The Insolvency Act 24 of 1936 regulates the debtor’s estate when sequestrated for the benefit of creditors. The debtor must prove that sequestration will be to the advantage creditors and as such creates a stumbling block in the way of the debtor when applying for the voluntary surrender of his estate. Sequestration is viewed as a drastic measure due to the consequences attached to it. The sequestration procedure is often used by debtors as a form of debt relief as, subsequent to the sequestration procedure, the debtor may become rehabilitated. The effect of rehabilitation is that it discharges the debtor of all pre-existing debts and disabilities resulting from sequestration. Compulsory sequestration is often used as a debt relief measure by the debtor in the form of the so-called ‘friendly sequestration’. One of the reasons for this is that the onus of proof is much less burdensome as compared to the onus required in voluntary surrender by the debtor of his estate. South African law provides for alternative debt relief measures falling outside the scope of the Insolvency Act, including debt rearrangement in terms of section 86(7)(b) or debt restructuring in terms of section 86(7)(c) as a result of debt review in terms of the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 (NCA). However this procedure does not offer the debtor the opportunity of any discharge from his debts as the order expires only after the administration costs and all of the listed creditors have been paid in full. Further the NCA does not mention the Insolvency Act and this has led to problems in the application of both Acts and inconsistencies between them. An application for debt review by the debtor has been held to constitute an act of insolvency. Thus the creditor can use this very act of the debtor to have the debtor’s estate sequestrated. This is possible as an application for the sequestration of the debtor’s estate is not considered to be an enforcement of a debt by legal proceedings for the purposes of section 88(3) of the NCA and such actions by the creditor are not prohibited by the NCA. This was stated in Investec Bank Ltd v Mutemeri 2010 (1) SA 265 (GSJ) and was subsequently confirmed by Naidoo v ABSA Bank 2010 (4) SA 597. The consequence of this is that a debtor’s estate may be sequestrated even where he has applied for debt review. Currently, as stated by Van Heerden and Boraine, there is no explicit regulation by the legislature of the interaction between the provisions of theInsolvency Act and the NCA. In terms of FirstRand Bank v Evans 2011 (4) SA 597 (KZD) a debtor’s estate may be sequestrated even after a debt rearrangement order has been confirmed by a court in terms of the NCA. This clearly operates to the disadvantage of a debtor. Comparing the position with that in foreign jurisdictions such as the United States of America and England and Wales shows a lack of balance between the interests of the creditor and the debtor. South African insolvency law is not aligned with internationally acceptable standards because it is too creditor orientated and debtors are not provided with effective remedies to deal with their financial difficulties. This research paper will focus on reform in South African law to assist debtors in need of debt relief. There is a need for a system to be put into place to regulate application for debt review by a debtor and the application for the sequestration of the debtor’s estate by the creditor. In addition there is a need for the introduction of new legislation or amendment to the NCA which could be effective in redressing the current situation. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

This dissertation considers the possible impact certain requirements of the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 (hereafter NCA) has on reckless credit lending by credit providers. The dissertation will identify problem areas created by the provisions of the NCA and the impact thereof on security or partial performances linked to the credit agreement. “Reckless credit lending” used to be a new terminology introduced in the credit market to increase consumer spending, but it is currently a well-known practice in the credit industry. The NCA aims at protecting consumers, especially against present everincreasing reckless-credit practices. However, certain provisions relating to reckless credit are mostly ambiguous and vague. The NCA is silent on the development and implementation of guidelines and policies relating to the prevention of reckless credit and the consequences of such an order on security and/or performances (whether there was partial or full performance). This study will discuss the prevention and consequence of reckless credit by referring to the NCA, articles written by various authors, as well as court decisions where related concerns were addresses by the judges concerned with this issue. Although the provisions stipulated in the amended NCA improve the position of the consumer in the credit market, the legislature should have drafted certain applicable provisions with more care and detail. A more detailed draft could circumvent vagueness in particular areas of concern. / Private Law / LL. M.

