The duty-cycle randomness (DCR) lying the Bragg grating of the distributed feedback (DFB) lasers introduced by the fabrication process is inevitable even with the state-of-the-art technologies such as the electron beam lithography and dry or wet etching. This thesis investigates the impact of grating DCR on DFB laser performance through numerical simulations. The result reveals that such a randomness causes a reduction on the side mode suppression ratio (SMSR), and deteriorates the noise characteristics, i.e., broadens the linewidth and increases the relative intensity noise (RIN). With the grating DCR, the effective grating coupling coefficient decreases as evidenced by the reduced Bragg stopband width. However, the longitudinal spatial hole burning (LSHB) effect in the DFB lasers can somewhat be diminished by the grating DCR. The seriousness of these effects depends on different grating structures and their coupling strengths. Our simulation shows that a degradation of 17dB can be brought to the SMSR of the uniform grating DFB lasers with their duty-cycles taking a deviation of ±25% in a uniformly distributed random fashion. It also broadens the linewidth of the quarter-wavelength phase-shifted DFB lasers by more than 2.5 folds. The impact of this effect on the RIN is moderate – less than 2%. All the performance deteriorations can partially be attributed to the effective reduction of the grating coupling coefficient around 20% by such a DCR. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Suretyships given in favour of banks are being challenged in the courts on the basis of equitable doctrines of unconscionable conduct, undue influence, or statutory provisions dealing with unfair conduct or unfair contract terms. This thesis is an enquiry into a bank's duties of disclosure or advice to an intending surety. Such an investigation also necessitates a study of the relationship between banker and customer, as the surety is quite often a customer of the bank as well, and, as a surety's obligation to the bank is an accessory obligation, the obligation is dependent on a valid principal obligation between the bank and the principal debtor - the customer. The face of modern banking has, however, changed dramatically and most major banks have become multi-functional. As a result, the banker-customer relationship may often be seen as a fiduciary relationship. A major problem brought about my multi-functioning banks is that of conflicts of interest between the bank and its customer. Furthermore, the banker-customer relationship is providing much more scope for lender liability than in the past. Various factors are currently having an impact on the law of contract, and this is expected to affect the legal policy makers in their assessments of whether a duty of disclosure of material facts exits or not. A surety has long been a favoured debtor in the eyes of the law, and the courts have developed a plethora of technical principles on which a surety can be relieved of his obligation. The escape routes of the surety, especially if he is a consumer as well, on the new grounds of public policy, unconscionability, good faith or unreasonableness, are growing. The results of these trends is the expected demise of suretyship as an acceptable, cheap form of debt security in the banking sector. / Jurisprudence / LL.D.

The topic of the submitted diploma thesis is the directors and officers liability insurance of members of a joint stock company bodies and its aim is to analyze this insurance product and to evaluate possibilities of its use in domestic conditions. This theme is topical because of the recent financial crisis as well as with regard to the recodification of the Czech private law which resulted in demanding more requirements on members of a joint stock company bodies during performance of their office and most importantly the danger of guaranty for obligations of company in accordance with the provision § 68 of the law on commercial corporations constitutes a really big threat for members of a joint stock company bodies. In order to understand the dangers from which the insurance should protect, first of all the first chapter is dedicated to basic characteristics of joint stock company and mainly to duties of members of a joint stock company bodies which are divided into two groups in this thesis - fiduciary duties (duty of due care, duty of loyalty, duty of secrecy, prohibition of competition, duty of personal performance of office) and so called "technical" duties. In the next chapter there is briefly examined the legislation of liability and compensation for damage where these issues are consulted...

