Magister Legum - LLM / South Africa

In this dissertation we study models for the valuation of portfolios of credit risky securities and collateralised debt obligations. We start with models for single security of the reduced form type and investigate means of extending these to the portfolio level concentrating on default dependence between obligors. The Gaussian copula model has become a market standard and we study how the model deals with dependence between portfolio constituents. We implement the model and confirm analytical formulae for certain risk measures. Simplifying assumptions made eases implementation of this model but causes inconsistencies with observed market prices. Evidence of this is the observed correlation smile, highlighted by the recent global credit crises. This has caused researchers to look to extensions of the model to better fit current market pricing. We study a number of these extensions and compare the credit losses for various tranches to those under the standard model. A number of these extensions are able to replicate observed prices by accounting for some observed feature overlooked by the standard model. Of these the most promising appear to be those having default and recovery rates negatively correlated. Various empirical studies have found this to hold true. Another promising advancement is in the area of stochastic correlation. The main problems with such extensions is that no single one has been adopted as standard while all require more sophisticated numerical implementation than the convenient recursive algorithm available for the standard model. Even if such problems are overcome questions still remain. No current usable model is able to provide simultaneously both a term structure of credit spreads for the portfolio and individual constituents. This prevents the valuation of the next generation of credit products. An answer may well be beyond capabilities of the now familiar copula framework which has served the market for the last decade. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Mathematics and Applied Mathematics / unrestricted

The thesis is describing agent in limited liability company. First part is about the company in general, second about the steps that has to be taken before becomming and agent and also how the post can be disolve and then main part of the thesis is focused on the rights and obligations of an agent.

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Getting Exclusionary Reasons Right offers a defense of exclusionary reasons as originally conceptualised by Joseph Raz. Exclusionary reasons are second-order reasons to refrain from acting for some reasons and are used to explain the ordered nature of practical normativity, and the various normative concepts that are said to follow from it, i.e. mandatory rules, rule-following, authority, and promises to name just a few. Exclusionary reasons differ from other kinds of defeaters in that they exclude valid reasons, i.e. reasons that still justify or make eligible the actions they count for. According to Raz, this is because excluded reasons are defeated not qua reasons, but as reasons we can act for, or that motivate, which explains why exclusionary reasons are reasons to refrain from acting for a reason. However, the coherence and distinctiveness of the idea of an exclusionary reason—understood in this way—has faced serious challenges. I take up these challenges in what follows. Chapter one presents a coherent account of exclusionary reasons as reasons to refrain from acting for a reason, or to ‘not-φ-for-p’. It both clarifies the sense in which exclusionary reasons concern motivations and motivating reasons, and rejects alternative accounts according to which exclusionary reasons have as their object other normative reasons. It is argued that when they are understood as excluding some considerations as reasons that can rationally motivate, exclusionary reasons confer value on or point to an agent’s not acting for otherwise valid reasons. That is, they justify our not being responsive to certain values on some occasions. Chapter two vindicates the notion of acting-for-a-reason on which Raz’s account relies. It considers objections which claim that not acting for otherwise valid reasons presupposes a level of control over our reasons and motivations that is incompatible with the rational constraints on attitudes (beliefs, intentions, etc.), and shows how exclusionary reasons, as they are restated in chapter one, avoids them. Perhaps surprisingly, it is argued that instances where exclusionary reasons are relevant, when properly understood, are not instances where reasoning about what we ought to do involves choice. Getting Exclusionary Reasons Right concludes by considering the implications the account offered herein has for rationalist approaches to obligations and authority. Namely, it makes clear how fully rational agents can ever be moved to act for, or out of an awareness of their obligations. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / Getting Exclusionary Reasons Right investigates the distinctiveness and coherence of the idea of an exclusionary reason—a reason to not act for other reasons (i.e. promises, rules, commands, etc.). It first defends exclusionary reasons as reasons to ‘refrain from acting for some reason(s)’. Understood in this way, exclusionary reasons are relevant where it matters not just what we choose to do, but how we choose to do it. Promises, rules, commands, etc. are features of the world that make it valuable to or justify our not acting for otherwise good reasons when they apply. It then considers what ‘refraining from acting for some reason(s)’ consists in. While exclusionary reasons are thought to be reasons to have motivations of certain kinds, they are not reasons to choose to be motivated in some way. They are instead, reasons that determine for us the reasons we ought to act for. It is argued that while there are some instances where determining what we have reason to do is up to us, exclusion is not one of them. Getting Exclusionary Reasons Right concludes by considering the implications the account offered herein has for rationalist approaches to obligations and authority.