This thesis analyses the cost of credit in the micro-finance industry in South Africa. The study situates micro-lending agreements within the law of contract, beginning with an examination of contractual fairness in terms of the common law: the fundamental principle of freedom of contract that underpins the common law of contract; the principle that agreements contrary to public policy should not be enforced; and the impetus given by constitutional values that inform public policy. In regard to moneylending transactions, common law usury law will be explained. The study then goes on to trace the origins and rapid growth of the micro-finance industry which was made possible by its exemption in 1992 from the Usury Act 73 of 1968. The upshot of this development was that registered micro-lenders have for nearly 14 years charged excessive interest rates, and continue to do so. The dire socio-economic impact of these high interest rates on individual consumers and lowincome communities is then demonstrated: how borrowers of small loans soon become over-indebted; the loss of billions of rands every year to low-income communities in the form of interest on micro-loans. The study then shifts to the legislative response to the need for consumer protection in regard to consumer credit. The extensive credit law review process is explained, resulting ultimately in the National Credit Act 34 of 2005, which allows the Minister to prescribe limits on interest rates and fees in all sectors of the consumer credit market. The prescribed limits on the cost of credit in the micro-finance sector are thoroughly explained and analysed, with particular reference to the implications of each element of the credit costing structure, and the combined impact of the total cost of credit on different types and sizes of loans. The envisaged maximum interest and fees will markedly alter the positions of micro-lenders and consumers, and receive careful analysis. The study closes with a summary of findings in the thesis, which includes suggested amendments to the National Credit Regulations and a review of possible legal challenges to the high cost of credit on smaller loans.

Le consommateur, lorsqu’il souscrit un contrat de crédit pour les besoins de sa vie courante, achat d’une automobile par exemple, bénéficie d’un certain nombre de protections. Différentes sources du droit sont susceptibles d’être articulées : les mécanismes du droit commun des contrats présents dans le Code civil, mais aussi une législation spéciale, née de la loi dite SCRIVENER I du 10 janvier 1978, présente dans le Code de la consommation. Cette législation spéciale, bien que récente, a été modifiée à plusieurs reprises, la dernière modification d’importance étant la transposition en droit français de la directive européenne du 23 avril 2008 par la loi du 1er juillet 2010. Le droit du crédit à la consommation est un droit jeune, dense, foisonnant, ambitieux, qui revendique un haut degré de protection du consommateur et fait du formalisme son cheval de Troie. Mais c’est aussi un droit de passion, élaboré souvent dans l’urgence, sensible politiquement, médiatisé, objet de lobbies, parfois maladroitement rédigé ou transposé, approximatif, lacunaire. Au sein de la Cour de cassation, c’est à la Première Chambre civile qu’il appartient de connaître des questions en lien avec le droit de la consommation. Dès lors, comment la Première Chambre civile parvient-elle à manipuler ce droit spécial du crédit à la consommation ? Parvient-elle à en gommer les défauts, à en pallier les manques ? Comment articule-t-elle les protections en présence ? Doit-elle faire face à des résistances de la part des juridictions du fond ? Dans cette tâche unificatrice, le droit commun lui apporte-t-il un secours bienvenu ? Et la CJUE ? In fine, le consommateur emprunteur est-il protégé efficacement ? / Consumers often engage themselves in a consumer habit in order to purchase domestic appliances or furniture. They can stand by protection when the parties begin to negociate and during the whole life of the contract. Consumer protection can be effected through a multiplicity of rules. First of all, there are the common rules. This rules are in the Code civil. A special law for consumers was born during the seventies. The first consumer credit law in France was the SCRIVENER law, 1978. Often modified since this date. The last significant modification resulted from an European directive, which was transfered by a law n°2010-737 on first july 2010. The main purpose of my research is to observe how the Cour de cassation articulates special and common rules. Does the special law really protect consumers ? Special law is very formal. Is it a chance or a problem for consumers ? If it is a problem, how the Cour de cassation can get around it ? Are common rules useful ?

University of Macau / Faculty of Law

LL.M. (Commercial Law) / When a debtor runs into financial problems and starts neglecting to satisfy his financial obligations as and when they fall due, there are various statutory procedures or remedies available to both the debtor and his creditor(s). The first and most obvious remedy available to the creditor is to demand the satisfaction of the outstanding claim by the issuance of a letter of demand, followed by a summons and subsequent court proceedings in which the creditor will claim what is due to him. If the debtor still neglects to satisfy the judgement debt, the creditor may proceed to have the judgement enforced by means of a warrant of execution in terms of which the debtor’s property will be attached and be sold at a public auction. Another procedure that is available is for either party to apply for a sequestration order in terms of the Insolvency Act.3 The Insolvency Act provides for two ways in which a debtor’s estate may be sequestrated. These two ways have their own separate requirements. The two ways are: 1. Voluntary surrender; and 2. Compulsory sequestration.