Salariat et liberté d'expression : la contradiction apparaît irréductible. La subordination inhérente à la relation de travail semble en effet exclure l’exercice de cette liberté. Le salarié, parce qu’il demeure citoyen, doit toutefois en jouir de façon effective. Le représentant élu et désigné, parce que le mécanisme de la représentation collective l’exige, doit également le pouvoir. Accorder au salarié une telle liberté peut s’avérer dangereux pour l’autorité de l’employeur ou la survie de l’entreprise. Des notions floues, complexes à circonscrire, telles que l’obligation de confidentialité ou l’abus, peuvent autoriser l’employeur à restreindre l’exercice par le salarié de la liberté d'expression et à le sanctionner. Face au mutisme du législateur et à l’indécision du juge, l’insécurité règne. S’impose alors de dégager une définition plus précise et une articulation plus cohérente des règles légitimant tant l’exercice par le salarié de cette liberté que sa limitation par l’employeur. Bien que périlleuse, cette quête d’équilibre mérite d’être entreprise afin que le caractère nécessaire de cette liberté au monde du travail se révèle. Salariat et liberté d'expression : la contradiction n’apparaîtra qu’apparente. / The employee status and freedom of expression : the contradiction appears to be irreducible. The subordination, which is inherent to the employment relationship, seems indeed to exclude the exercice of such freedom. The employee, because he remains a citizen, must however enjoy it in an effective way. The elected and designated representative, because the collective representation mecanism commands it, must enjoy it as well. Granting the employee with such freedom may prove dangerous for the authority of the employer and the survival of the company. Vague notions, that are hard to define, such as the duty of confidentiality or the abuse of right, authorize the employer to restrict the exercice of this freedom by his employee and to sanction him. Given the legislative mutism and the judge's indecision, insecurity is prevailing. It therefore becomes essential to draw a more precise definition and a more coherent articulation of the rules legitimating the exercise of this freedom by the employee, as well as its limitation by the employer. Althought it is jeopardous, this search for balance deserves to be attempted, so that it is revealed that such freedom is essential to the world of work. The employee status and freedom of expression : the contradiction will eventually reveal to be only apparent.

Les réseaux de capteurs sans fil qui conviennent pour vaste domaine d’applications, constituent une solution prometteuse qui répond à toute exigence de surveillance continue. L’autonomie énergétique des nœuds constitue un facteur de vulnérabilité qui influe directement leur longévité et la capacité du réseau à assurer longuement la couverture d’une zone géographique d’intérêt. La gestion de consommation énergétique représente la seule approche pour accroître la durée de vie de ces réseaux et leur conférer une autonomie raisonnable. Des solutions logicielles proposées à travers les protocoles MAC, apportent des améliorations significatives à la minimisation de la dépense énergétique des nœuds. Elles permettent de réduire les périodes d’écoute du canal qui, représente l’opération la plus coûteuse en termes d’énergie dans le fonctionnement des nœuds de capteurs sans fil. Néanmoins, se limiter à ces solutions n’est pas suffisant pour garantir une longévité acceptable. La seule méthode pour optimiser la conservation d’énergie dans les RCSFs est de mettre chaque nœud constamment en mode faible puissance et d’utiliser un mécanisme de télé-réveil à travers des signaux de réveil. Cela implique, l’utilisation de circuits de réveil de faible consommation qui assurent la surveillance de canal et qui déclenchent le réveil des nœuds uniquement à chaque fois qu’événement d’intérêt se produit. Dans ce contexte, une quantité importante de travaux ont proposés l’utilisation d’un mécanisme d’adressage (adresses MAC ou d’autres informations binaires), pour permettre aux nœuds non concernés de retourner rapidement dans son état de sommeil. Cette démarche est intéressante, mais implique toutefois une dépense énergétique non négligeable, liée à la réception et au traitement des informations d’adresse au niveau de tous les nœuds. La solution la plus efficace énergétiquement serait l’utilisation d’une autre forme d’adresse. Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le contexte de minimisation de la consommation énergétique des RCSFs par la mise en œuvre d’un adressage qui permet aux nœuds de recevoir et de traiter les signaux de réveil, sans allumer leur module de communication principal. Il s’agit pour nous de supprimer la dépense énergétique liée à l’allumage du module RF et à la réception de paquets d’adresse, en se tournant vers l’exploitation de la durée des signaux de réveils. Notre solution se repose sur les caractéristiques matérielles du microcontrôleur (IRQ, Timer/Counter) des nœuds de capteurs. Elle permet de réduire les complexités liées aux conditionnements des signaux de réveils. Notre solution est implémentée sur un réseau de petite taille. Elle est évaluée expérimentalement et ses performances énergétiques sont comparées à celles d’un schéma classique de télé-réveil sans mécanisme d’adressage et à celles d’un schéma classique basé sur le duty-cycling. / Wireless sensor networks that are suitable for a wide range of applications, represent a promising solution that meets any requirement for continuous monitoring. The energy autonomy of sensor nodes constitutes a vulnerability factor that directly affects their longevity and the capacity of the network to ensure long coverage of the geographical area of interest. Energy consumption management is the only way to increase the lifespan of these networks and to give them a reasonable autonomy. Software solutions proposed through MAC protocols, bring significant improvements to the minimization of the energy expenditure of sensor nodes. They reduce the idle-listening periods which represents the most expensive operation in terms of energy, in the operation of the wireless sensor nodes. However, Focusing lonely on these solutions is not enough to guarantee acceptable longevity. The only way to optimize energy conservation in the WSN is to constantly put each node in low power mode and use a wakeup mechanism through wake-up signals. This involves the use of low-power wake-up circuits that provide channel monitoring, and trigger node wake-up only whenever event of interest occurs. In this context, a significant amount of work has proposed the use of an addressing mechanism (MAC addresses or other binary informations), to allow non-concerned nodes to quickly return to their sleep state. This approach is interesting, but involves a significant energy expenditure, related to address information’s reception and processing at all nodes. The most energy efficient solution would be the use of another type of address. This thesis is part of the context of minimizing the energy consumption of the WSN, using an addressing system that allows sensor nodes to receive and process the wake-up signals, without turning on their main communication module. It is to eliminate the energy expenditure related to the RF module’s activation and the reception of address packets, by exploiting wakeup signals duration. Our solution is based on the hardware characteristics of the microcontroller (IRQ, Timer/Counter) of sensor nodes. It reduces the complexities related to wakeup signals conditioning. Our solution is implemented on a small network. Its evaluations were done experimentally and its energy performance is compared to a conventional wake-up mechanism without addressing,and a conventional scheme based on duty-cycling.

Le devoir de désobéissance de l'agent public est envisagé en tant qu'il constitue une obligation juridique, c'est-à-dire une «technique sociale» au service d'un certain nombre de choix politiques. La thèse propose de construire des instruments d'analyse susceptibles de produire une topographie générale de l'objet en droit et dans le discours sur le droit. Ils doivent permettre d'identifier et clarifier un certain nombre de questions soulevées par l'existence de ce type d'objet en droit positif, parfois obscurcies par les rapports souvent intuitifs qu'on l'imagine entretenir avec des questionnements moraux fondamentaux. Pour ce faire, le travail de recherche met précisément en œuvre une analyse des fonctions, des structures, et des critères de mise en œuvre de l'obligation en droit interne, en droit international pénal et dans les droits nationaux étrangers. L'étude fait alors apparaître la diversité des dispositifs existants, met au jour certaines dynamiques de la discussion doctrinale et contentieuse, et confirme en définitive l'impossibilité «d'essentialiser» l'objet. Elle permet d'envisager une proposition de modification des dispositifs existants en droit interne. / The duty of disobedience of the public official is envisaged as constituting a legal obligation, that is, as a "social technique" serving a number of policy choices. The thesis proposes to build analytical tools that can produce a general topography of the object in la and in the discourse on the law. It must identify and clarify a number of issues raised by the existence of this type of object in positive law sometimes obscured by the intuitive relationships that we imagine it has with fundamental moral questions. To do this, the research thesis specifically implements an analysis of the functions, structures, and criteria for implementing the obligation in domestic law, international criminal law and foreign national law. The study then shows the diversity of existing obligations, reveals certain dynamics of the doctrinal and contentious debate, and finally confirms the impossibility of "essentializing" the object. It makes it possible to envisage a proposal for modification of the existing systems in domestic law.

