The Companies Act 71 of 2008 (“2008 Companies Act”) will have far reaching effects on the manner in which a company is formed and operated under South African company law and in particular entrenches the procedure that must be followed by a company when acquiring its own shares. The radical amendment of the capital maintenance rules by the introduction of the solvency and liquidity tests to the Companies Act 61 of 1973 has been carried forward under the 2008 Companies Act. These tests impose an obligation on a company to ensure that the company is both solvent and liquid at the time of the acquisition of its own shares and for a stated period thereafter. The 2008 Companies Act further brings the duties and liabilities of the directors in line with their current fiduciary duties in terms of common law. / Mercantile Law / LLM

La gouvernance des sociétés par actions canadiennes accorde une place aux créanciers, qui contribuent considérablement à leur financement. Les créanciers fournissent une prestation en échange d’une promesse d’être payé plus tard, de sorte qu’ils sont en conflit d’agence avec d’autres parties prenantes de la société par actions, particulièrement les dirigeants. Principale voie procédurale des litiges en droit des sociétés, le recours en cas d’abus (ou « recours en oppression ») permet d’endiguer certains aspects de ce conflit d’agence en octroyant aux tribunaux de larges pouvoirs pour pallier les abus. Cette intervention judiciaire s’exprime par la théorie des attentes raisonnables, selon laquelle le tribunal doit protéger non seulement les droits des parties, mais également leurs attentes raisonnables. La jurisprudence permet de conclure à des attentes raisonnables relativement à l’information fournie par la société, au patrimoine social et au processus décisionnel des dirigeants. Elle laisse également entrevoir une attente raisonnable à l’égard des modifications du partage des risques découlant d’un événement imprévisible. / Creditors feature prominently in the corporate governance of Canadian business corporations and significantly contribute to their funding. Creditors perform in exchange for a promise to be paid later, so that they are in an agency conflict with other stakeholders of the corporation, especially managers. The main procedural route for litigation in corporate law, the oppression remedy helps curb some aspects of the agency conflict by granting courts broad powers to remedy oppressive conduct. This judicial intervention is expressed through the theory of reasonable expectations, which states that the court must not only protect the legal rights of the parties but also their reasonable expectations. The case law shows that creditors have reasonable expectations toward the information provided by the corporation, its assets and the decision-making process of managers and directors. It also suggests a reasonable expectation with respect to changes in the sharing of risks arising from an unforeseeable event.

