Company Law and Economic Protectionism: New Challenges to European Integration
Ulf Bernitz and Wolf-Georg Ringe
Abstract
The financial crisis has brought about a revival of state protectionism across the globe. Most Western leaders have made a virtue of big government and state intervention; bail-outs and Sovereign Wealth Funds have been among the first responses to the economic contraction. Company law rules are one of the instruments frequently used to restrict or to discourage integration or to deter foreign investment. Examples of the new protectionism can be seen in a wide range of legislative and regulatory measures, for instance state measures preventing foreign takeovers, ‘golden shares’ or laws on forei ... More
The financial crisis has brought about a revival of state protectionism across the globe. Most Western leaders have made a virtue of big government and state intervention; bail-outs and Sovereign Wealth Funds have been among the first responses to the economic contraction. Company law rules are one of the instruments frequently used to restrict or to discourage integration or to deter foreign investment. Examples of the new protectionism can be seen in a wide range of legislative and regulatory measures, for instance state measures preventing foreign takeovers, ‘golden shares’ or laws on foreign direct investment targeting Sovereign Wealth Funds, mainly from Asia. This book presents research by a number of company law and EU law experts. The chapters cover a broad range of topics, spanning from takeovers/mergers over the one share-one vote debate through to the foreclosure of markets against Sovereign Wealth Funds.
Keywords:
financial crisis,
state protectionism,
state intervention,
Sovereign Wealth Funds,
company law,
foreign investment,
new protectionism,
takeovers,
mergers
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2010 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199591459 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2011 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199591459.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Ulf Bernitz, editor
Professor of European Law, Stockholm University and Director, Oxford/Stockholm Wallenberg Venture in European Law
Author Webpage
Wolf-Georg Ringe, editor
Lecturer in Law, University of Oxford
Author Webpage
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