castellà: El revolucionario desarrollo tecnológico experimentado en el campo de la información y la comunicación en las dos últimas décadas ha marcado un antes y un después en muchos ámbitos de nuestra sociedad. Sin ir más lejos, estos cambios pueden observarse en las modificaciones del modo en que nos relacionamos, o en la generación de conceptos o realidades, tan impensables no hace demasiado tiempo, como el teletrabajo, la telemedicina o las universidades virtuales. La magnitud de estas transformaciones se concreta en el hecho de que incluso se ha llegado a hablar de la aparición de una nueva era, caracterizada especialmente por la denominada sociedad de la información y del conocimiento. Como parte integrante y esencial de esta nueva realidad, la Administración pública se ha visto obligada a adoptar un papel pro-activo en la incorporación de las TIC, así como a dar respuesta a las nuevas necesidades ciudadanas y a velar para que el nuevo paradigma pueda asentarse de forma definitiva. En consecuencia, las TIC han comportado cambios importantes también en este ámbito, y es que su inclusión ha iniciado un nuevo estadio en su proceso evolutivo en el que se espera una auténtica transformación institucional.Todo este proceso de cambio, basado en la interacción ciudadana como fundamento principal del sistema, ha encontrado su máximo exponente en la esfera de la Administración tributaria, donde su tradicional sistema de aplicación de los tributos ya había conllevado la adopción de técnicas de gestión en masa. En este sentido, la imposibilidad de practicar caso por caso los millones de liquidaciones anuales relativas a las más importantes figuras impositivas y el carácter casi permanente de las relaciones jurídico-tributarias, obligaron a requerir la participación de los obligados tributarios, de modo que las autoliquidaciones y la imposición de numerosos deberes de información y colaboración se convirtieron en los principales mecanismos del nuevo modelo de funcionamiento. Así, los ciudadanos se encontraron con la responsabilidad de conocer, interpretar y aplicar el complejo, cambiante y, a veces, incluso deficiente ordenamiento tributario, por lo que debía compensarse la reducción de la actividad administrativa con una fuerte prestación de los deberes de información y asistencia a los obligados tributarios. En este sentido, debían potenciarse todas aquellas actuaciones de la Administración encaminadas a dar a conocer la información necesaria para el ejercicio de los derechos y cumplimiento de las obligaciones tributarias, así como aquellas labores que ofrecían recursos y auxilio con el mismo fin.Sin embargo, la regulación de estos deberes no ha conseguido estar a la altura de su relevancia, en tanto que la normativa se ha limitado a contemplar su reconocimiento general (artículo 85.1 de la LGT y 62 del RD 1065/2007) y a señalar algunas de las actuaciones por las que pueden verse cumplidos (artículo 85.2 de la LGT y 63 a 78 del RD 1065/2007). Además, los regímenes jurídicos de estas actuaciones difieren en gran medida, y contienen, en muchos aspectos, un marcado carácter programático. Por ello, aún no existe una definición clara de cada uno de estos deberes ni una delimitación de los instrumentos que conforman su contenido, por lo que tampoco se ha podido elaborar la regulación completa de sus características ni la previsión de los diferentes efectos jurídicos que se pueden desprender.Consecuentemente, el presente trabajo tiene como objetivo principal la elaboración de un estudio jurídico completo y actual sobre los deberes de información y asistencia de la Administración tributaria en relación directa con la incorporación, en este ámbito, de las TIC. Así, se pretende llevar a cabo una valoración global del impacto de los nuevos medios en dichas figuras tributarias, además de aportar una definición actualizada de su concepto, una determinación de su contenido, y una concreción de sus características y consecuencias jurídicas. / In The Spanish Tax Administration, citizens have the responsibility to find out, interpret and apply the complex, changing and sometimes even deficient tax legislation, so that the reduction of the administrative activity has to be counterbalanced with a strong rendering of the information and assistance services to the taxpayers. In this sense, all those Administration actions design to make available all the information pertaining to the exercise of rights and the compliance of tax obligations have to be strengthened, together with those actions offering resources and aid with the same purpose.However, the regulation of these obligations has not measured up to their relevance, for legislation has just acknowledged them in general terms (articles 85.1 of the LGT and 62 of the RD 1065/2007), and pointed out some of the actions through which they can be rendered (articles 85.2 of the LGT and 63 to 78 of the RD 1065/2007). Moreover, legislations pertaining to these actions are in disagreement to a large extent and hold, in many respects, a programmatical character. Therefore, to date, there is no clear definition of any of these obligations or a delimitation of the instruments that make up their content. In addition, neither the comprehensive regulation of their characteristics nor the forecast of their possible legal effects have been done.Accordingly, the main purpose of this thesis is to carry out a comprehensive legal study regarding the information and assistance obligations of the Tax administration, in direct relation to the incorporation of ICTs to its sphere of activity. Thus, the aim is to achieve a global assessment of the impact of ICTs on the application of these obligations, while contributing an updated definition of their concept, establishing their content and specifying their characteristics and legal consequences.

