Ankit Sharma[1], Himanshu Pabreja[2]

Introduction

The prohibition on the grant of financial assistance by a company to any person for the purpose of purchasing or acquiring the company’s own shares is typical of common law jurisdictions.[3] The practice was originally introduced in the United Kingdom after the Greene Committee expressed its disaffection with the practice of ‘asset stripping’ takeovers,[4] whereby the resources of the target company and its subsidiaries are used directly or indirectly to assist the purchaser financially to make the acquisition. Indeed, as the target company remains to be an empty shell, the practice is seen as liable to prejudicing the interests of the creditors of the target company, or of any shareholders who do not accept the offer for their shares to be acquired, or the existing shareholders of the company who are not extended an offer for purchase of their shares by such purchaser.^[5] Continue reading →

Isabelle Wenger, LL.M. in International Dispute Resolution at King’s College London

‘The dispute settlement system negotiated during the Uruguay Round seems to me still today an extraordinary achievement that comes close to a miracle. It seems to me to be wise not to take its existence for granted and to be guaranteed forever but to contribute to its consolidation and further developing in pursuing with circumspection and caution, but also with courage and in total independence, the road, which has been taken, and which has proved so far to be a notable success.’[1]

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