Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance - 54th Weekly Meeting

Dear all

At the 54th session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance on Friday 28 May 2010, from 6.00 to 8.00pm, in room 5.16, 309 Regent Street (University of Westminster), Ms Rezarte Vukatana, PhD student at the University of Westminster, will give a presentation on “Intermediated Securities”.

The concept of “intermediated securities” is as old as that of ‘securities’ and ‘intermediaries’, yet it is still in pursuit of its own identity. Those who attended the 52nd session of the PFLF may recall that Mr Andrea Calvi in his lecture on “Rome I and II Regulation: the Impact of Recent Developments in Conflict of Laws (in Contract and Tort) over Financial Intermediation” discussed the problems of conflict of law in the financial intermediation arena. Rezarte looks at the same area, but from the perspective of the substantial nature of securities once they have entered the financial intermediation circuit.

During her presentation, Rezarte will briefly describe how the metamorphosis of the securities from tangible into intangible asset has transformed the markets into this complex, inflated, uncontrollable, ‘necessary evil’ creature that is controlling and defining our financial expectations. She will unveil before us both a macro and micro view of the securities in the hands of the intermediaries followed by a discussion of the current legal reforms on this subject matter. Finally Rezarte will formulate critical questions as to the effectiveness of the fragmented approaches of the legislators worldwide towards the global phenomenon of the intermediated securities system.

Without further intermediation, at 8.00pm we will head to Vapiano (19-21 Great Portland Street, W1W 8QB).

Lastly, I grab the occasion to start advertising the 2010 Westminster Graduate Conference on “Law and Politics: Democracy, Human Rights and Power” which will take place on Friday 11 June from 9.00am to 8.00pm in room 3.58, 309 Regent Street (University of Westminster). Please find all details at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=122493041115411 . Attendance is free but you may reserve a seat by emailing Samantha King S.King5@westminster.ac.uk. For more information please email Laura at l.niada@my.westminster.ac.uk

See you on Friday!
Laura

Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance - 54th Weekly Meeting

Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance - 52nd Weekly Meeting

Dear all

At the 52nd session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance on Friday 14 May 2010, from 6.00 to 7.30pm, in room 5.16, 309 Regent Street (University of Westminster), Mr Andrea Calvi will give a lecture on “Rome I and II Regulations: the Impact of Recent Developments in Conflict of Laws (in Contract and Tort) over Financial Intermediation”

Mr Calvi is a partner of Loiacono e Associati, and a leading expert in complex financial litigation in Italy. His talk will discuss the ‘European international private law revolution’ taking us through the EU regulatory framework created by the EC Treaty, Rome I and Rome II Regulations on the law applicable to contractual and non-contractual obligations. Mr Calvi will argue that the EU institutions, by regulating the conflicts of laws, have followed Constantine’s strategy when he institutionalized Christianity within the Roman Empire: “if you cannot fight an enemy, make him your friend”.

Mr Calvi consequently identifies the potential and limits of the EU regulation and analyses in particular the case of financial intermediation. His lecture will deal with questions such as: against a derivative contract governed by English law: (i) What if a Swedish municipality opposes ex post its legal incapacity under its own administrative law to execute derivative transactions? (ii) What if an Italian middle-size bank claims a breach of Continental European bona fide before an English Court that is familiar with caveat emptor? (iii) What if that contract would be eligible to claw back under the law governing the insolvency proceeding, but not under its governing law?

All roads, after the seminar, lead to Vapiano (19-21 Great Portland Street, W1W 8QB) for Italian-style refreshments.

Furthermore, we would like to invite you to join the Linkedin group “Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance”. You can access the group at http://www.linkedin.com/groups?homeNewMember=&gid=3034190&trk=eml-grp-sub (for any enquiry please email Laura Niada at l.niada@my.westminster.ac.uk)

See you on Friday!
Joe and Laura

Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance - 52nd Weekly Meeting