2015年3 月，IHS市場調查公司預估由於太陽能光伏企業繼續整合併購有利於市場擴大佔有的連動關係，使得大者恆大，而且平均售價快速下降，驅動市場需求更加高速增長，2020年全球太陽能光伏電站累計安裝量將達到500GW，比較2005年的5.3GW有如天壤之別，同時說明往後五年每年平均安裝64GW，也代表全球投資在太陽能光伏產業的資金每年高達1500億美元，依次中、美、日三國為領先主要投資在新能源建設。再查看平均售價（太陽板光伏模組）2005年價格約為3.5USD/W，隨著市場逐漸增大，預估價格也在2014年降至0.6USD/W。2015-2019年全球總產值將達到5120億美金（以太陽能光伏電站為基礎，系統價格160萬USD/1MW）。 雖然兩岸太陽能光伏產業共同面對一個極具規模及潛力的全球市場，但由於2010-2012年間供需失衡，產能過剩，急速下降的市場平均售價，歐美許多公司工廠因此關廠倒閉，進而對兩岸進行兩次所謂“雙反”–反傾銷Anti Dumping Duty及反補貼Counter Vailing Duty調查，最後判定對矽晶太陽能光伏產品加以處罰性進口關稅。依照WTO世界貿易組織規定會員國在面臨外國進口產品進行不公平競爭，並損害其國內產業時，可以採取救濟措施保護其國內產業，“雙反”就是措施手段之一。2014年大陸也針對美國多晶矽料實施53-57% Anti-Dumping Duty作為反制，目前中美雙方仍處在對峙中，但可預見隨著市場條件改變，將可能達成某種雙方可接受的妥協。 本研究把兩岸太陽能光伏產業競合策略放在上面兩個最大的標題之間及緊迫的時間軸上面，針對兩岸各自產業都已掉入虧損情況（第四章大陸與台灣個案研究），期待從競合策略的積極面（合作是為了創造新生價值，找出潛藏利益，甚至創新價值、價值整合，再爭取自己所創造的價值），加上絲毫不能忽視國家政府在文化、歷史、民族的角度及ECFA大框架協議的前提進行分析得到結論，並且做出建議。當兩岸太陽能光伏產業共同面對普遍存在的“雙反”又同時面向全球市場，台灣在思考競合策略的時候，必須認清在經濟層面上與韓國進行幾乎全面各產業競爭。特別關於時間緊迫，本研究認為無論從面板產業、IC設計產業，都已經說明台灣的技術優勢在快速流失，而大陸方面正傾全國之力加速超前，形成自主（紅色）供應鏈。換句話說，時間完全不在台灣這一邊，如果再對比韓國可以配合大陸的合作條件，台灣更沒有猶豫片刻，佇足不前的理由和本錢了！在非經濟層面上又擁有最好的文化、歷史、民族背景跟大陸進行合作，另外在更高的政治層面的考慮，如臺灣之小，大陸之大，夾存在中日美三個強國之間，臺灣的選擇應該是非常清晰可分辨，並且在極度的時間壓力下應該積極運用國家政府有效作為，盡快在ECFA大框架協議下推進各項服貿、投保、金融協議、導引兩岸太陽能光伏從企業、產業到國家組合全面互利互惠合作達到面向全球市場雙贏局面。 / 2015 March, IHS market survey company forecasts Average Selling Price (ASP) will decrease rapidly and drive much higher demand growth rate, due to the Photovoltaic industries continue merger and acquisition. The forecast also indicates global accumulated installation capacity will reach 500GW in 2020, compared with 5.3GW in the year of 2005 which displays promising growth, meanwhile averages yearly installation capacity of 64GW in next five years and yearly investment of 150B USD globally. When looking into price details that PV module selling price of 3.5USD/W in 2005 has dropped to 0.6USD/W of 2014 which translates gross product value of 512B USD, with price reference of 1.6M USD/1MW solar power system. Both sides of the Taiwan Straits are facing a huge potential but challenging global market of Photovoltaic industries. The period of 2010-2012 not only generated the peak of demand, also induced problematic over-supply and selling price free-fall. Factories in Europe and North America are forced to become insolvent, then claimed for the restricting of import with Anti Dumping Duty (ADD) and Counter Vailing Duty (CVD) against mainland China and Taiwan, according to WTO regulations. In the year of 2014, mainland China also initiated a reactive measures of ADD against polysilicon imported from USA. Currently mainland China and USA are still struggling the head-on situation, but are believed to reach a compromise solutions under the Photovoltaic market development. We study the issue of Anti Dumping Duty (ADD) and Counter Vailing Duty (CVD) for the example of Photovoltaic industries, covering both sides of Cross-Strait. We focus Co-opetition in terms of time pressure, each side reporting business loss and propose a very constructive and active strategy as the essence from Co-opetition (Creating Value that You Can Capture is the Central Theme in Co-opetition). Of course, we should never ignore government playing a critically influential role based on culture, history, Chinese nation and forward-moving ECFA positive impact. When generally evaluating Co-opetition strategy, we clearly see the competition every corner between Taiwan and Korea. Specifically about time pressue we realized the reversal happened in the industries LCD flat panel and IC design which mainland China assures to catch up and surmount Taiwan in short future. Taiwan can not afford any hesitation and miss the narrow window of creating and capturing our own value in Co-opetition with mainland China. We worry as well Taiwan’s dilemma situation between USA, Japan and mainland China and strongly believe that the best strategy, in addition to the essence of Co-opetition is to harmonize the relationship with mainland China in all the possible areas. So that when facing global market, a win-win result can be expected, through Co-opetition central theme.