Sammanfattning Den som är under arton år är omyndig, vilket innebär att denne inte får råda över sina tillgångar och ingå avtal med bindande verkan enligt FB 9 kap. 1§. Vanligtvis är den omyndiges föräldrar både vårdnadshavare och förmyndare för sitt barn. Det är förmyndares ansvar att förvalta barnets tillgångar. Överstiger värdet på dessa tillgångar åtta gånger prisbasbelopp eller har tillgångar ett särskilt ursprung och karaktär enligt FB 13 kap. 2§, står föräldraförvaltningen under överförmyndarens tillsyn. Det ger ett sakrättsligt skydd för barnets egendom i situationer när föräldrarna har råkat på utmätning eller konkurs. Understiger tillgångar denna gräns eller saknas krav på särskild överförmyndarkontroll står det föräldrarna fritt att bestämma hur de tillgångarna kan användas eller placeras enligt FB 13 kap. 1§. Dock stadgas det i FB 13 kap. 1 och 7§§ att barnets tillgångar skall hållas separat och det som inte används för barnets behov skall göras räntebärande. Föräldrar har underhållsplikt för sina barn enligt FB 7 kap. 1§ efter vad som är skäligt med hänsyn till barnets behov och föräldrarnas samlade ekonomiska förmåga samt den omyndiges tillgångar och sociala förmåner. Staten tilldelar varje barn bosatt i Sverige det allmänna barnbidraget. Bidraget är avsett för barnets uppfostran och uppehälle men utbetalas till barnets vårdnadshavare. Hur det allmänna barnbidraget skall användas står föräldrarna fritt så länge barnets behov är tillgodosedd. Storleken på det allmänna barnbidraget täcker endast en del av de kostnader som det innebär att ha ett barn i familjen. Detta är för att föräldrar har det primära försörjningsansvaret, medan statens ansvar är sekundärt. Föräldrar har således dispositionsrätt över det allmänna barnbidraget och kan välja att antingen använda hela beloppet eller att placera det på ett separat bankkonto för att säkra barnets ekonomi i framtiden. På vilket sätt hanteras detta konto avgör om tillgodohavandet kan sakrättsligt skyddas mot föräldrarnas borgenärer vid utmätningsärenden. / Abstract A person under the age of eighteen is underage, which means that he cannot reign over his own assets and cannot conclude legally binding agreements according to FB 9 chapter 1§. Usually it's the parents that have custody and guardianship of their child. It is the guardian's responsibility to manage the child's assets. If the value of the assets exceeds the eight base amount or if the assets have a particular origin (inheritance, legacy or gift) or character according to FB 13 chapter 2§ then parents conduct is the subject of the overguardian’s supervision. It obtains protection for the child's property against parents’ creditors in situations when parents are facing foreclosure or bankruptcy. If the underaged’s assets value is below that limit or if there’s no requirements for overguardian’s supervision, the parents can freely determine how these assets can be used or place money into a bank account according to the FB 13 chapter 1§. However, FB 13 chapter 1 and 7§§ requires that the child's assets shall be separated from parents property and what isn’t used for the child's needs shall bring interests. Parents have a duty of alimony for their children as stated by FB 7 chapter 1§ out of consideration for child’s reasonable needs and parents' overall economic capacity along with the child's own assets and social benefits. The state assigns each child resident in Sweden the universal child allowance which is intended for the child's upbringing and living expenses, but it is paid to the child's guardian. The parents decide freely way the universal child allowance is to be used, as long as the child's needs are satisfied. The amount of the universal child allowance covers only a part of the costs of having a child in the family. This is because the parents have the primary maintenance obligation, while the state's responsibility is secondary. Parents thus have disposition over the universal child allowance and may choose to spend either the whole amount for the child's needs or to place the amount in a separate bank account to secure the child's economy in the future. The way this account is managed determines whether the money can be protected against parental creditors at execution issues.

Good corporate governance should be the cornerstone of all company management. Directors ought to know in whose interests the company should be managed. This thesis attempts to answer the following question: whose interests must be granted primacy in the management of a company? In chapter 1 it is stated that shareholders' interests are traditionally granted primacy in the management of a company. There has, however, been a shift in public opinion towards recognition of a wider variety of interests that should be considered than only those of the shareholders. These interests include, inter alia, environmental interests and those of the investors, employees and consumers. This thesis thus focuses on the primary stakeholders, namely individual shareholders, creditors, employees, consumers and suppliers. In chapter 2 a theoretical foundation is provided on the nature of a company. The different theories on the nature of a company, emphasising either shareholder primacy or stakeholder protection, are discussed. A combined new theory is proposed. It is suggested that the confusion relating to the meaning of "the company" needs to be eliminated. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 provide an international comparison of the company law in Botswana, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The focus falls, firstly, on directors' duties, secondly, on the question in whose interests directors should manage a company and, thirdly, on the codification of their duties. In chapter 6 the South African position is evaluated. First, the possible stakeholders are identified and the protection currently afforded them is explained. The reports of the King Committee on Corporate Governance, the Policy Document on company law reform as well as the Companies Bill of 2007 are discussed. Draft clauses are recommended to be incorporated in new company legislation to provide directors with clarity on what is expected of them. It is the aim of this thesis to provide clarity on whose interests should receive primacy when directors manage a company. The outcome of this research should provide a clear indication to South African directors of what is expected of them and who the beneficiaries of their fiduciary duties are. / Law / LL.D.

