverse regimes justifies the usefulness of golden power.592","PeriodicalId":54052,"journal":{"name":"European Company and Financial Law Review","volume":"19 1","pages":"591 - 621"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42388773","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A New Start for the European Private Company: The Draft Statute for a “Société Européenne Simplifiée” (SES)","authors":"Dirk A. Verse","doi":"10.1515/ecfr-2022-0021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ecfr-2022-0021","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract 654 In February 2021, an international group of experts under the auspices of the French lawyers’ association Henri Capitant published a draft statute for a “European Simplified Company” (Société Européenne Simplifiée, SES). The draft intends no less than to revive the idea of a European Private Company (SPE), albeit in a modified manner. Unlike the SPE proposal, the SES initiative does not exclusively aim at adopting an EU regulation under Art. 352 TFEU that requires the consent of all 27 Member States. Instead, it is open for alternatives to EU-wide regulation, be it by way of enhanced cooperation under Art. 20 TEU or an international treaty between the interested Member States. In June 2021, the SES initiative gained the support of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly calling on the French and German governments to intensify their efforts in working towards a supra-national private company on the basis of the SES proposal.It is against this background that the present article seeks to analyse the objectives and main features of the Draft SES Statute. In the author’s view, the SES initiative should be welcomed as it seeks to fill an evident gap in the existing EU company law framework. The paper concludes that, despite several concerns that still need to be addressed, the Association Henri Capitant’s Draft SES Statute provides a solid and suitable basis for the consultations to come. 655","PeriodicalId":54052,"journal":{"name":"European Company and Financial Law Review","volume":"19 1","pages":"654 - 684"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45027970","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A More Socio-Environmentally Responsive Way to Organise the Firm? A Case Study on Danish Social Enterprise Law","authors":"J. S. Liptrap","doi":"10.1515/ecfr-2022-0017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ecfr-2022-0017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract 517 It has been claimed that social enterprises have the capacity to counteract the negative impact that business has had on the environment, inequality and social cohesion. Yet, such claims remain largely untested – commentators have not attempted to actually apply insights from the social enterprise law context to debates within the wider field of corporate governance. A primary reason for this inconsistency is that, from a European perspective, there is a dearth of scholarship that aims to analytically model social enterprise law. This is problematic because there is not an established body of work from which commentators can draw. In turn, the scope for effectively leveraging social enterprise law within more mainstream corporate sustainability discourses is hindered. This article contributes an analytical model of Danish social enterprise law to the literature. The hope is that this case study will encourage, and equip, commentators to not only claim that social enterprise law has applicability in progressive corporate reform debates, but to also show directly how, and where, this might be so.","PeriodicalId":54052,"journal":{"name":"European Company and Financial Law Review","volume":"19 1","pages":"517 - 555"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45340332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Binding Capital to Free Purpose: Steward Ownership in Germany","authors":"Anne Sanders","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.4144623","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4144623","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract 622This paper discusses steward ownership, a concept of business ownership aiming at long-term and purpose-oriented entrepreneurship developed in Germany. Steward ownership can be seen in the context of the current worldwide discussion of corporate purpose and legal innovations like the US-American benefit corporation and the French société a mission has developed a unique approach. The concept is currently put into practice using German company law and the law of foundations. However, in the coalition agreement of the current German government, a new legal form is envisaged to facilitate the founding of steward-owned businesses. The paper presents the concepts and discusses a draft law developed as food for thought for the legislature.","PeriodicalId":54052,"journal":{"name":"European Company and Financial Law Review","volume":"19 1","pages":"622 - 653"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46731567","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Loyalty Shares: an International Perspective. A Suitable Instrument to Fight Short-Termism?","authors":"I. Torres","doi":"10.1515/ecfr-2022-0018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ecfr-2022-0018","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract 556 The Act 5/2021, April the 12th, that modifies the Spanish Companies Act, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/2010 of 2nd July (“LSC”) goes beyond the Transposition of Directive 2017/828 and introduces ex novo “loyalty shares” within the Spanish Companies Act (Official Journal, April 13th). This novelty is an evolution in the corporate legislation, the purposes of which is to encourage long-term ownership. Under the self-explanatory heading “Additional loyalty votes”, the law implementing Directive 2017/828/EC introduces a set of rules (Arts. 527 ter to 527 undecies) fundamentally equipollent to the ones already in place in both France and Italy and, more recently, in Belgium. According to the preamble to the Bill, long-term ownership is a new concept promoted by policy makers (including the European Commission), some institutional investors, stakeholders and even issuers who have been facing for a while an increasing pressure to maximize short term results. Against this background, the question that immediately arises (duly discussed in this paper) is whether loyalty shares really promote long-term ownership. More intriguingly, the question is whether short termism is really a problem for listed corporations. The short