Submitted by Alexandre Ramos Coelho (alexandre.coelho@gvmail.br) on 2015-06-09T22:53:52Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Mestrado_ARCoelho_ 09.06.15_FINAL.pdf: 1391202 bytes, checksum: e5aeec796f84194f76858aa85f8ad7b6 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzinei Teles Garcia Garcia (suzinei.garcia@fgv.br) on 2015-06-10T11:39:33Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Mestrado_ARCoelho_ 09.06.15_FINAL.pdf: 1391202 bytes, checksum: e5aeec796f84194f76858aa85f8ad7b6 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-10T12:43:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Mestrado_ARCoelho_ 09.06.15_FINAL.pdf: 1391202 bytes, checksum: e5aeec796f84194f76858aa85f8ad7b6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / According to data, from the Brazilian Association of Financial and Capital Market – ANBIMA, accumulated of 12 months, as of July 7, 2014, the sum of investments, redemptions and capital raised, the fund industry in Brazil transacted more than 11 billion Brazilian Reais. It is a considerable financial value, making the industry fund an important tool to channel savings and to invest in the most diverse projects of the economy. In addition, the collapse of some financial conglomerates in Brazil in recent years involving investment funds managed by companies belonging to such conglomerates has highlighted the importance of rules and studies addressing the relationship between the asset manager / fund administrator and the respective investors in those funds. In fact, the research conducted over the years 2013 and 2014 with regulators, academics and other participants in the securities market have demonstrated that there are few studies that can provide assistance in solving problems of this nature, including situations involving conflicts of interest between asset managers / fund administrator and investors. Thus, in face of the economic importance of the fund industry to Brazil and the relevance of the rights of investors / shareholders in the fund industry, and also due to the lack of studies, this work aims at conducting a theoretical and empirical research on the fiduciary relationship between the fund administrator, the asset manager and the respective shareholders of the investment funds. Along these lines, the goal will be to identify the origin, the essential characteristics of this relationship, the risks it can bring to the investor, and the duties it imposes on administrators and managers. We propose to evaluate the historical origin of the fiduciary relationship and understand the theoretical foundations that support its application to investment funds in the United States and Brazil. Based on this theoretical knowledge and under the focus of fiduciary duties applicable to administrators and managers, we develop an evaluation of the standards of conduct contained in the rulings of the Brazilian Securities Commission (CVM), to test the fiduciary relationship characteristics on the CVM rules. Finally, was conducted a study of cases where administrators and managers were convicted for breaking the fiduciary relationship and for failing to comply with specific duties embedded in the standards of conduct previously evaluated. On the basis of theoretical and empirical studies described, it is finally concluded that there are, indeed, essential characteristics in determining a fiduciary relationship between fund administrator / asset manager and the shareholder, and once this relationship is established, fund administrators and asset managers will have to observe the duty of diligence and loyalty to the shareholder. Also on the basis of theoretical and empirical studies, it is possible to say that the CVM standards establish the fiduciary relationship between the fund administrators / asset managers and the shareholder of investment funds, as well as fiduciary duties related to this relationship. / De acordo com dados de 07.10.2014 da Associação Brasileira das Entidades dos Mercados Financeiro e de Capitais – ANBIMA, no acumulado em 12 meses, entre aplicações, resgates e captações, a indústria de fundos movimentou mais de 11 bilhões de reais no Brasil. É um volume financeiro considerável, fazendo dos fundos de investimento importantes instrumentos de captação de poupança e de direcionamento de recursos para os mais diversos projetos de financiamento da economia. Além disso, as quebras de determinados conglomerados financeiros no Brasil nos últimos anos envolvendo fundos administrados e geridos por