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Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Belastingbeleidmakers in Suid-Afrika het tot 'n groot mate die belastinghantering van afgeleide instrumente verwaarloos. Die Inkomstebelastingwet, No. 58 van 1962, neem tans slegs drie soorte finansiele ooreenkomste wat as afgeleide instrumente geklassifiseer kan word, in aanmerking: termynwissel- en opsiekontrakte met betrekking tot buitelandse valuta, rentekoers ruilkontrakte gebaseer op denkbeeldige kapitaalbedrae en opsiekontrakte. Alhoewel die Kommissaris van Binnelandse Inkomste 'n aantal interne werkskomitees aangestel het om ondersoek in te stel na hierdie afdeling van die reg, is die wetgewing wat voortgespruit het as uitvloeisel van hierdie pogings broksgewys van aard deurdat dit slegs met beperkte aspekte van die belasbaarheid van 'n aantal spesifieke transaksies gehandel het. Vanweë die gebrek aan spesifieke wetgewende bepalings wat die belastingaspekte van afgeleides reguleer, moet die algemene beginsels van die Suid-Afrikaanse inkomstebelastingreg op hierdie instrumente toegepas word. Dit gee aanleiding tot onnoukeurige en teenstrydige resultate, hoofsaaklik omdat hierdie beginsels reeds lank voor die wydverspreide gebruik van afgeleides in gesofistikeerde en ingewikkelde transaksies ontwikkel het. Die belasbaarheid van transaksies waarby afgeleide instrumente betrokke is, is 'n onderwerp van toenemende praktiese belang in Suid-Afrika vanweëdie styging in die aantal transaksies in afgeleides. Die inwerkingstelling van kapitaalwinsbelasting in Suid-Afrika het nog 'n verdere dimensie aan die belasbaarheid van afgeleide instrumente toegevoeg. Indien ag geslaan word op die toename in die aantal en waarde van transaksies in afgeleide instrumente wat deur Suid-Afrikaanse belastingbetalers aangegaan word, is dit noodsaaklik dat duidelikheid rakende die belasbaarheid van hierdie transaksies so spoedig doenlik verkry word. Enige hervorming en hersiende belastingreels wat van toepassing gemaak word op hierdie instrumente moet baie buigsaam wees, aangesien verdere ontwikkelings in die finansiële instrumente-omgewing uiters dinamies is en bykans daagliks verander. Dit is voorts belangrik dat die Suid-Afrikaanse belastingstelsel tred hou met internasionale ontwikkelinge ten einde die land se handel status te versterk en te verseker dat transaksies oor grense heen nie onreëlmatige gevolge inhou nie, veral vir buitelandse teenpartye. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Tax policy makers in South Africa have, to a large extent, neglected the tax treatment of derivative instruments. The Income Tax Act, No. 58 of 1962, currently only takes into account three types of financial arrangements that can be classified as being derivative in nature: forward exchange and option contracts relating to foreign exchange, interest rate swaps based on notional capital amounts and option contracts. Although the Commissioner for Inland Revenue has appointed a number of internal working committees to research this area of the law, the legislation resulting from these efforts has been piecemeal in nature, dealing only with limited aspects of the taxation of a few specific transactions. Due to the lack of specific legislative provisions regulating the tax aspects of derivatives, the general principles of South African income tax law have to be applied to these instruments. This leads to imprecise and inconsistent results, primarily as a result of the development of these principles long before the widespread use of derivatives in sophisticated and complex transactions. The taxation of transactions involving derivative instruments is becoming a subject of increasing practical importance in South Africa due to the number of derivative transactions escalating in quantity. The introduction of capital gains tax in South Africa has added yet a further dimension to the taxation of derivatives. In light of the increasing volume and value of derivative transactions entered into by South African taxpayers, it is imperative that clarity regarding the taxation of these transactions be reached as soon as possible. Any reform and revised tax rules that are made applicable to these instruments, need to be very flexible, as further developments in the financial instrument environment are extremely dynamic and changing almost daily. It is furthermore important that the South African tax system keeps track with international developments to enhance the country's trading status and to ensure that cross border transactions do not have anomalous consequences, especially for foreign counter-parties.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

