Identifying a system-neutral meaning of a title transfer financial collateral arrangement in the Financial Collateral Directive

European Union (EU) directives adopt a functional method. This implies that they are drafted on the assumptions that implementing laws are functionally equivalent and, crucially, that the concepts they contain are system neutral without doctrinal commitment. This article primarily tests these assumptions by exploring the definition of title transfer financial collateral arrangements (TTFCA) in the Financial Collateral Directive. It is argued that the Directive offers a stable meaning of a TTFCA that can be identified in most systems, although, in some cases, there are slight conceptual tensions that require a more contextual, rather than a functional, perspective.