sociedades pertencentes a esses conglomerados colocou em evidência a importância de regras e estudos direcionados à relação entre o administrador-gestor e o cotista de fundos de investimento. De fato, pesquisa conduzida ao longo dos anos de 2013 e 2014 demonstrou que acadêmicos, reguladores e demais participantes do mercado de valores mobiliários possuem poucos estudos que possam assisti-los na solução de problemas relativos a essa relação, inclusive diante de situações envolvendo conflitos de interesses entre administradores-gestores e cotistas. Assim, diante da importância econômica dos fundos de investimento para o Brasil, da relevância dos direitos dos investidores dentro da indústria de fundos, e também em razão da escassez de estudos, este trabalho tem por finalidade realizar investigação teórica e empírica sobre a relação fiduciária entre o administrador, o gestor e os respectivos cotistas dos fundos de investimento. Dessa forma, o objetivo será identificar a origem, as características essenciais dessa relação, os riscos que ela pode trazer para o investidor e os deveres que ela impõe aos administradores e gestores. Para tanto, propõe-se avaliar a origem histórica da relação fiduciária e os fundamentos teóricos que a suportam aplicados aos fundos de investimento nos Estados Unidos e no Brasil. Com base nesse conhecimento teórico e sob o enfoque dos deveres fiduciários aplicáveis aos administradores e gestores, parte-se para a avaliação das normas de conduta contidas nas instruções da Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), visando testar as características da relação fiduciária diante das regras da CVM. Por fim, realiza-se estudo sobre casos em que administradores e gestores foram condenados por quebra na relação fiduciária e por inobservância de deveres específicos embutidos nas normas de conduta avaliadas anteriormente. Com fundamento nos estudos teóricos e empíricos descritos, conclui-se que existem características essenciais na configuração de uma relação fiduciária entre o administrador-gestor e o cotista de fundos de investimento e que, uma vez formada essa relação, administradores e gestores obrigam-se a observar o cumprimento de deveres de diligência e de lealdade perante o cotista. Igualmente, ainda é possível afirmar que as normas da CVM de fato instituem a relação fiduciária entre o administrador-gestor e o cotista de fundos de investimento, bem como os deveres fiduciários conexos a essa relação.

Suretyships given in favour of banks are being challenged in the courts on the basis of equitable doctrines of unconscionable conduct, undue influence, or statutory provisions dealing with unfair conduct or unfair contract terms. This thesis is an enquiry into a bank's duties of disclosure or advice to an intending surety. Such an investigation also necessitates a study of the relationship between banker and customer, as the surety is quite often a customer of the bank as well, and, as a surety's obligation to the bank is an accessory obligation, the obligation is dependent on a valid principal obligation between the bank and the principal debtor - the customer. The face of modern banking has, however, changed dramatically and most major banks have become multi-functional. As a result, the banker-customer relationship may often be seen as a fiduciary relationship. A major problem brought about my multi-functioning banks is that of conflicts of interest between the bank and its customer. Furthermore, the banker-customer relationship is providing much more scope for lender liability than in the past. Various factors are currently having an impact on the law of contract, and this is expected to affect the legal policy makers in their assessments of whether a duty of disclosure of material facts exits or not. A surety has long been a favoured debtor in the eyes of the law, and the courts have developed a plethora of technical principles on which a surety can be relieved of his obligation. The escape routes of the surety, especially if he is a consumer as well, on the new grounds of public policy, unconscionability, good faith or unreasonableness, are growing. The results of these trends is the expected demise of suretyship as an acceptable, cheap form of debt security in the banking sector. / Jurisprudence / LL.D.