term vs. long term dichotomy has led us to analyse the rise of the prominent role played by “activist” investors. If short termism exists, are loyalty shares the proper mechanism whereby a real change can really materialise? Moreover, are these new instruments the right solution to overcome the entrenched shareholder apathy and, therefore, the key to achieve their engagement?557","PeriodicalId":54052,"journal":{"name":"European Company and Financial Law Review","volume":"19 1","pages":"556 - 590"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44451837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"E-Sport and Taxes. Selected Issues","authors":"Michał Biliński","doi":"10.4467/22996834flr.22.015.16322","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4467/22996834flr.22.015.16322","url":null,"abstract":"The article presents reflections on several selected issues of tax law that occur in the area of a new and emerging field of the so-called e-sport. Firstly, the features of such activity were analyzed and the question whether it could be classified within the concept of sport was answered. Next, the affirmative conclusion allowed for the consideration of a number of dilemmas related to the choice of the correct tax regime for income obtained in the sphere of professional gaming.","PeriodicalId":54052,"journal":{"name":"European Company and Financial Law Review","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90838183","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"SICAV in the Czech Republic – success story of continuing failure?","authors":"Filip Horák","doi":"10.4467/22996834flr.22.013.16320","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4467/22996834flr.22.013.16320","url":null,"abstract":"This paper explores the introduction of SICAV in Czech law, its development and the related difficulties including the tax perspective. Although this legal form helped to boost the collective investment sector in the Czech Republic, in particular for qualified investors’ funds, it is under constant threat of law amendments, which have a negative impact on further progress in the popularity of SICAVs as well as other forms of investment funds.\u0000\u0000SICAV, as a legal form governed by both private (corporate) and public (regulatory) law, presents a good example of how the two sets of partly autonomous rules may clash and cause undesirable effects. The paper highlights the main inefficiencies and discrepancies, which lead to interpretation difficulties and legal uncertainty.\u0000\u0000The hypothesis of this paper lies in investigating how local factors in one country, such as the influence of other pieces of legislation and tax environment, negatively impact solutions and models which are standardised and successfully deployed across the EU.\u0000\u0000It is argued that not only legal and regulatory aspects determine the popularity of investment funds, but a wider landscape, including the activities and approach of the supervisory authority and network of professionals (legal and tax advisors or auditors), plays a crucial role in capital markets development","PeriodicalId":54052,"journal":{"name":"European Company and Financial Law Review","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76606641","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Plebiscite model of participatory budgeting and public values in Poland","authors":"Urszula K. Zawadzka-Pąk","doi":"10.4467/22996834flr.22.014.16321","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4467/22996834flr.22.014.16321","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this article is to conduct an axiological and legal analysis of the most popular model of participatory budgeting in Poland (the plebiscite model), being a special form of public consultation that allows the residents to decide each year on a part of the commune’s budget expenditure by direct voting. According to the paper’s hypothesis, both the PB legal rules as well as the practice of its application in Poland are not axiologically neutral, which means that they have a positive or negative impact on certain public values, appropriately strengthening or violating them. In the research, the combination of three coherent methods was used: (i) a literature analysis, (ii) the dogmatic and legal method, and (iii) interviews conducted with three groups of PB participants, i.e. municipal officials responsible for the organization of PB procedure, municipal councillors, and residents. The research covers six Polish cities and bases on a catalogue of nodal public values including: human dignity, sustainability, citizen involvement, openness, secrecy, compromise, integrity, and robustness. The research leads to the conclusion that the plebiscite BP in Poland is not axiologically neutral, its rules have both a positive and negative impact on particular nodal public values, however the scale of negative impact is greater than the scale of the positive one.","PeriodicalId":54052,"journal":{"name":"European Company and Financial Law Review","volume":"7 6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90512871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Specialized Literature and Methodology on Nigerian Stock Market","authors":"J. Ajayi","doi":"10.4467/22996834flr.22.016.16323","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4467/22996834flr.22.016.16323","url":null,"abstract":"The efficiency of securities market has generated a lot of controversy over four decades in finance and economic discussions leading to some people accepting or rejecting the efficient market hypothesis. Hence this paper examines the growing body of empirical research on efficient market hypothesis on the Nigerian capital market for the past twelve years (2010-2021). The paper particularly surveys empirical research and specialized literature as it relates to the Nigerian capital market. The paper is purely empirical research that have been published in various academic journals on the Nigerian capital market. Findings from the empirical research show that there has been no consensus on the efficiency of the Nigerian capital market. However, the market seems to be efficient in the weak-form. The conclusion of this paper is that there are inherent difficulties in testing for market efficiency in developing countries capital market due to certain market imperfections that could affect the informational efficiency of the market.","PeriodicalId":54052,"journal":{"name":"European Company and Financial Law Review","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83291301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}