Exotic options are derivatives which have features that makes them more complex than vanilla traded products. Thus, finding their fair value is not always an easy task. We look at a particular example of the exotic options - the power option - whose payoffs are nonlinear functions of the underlying asset price. Previous analyses of the power option have only obtained solutions using probability methods for the case of the constant stock volatility and interest rate. Using Lie symmetry analysis we obtain an optimal system of the Lie point symmetries of the power option PDE and demonstrate an algorithmic method for finding solutions to the equation. In addition, we find a new analytical solution to the asymmetric type of the power option. We also focus on the more practical and realistic case of time dependent parameters: volatility and interest rate. Utilizing Lie symmetries, we are able to provide a new exact solution for the terminal pay off case. We also consider the power parameter of the option as a time dependent factor. A new solution is once again obtained for this scenario. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

(The protection of minority shareholders' rights) The theme of this thesis is the protection of minority shareholders' rights. This problem of joint-stock companies is very comprehensive. So that this thesis is focused on rights belonging to shareholders with qualified share in stated capital of company which are situated in § 181 and § 182 in the Czech Commercial Code. The thesis consists of eight chapters. In the first chapter the comment of basic terms connecting to this topic is presented. The term of joint-stock company and its characteristic features are briefly engaged. Further the terms shareholder and minority shareholder are specified. The second chapter is focused on historical development of minority shareholders' rights from 1991 when the Commercial Code was enacted to the future. Special attention is given to amendments to the Commercial Code by Acts No. 142/1996 Coll., No. 370/2000 Coll. and No. 420/2009 Coll. In the third chapter the general comment about reasons of protection of minority shareholders' rights is given and areas of protection of these shareholders are specialized. The fourth chapter is concentrated on the right of minority shareholders to convence an extraordinary general meeting to discuss the program which is suggested. The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic has a...

Protection of minority shareholders after the recodification of Czech private law This thesis is concerned with the instruments designated for protection of minority shareholders, their reasons and aims. The thesis critically assesses Czech legislation concerning the protection of minority shareholders, with the focus on new instruments and interpretation ambiguities and having regard to the opinions of professional public. After assessing the opinions of professional public, the author presents his own view on interpretation ambiguities. The thesis is systematically divided into seven chapters. Chapter One includes general terminology definitions. Terms shareholder, Czech public limited company, minority shareholder and qualified shareholder are explained. The term of protection of minority shareholders is explained here as well. Chapter Two includes general summary of the legislation concerned with protection of minority shareholders. The chapter divided according to the individual legal areas containing the protection. It includes complex outline of minority shareholder rights, with regard to their reasons and aims. Chapter Three includes detailed view and justification of use of correspondence voting, the instrument of attendance of general meetings by technological means, and cumulative...

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics / Thu Annelise Nguyen / Gap junctions (GJ) are intercellular channels connecting adjacent cells, allowing small molecules to transport between cells, thereby maintaining all homeostasis. Loss of gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) and/or connexins, the gap junction proteins, is a hallmark of cancer. Restoration of GJIC and/or increase of connexin expression have been related to the reduction of tumorigenesis. Connexins have been reported as tumor suppressors due to both GJIC-independent and -dependent mechanisms. Therefore, development of effective agents or methods to enhance GJIC and restore connexin expression in cancer cells is a new strategy in cancer treatment. PQ1, 6-Methoxy-8-[(3-aminopropyl)amino]-4-methyl-5-(3-trifluoromethyl-phenyloxy)quinoline, has been demonstrated to increase GJIC, restore connexin expression, and exert anti-cancer effects on T47D breast cancer cells. Studies of apoptotic pathways showed that PQ1 activated both extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways, indicating that PQ1 exerts its anti-cancer effects via a GJIC-independent mechanism through the induction of apoptosis. Combinational treatment of PQ1 and cisplatin showed that PQ1 counteracted cisplatin-induced inhibition of GJIC and reduction of connexin expression, thereby increasing the efficacy of cisplatin in T47D cancer cells via a GJIC-dependent mechanism. Further studies of drug distribution and toxicity revealed that administration of PQ1 by oral gavage can be achieved with low toxicity to normal vital organs. All the results suggest that PQ1, a gap junction enhancer, can function as an anti-cancer agent and potentiate the efficacy of antineoplastic drugs via both GJIC-independent and -dependent pathways.