The Companies Act 71 of 2008 (“2008 Companies Act”) will have far reaching effects on the manner in which a company is formed and operated under South African company law and in particular entrenches the procedure that must be followed by a company when acquiring its own shares. The radical amendment of the capital maintenance rules by the introduction of the solvency and liquidity tests to the Companies Act 61 of 1973 has been carried forward under the 2008 Companies Act. These tests impose an obligation on a company to ensure that the company is both solvent and liquid at the time of the acquisition of its own shares and for a stated period thereafter. The 2008 Companies Act further brings the duties and liabilities of the directors in line with their current fiduciary duties in terms of common law. / Mercantile Law / LLM

The issue addressed in this study is whether the South African insolvency law provides adequate debt relief measures to deal with the growing problem of overindebtedness amongst individuals. Against the background of a historical and comparative investigation this study focuses on a critical evaluation of debt relief measures provided for by the Insolvency Act 24 of 1936 as well as the alternative measures outside the ambit of the Insolvency Act. Although it is not a prime object of the Insolvency Act to afford the individual debtor a discharge of pre-sequestration debts it is a consequence of sequestration after rehabilitation of the debtor. Nevertheless, sequestration followed by rehabilitation is not readily available as a debt relief measure. This can mainly be attributed to the advantage for creditors requirement that can be viewed as an impediment to obtaining a fresh start for many individual debtors. This is also the debtor's position regarding debt relief provided by the procedure of composition in terms of the Insolvency Act, as it is currently only available after sequestration As far as creditors' interests are concerned, the efficiency of this requirement may also be questioned as statistics indicate that the sequestration process is implemented in instances where doing so is not cost-effective. It is furthermore submitted that the current alternative debt relief measures provided for by South African law are inadequate and that the problems encountered in practice regarding friendly sequestrations can to a great extent be attributed to this fact. In order to reserve sequestration for extreme cases, insolvency law reform aimed at preventing implementation of the sequestration process when doing so is not cost-effective is recommended. However, it is emphasised that these recommendations should only be implemented if provision is made for an adequate alternative debt relief measure that would accommodate debtors whose estates do not justify a concursus creditorum. It is submitted that the administration procedure in terms of section 74 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 32 of 1944 should be adjusted to offer the required debt relief by inter alia affording the debtor a discharge of his debts. It is furthermore submitted that this procedure should be combined with the pre-liquidation composition proposed by the South African law commission and that the combined procedure should only be open for implementation if an informal arrangement, coupled with debt counselling, cannot be reached. As regards international guidelines for insolvency law reform it is contended that South Africa should follow the example of other systems by fully embracing the fresh start approach. With regard to rehabilitation in terms of the Insolvency Act it is submitted that the automatic rehabilitation of bona fide debtors after three years should be the point of departure. Regarding assets excluded from the insolvent estate recommendations aimed at enabling the debtor to continue his household as a social and economic unit are made. In the end, South African insolvency law reform should seek to find a balance between debtors' and creditors' interests. It is submitted that the current proposals for insolvency law reform will not achieve this objective. / Dissertation (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Procedural Law / unrestricted

This thesis deals with takeovers in the Czech environment according to the Insolvency Act No. 182/2006 Coll., which passed an amendment to the 1. 1. 2008. There are methods of resolving insolvency of the debtor and principles of insolvency proceedings which should be followed during the insolvency process. Work distinguishes friendly and hostile takeover. The theoretical part provides an overview of possible ways of takeover, the reasons that motivate new owners to think about a possible takeover and globally applicable defense strategies. Another theoretical starting point is consideration of the reorganization of the company, which may be conducted by both the debtor and of the creditor(s). The practical part describes the hostile takeover of SAZKA from its history, through description of the key moments of crisis to insolvency proceedings which resulted in the bankruptcy of the debtor. Subsequent hostile takeover was directed by PPF and KKCG, which bought up commitment wagers and therefore became important creditors (controlling the betting and lottery activities) and later winner of the tender for the sale of the entire company. This case is a textbook example of takeover of the company, which had fallen into financial distress. The battle for the largest lottery company in the country was very hard, long and eventually resulted in a very profitable business, which fell into the arms of a single owner.