I uppsatsen utreds Adjudication Bond, vilket i Sverige är en ny typ av bankgaranti. För att bedöma denna görs en jämförelse med hur bankgarantier som rättsligt institut förhåller sig till svensk rätt. Bankgarantier används både i Sverige och internationellt. De utgör säkerhet för ett underliggande avtals riktiga fullgörelse. Den ena parten (uppdragsgivaren) till det underliggande avtalet ger banken i uppdrag att ställa ut bankgarantin till förmån för dennes motpart (beneficienten) för det fall att uppdragsgivaren inte uppfyller sitt åtagande enligt det underliggande avtalet. Bankgarantier kan varieras på olika sätt och ställas ut för alla typer av underliggande avtal. Bankgarantier är antingen självständiga eller accessoriska. Vid den självständiga bankgarantin ska beneficientens rätt till ersättning endast bedömas enligt bankgarantins villkor, emedan vid accessoriska bankgarantier denna rätt ska bedömas också enligt det underliggande avtalet. I garantins s.k. betalningsmekanism uppställs de krav som beneficientens begäran måste uppfylla för att ersättning ska utbetalas. Således kan det endast krävas en begäran från beneficienten (on demand), men därutöver kan det krävas att beneficienten till sin begäran presenterar ytterligare dokument, bestående av ett expertintyg eller ett domslut, som bekräftar beneficientens rätt till ersättning. Adjudication är ett speciellt tvistelösningsförfarande där en tvist ska avgöras med tillämplig lag men där avgörandet inte är slutligt. Således faller Adjudication Bond mellan expertintyget och domslutet. I uppsatsen framgår det att Adjudication Bond ska presumeras vara en självständig bankgaranti, med mindre det tydligt framgår i garantivillkoren att den är accessorisk. Vidare fastslås att Adjudication Bond är en bankgaranti som kan bedömas både enligt remburs- och borgensreglerna. / The thesis examines Adjudication Bond, which is a new kind of bank guarantee in Sweden. The examination is conducted by a comparison of how bank guarantees, as legal institutes, relate to Swedish law. Bank guarantees are used in Sweden and in international trade. They guarantee the due performance of an underlying contract. A party (principal) to the underlying contract instructs the bank to issue the guarantee on behalf of the principal in favour of the other party to the underlying contract (beneficiary) for the due performance of the underlying contract. Bank guarantees can be altered in various ways and be issued for all kind of underlying contracts. Bank guarantees are either independent or accessory. Under the independent guarantee the beneficiary’s call on the guarantee shall be assessed only pursuant to the conditions in the guarantee, whereas under the accessory guarantee the call shall be assessed also pursuant to the underlying contract. The guarantee’s payment mechanism specifies what requirements the call must fulfil in order to trigger the payment. Thus, the call may be honoured on the beneficiary’s demand (on demand), or the beneficiary may have to submit any additional document, such as expert certificate or a court decision, that confirms the beneficiary’s right to payment. Adjudication is a special sort of dispute resolution; the dispute is settled in accordance with applicable law but the decision is not final. Hence, the Adjudication Bond encompasses partly the expert certificate and partly the court decision. In the thesis I argue that the Adjudication Bond shall be perceived as an independent bank guarantee, unless it is clear from the guarantee’s conditions that it is accessory. Further, I hold that Adjudication Bond is a bank guarantee on which the rules of letter of credit and suretyship can be applied.

MCOM / Department of Economics

LLM / Department of Mercantile Law / This research examined the mechanisms that were employed by the Companies Act 71 of 2008 in order to protect the interests of creditors in company affairs. At the preamble of the aforementioned Act lies an undertaking from legislature to provide appropriate redress to investors and third parties/creditors. It was on that basis that the researcher sought to establish whether legislature had indeed fulfilled its commitment to provide appropriate redress to creditors. Traditionally, companies have been run to promote the interests of shareholders with little attention given to the interests of other stakeholders such as creditors. It is this research`s findings that South African company law has moved from the traditional view, that is the shareholder value approach, to the enlightened shareholder value approach: a model of corporate governance which permits directors to have regard, where appropriate, to the interests of other stakeholders but with shareholders’ interests retaining primacy. It is thus found that creditors cannot be protected by contract laws alone but that their protection should be enhanced by mandatory corporate laws which regulates the manner and conduct of company controllers in a way that ensures that the interests of all stakeholders, including creditors, are given due regard. Finally, it has been found that much work has been done by legislature in developing the re-enacted creditor protective mechanisms and also in statutorily adopting new mechanisms which are aimed at advancing creditor interests. Recommendations have thus been made to legislature for possible amendments to refine its corporate laws. / NRF