The weather derivative concept was created in the United States of America as a result of the deregulation of its energy industry. When other countries learnt of this concept they decided to enter the market as well. Thus a body called the Weather Risk Management Association was established. This body’s main function is to collate information pertaining to weather risk and to help the process of advancement and growth within the market. The weather risk market has grown tremendously and various participants across the world are using weather derivative products to protect the revenue of their respective companies against adverse weather condition. South Africa entered the weather risk market and it’s contracted its first weather contract in February 2000. The objective of this study is to evaluate the South African financial market perceptions on weather derivatives and to establish the feasibility of use. The study also places emphasis on the importance of evaluating the South African economic conditions in order to achieve the goal of the study. Hence the study evaluates the different aspects in terms of the legal, accounting, taxation, weather data, and structuring and pricing implications of a weather derivative transaction. Thus a survey was designed, forwarded, and received back from professionals in the legal, accounting, taxation, weather data, and structuring and pricing fields. This analysis was conducted to evaluate the South African financial market’s perceptions on weather derivative applications. / Prof. C.H. van Schalkwyk

"This project is an investigation and implementation of pricing derivative securities using the forward measure. It will explain the methodology of building a modified discrete Ho-Lee interest rate model to do so, along with the extraction of historical yield and interest rates to calibrate the model. "

Esta pesquisa tem o objetivo de entender os valores semânticos do sufixo ismo, num estudo diacrônico, trabalhando com dados etimológicos encontrados no Dicionário Houaiss e avaliando a formação de vocábulos nas diversas categorias. Para uma melhor compreensão do sufixo ismo, observou-se sua origem, bem como sua produtividade, na língua grega. Atentou-se para a sua transição do grego para o latim e para o processo de formação de palavras nesse idioma. Considerou-se a presença de vocábulos de origem grega, no latim, ora transliterados, ora formados no latim, mesmo sem encontrar nas gramáticas desse idioma o ismo classificado como sufixo. A passagem desse sufixo para a língua portuguesa é um fato constatado, porém o estudo do ismo não aparece nas primeiras gramáticas de língua portuguesa. Para isso, analisaram-se as gramáticas portuguesas, iniciando por Fernão de Oliveira e, assim, percebeuse que o primeiro gramático de língua portuguesa a estudar o sufixo ismo foi Julio Ribeiro. Uma vez que esta obra é produzida antes da data que marca o início do estruturalismo, verificaram-se as afirmações de Humboldt percebendo que, mesmo antes da obra de Ferdinand de Saussure, Curso de linguística geral, já havia pensamentos voltados para o estruturalismo, algo que influenciou Julio Ribeiro. Com base em um corpus de duas mil, trezentas e quarenta e três palavras (2.343), analisou-se a etimologia desses vocábulos, recorrendo aos dicionários de grego, latim, espanhol, inglês, italiano e francês, confrontando com as informações encontradas em Houaiss. Além disso, contrastou-se a datação das palavras formadas com o sufixo ismo, apresentadas em Houaiss, com o sítio na internet denominado Corpus do Português. Dessa forma, concluiu-se que o sufixo ismo apresenta uma diversidade de valores semânticos adquiridos em sua trajetória diacrônica formando, assim, substantivo de substantivo, substantivo de adjetivo e substantivo de verbo. / The objective of this research is to understand, by means of a diachronic study, the semantic diversity of the suffix ism and to evaluate the formation of various types of words, working with the etymological information found in the Houaiss dictionary. In order to understand better the suffix ism, its origin and uses in Greek were observed. Attention was given to the transition from Greek to Latin and the process by which words in these languages were formed. The presence of Latin words of Greek origin, either transliterated or of Latin formation, were considered, even if the ism suffix was not found in the grammars of these languages. The transfer of the ism suffix to the Portuguese language is an established fact. However, the study of the suffix ism does not appear in the first Portuguese language grammars. For this reason, Portuguese grammars, starting with Fernão de Oliveira, were analyzed. It was shown that the first Portuguese grammar to study the suffix ism was that of Julio Ribeiro. Noting that this grammar was produced before the beginning date of structuralism, the affirmations of Humboldt were verified, showing that even before Ferdinand de Saussures work, Curso de lingüística geral, there were already structuralist ideas which influenced Julio Ribeiro. Using a group of two thousand, three hundred and forty-three (2,343) words, the etymology of each was analyzed, consulting dictionaries in Greek, Latin, Spanish, English, Italian and French, and comparing them with the information found in Houaiss. In addition, the date of the words formed with the suffix ism, presented in Houaiss, was contrasted with words found on the site O Corpus do Português. It was concluded that the suffix ism presents a semantic diversity acquired in its diachronic trajectory, forming nouns from nouns, nouns from adjectives and nouns from verbs.