That police have special moral obligations to protect others is an important moral consideration which is largely absent from discourse about the moral permissibility of police killings of civilians in self-defence. I argue that police officers, at least when acting ex officio, face a special justificatory burden such that the set of conditions under which a police officer may permissibly kill a civilian in self-defence is more tightly constrained than the set of conditions under which a civilian may kill a fellow civilian in self-defence. In other words, police officers' right to kill in self-defence is attenuated by their special moral obligation to protect others. I provide three arguments for this claim. First, police have a special obligation to protect others, even at risk to themselves. Thus, there are some situations in which, compared to a civilian, an officer must tolerate an elevated level of risk of harm to herself before she is justified in resorting to defensive harm. Second, police have a derivative obligation to minimise imposing harm on those whom they have undertaken to protect. It is a greater wrong to harm those to whom one has special moral duties. Thus, compared to the civilian, the police officer must give greater moral weight to the possibility that she is facing an innocent or non-responsible threat. The third argument rests on the view that the right to self-defence derives from the right protect oneself. I show that the special moral obligations of police officers attenuate this right and, derivatively, attenuate their right to self-defence as well. / Master of Arts / Discussions about the morality of police killings of civilians in self-defence lack an important consideration; they fail to take into account the fact that police have special moral obligations to protect others. I argue that this special obligation interferes with police officer’s self-defence rights. Because of this, the set of conditions under which it is morally permissible for a police officer kill a civilian in self-defence is more tightly constrained than the set of conditions under which it is morally permissible for a civilian may kill a fellow civilian in self-defence. I provide three arguments for this claim. First, police have a special obligation to protect others, even at risk to themselves. Because of this, there are some situations in which, compared to a civilian, an officer must tolerate an elevated level of risk of harm to herself before she is justified in resorting to defensive harm. Second, police have an obligation to minimise imposing harm on those whom they have undertaken to protect. This obligation is derived from police officers’ obligation to protect others, because it is a greater wrong to harm those to whom one has special moral duties. Thus, compared to the civilian, the police officer must give greater moral weight to the possibility that she is facing an innocent or non-responsible threatener (that is, an individual who threatens harm but who is either innocent, or is not responsible for the threat that they pose). The third argument rests on the view that the right to self-defence derives from the right protect oneself. I show that the special moral obligations of police officers attenuate this right and, derivatively, attenuate their right to self-defence as well.

The changes in the political landscape in South Africa have exacerbated major transformation of the society and all other aspects of life, including education. It is in this view that transformation of the education sector resulted in the changes within the employment relationship, as well as the psychological contract between educators and the Department of Education. This is further explained by the changes experienced in both the employer and employee's obligations. Furthermore, these changes have a tremendous influence on the degree of job satisfaction, organisational commitment, as well as an intention to quit among educators. The primary objective of this research is to investigate the employment-and psychological contract of educators in the Sedibeng West District of the Gauteng Department of Education. The measuring instruments, i.e. employer's obligations, employee's obligations, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, as well as intention to quit questionnaires, were used in the empirical study. A cross -sectional survey design was conducted among 298 educators (including school managers) in the Sedibeng West District. A response rate of 75% (224 respondents) was obtained. The results indicate a practically significant correlation coefficient of a medium effect between the employer and the employee's obligations, a negative correlation of medium effect between the employer's obligations and an employee's intention to quit, and no significant relationship between the employee's obligations and an employee's intention to quit. Furthermore, a practically significant correlation coefficient of medium effect was obtained between job satisfaction and an employee's intention to quit, and no significant relationship could be found between job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Lastly, a practically significant negative correlation of a medium effect was obtained between organisational commitment and an intention to quit. A multiple regression analysis indicates that 21% of the variance in the employee's intention to quit was predicted by both the employer and employee's obligations. Organisational commitment and job satisfaction predicted 33% of the total variance. Recommendations for the Department of Education, as well as future research were also made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Sociology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2008.

The topic of this thesis is the law applicable to obligations with an international aspect, which is an area that presents a complex and important part of private international law. Statutes dealing with obligations with an international aspect may be of national, international or EU origin and employ different methods to regulate such obligations. Therefore, in comparison with national legal disciplines, the determination of the appropriate legal statute may prove challenging. One of the questions this thesis deals with is the relationship between these statutes and the basic principles upon which the selection between them should be made. Obligations with an international aspect are at the present time dominated by two EU regulations, namely the Rome I Regulation which deals with contractual obligations and the Rome II Regulation which deals with non-contractual obligations. A large portion of this thesis is devoted to their analysis. Instead of a detailed description of their every provision, which for the purpose of this work is unnecessary, this thesis focuses on the scope of application of these Regulations, the conflict rules and the scope of the applicable law. Chapters two and three are a general outline of the issues that follow in this work. The second chapter explains the basic terms...

Pour comprendre le droit privé contemporain, une étude du droit médiéval peut être nécessaire surtout en ce qui concerne le droit des obligations. La période des XIIe-XVe siècles marque l’installation d’une doctrine des pactes et des contrats innomés et la création de constructions juridiques telles que la théorie des vestimenta. Les juristes firent aussi un grand effort de définition et de classification. Cette même période a vu l’émergence d’une règle contraire à la célèbre règle romaine Ex nudo pacto nulla actio oritur. Il s’agit de sa règle développée par les canonistes Ex nudo pacto actio oritur. L’octroi d’une action permettant de sanctionner toute promesse, même celle donnée en dehors des contrats expressément reconnus par le droit romain, permet une prise en compte élargie du consensus.Le plus souvent, les pactes et les contrats innomés sont par ailleurs envisagés séparément par les historiens. De la sorte, les deux concepts se trouvent éloignés de façon artificielle, alors même qu’ils sont liés, puisque les contrats innomés ne sont rien d’autre que des pactes vêtus. Il faut donc en effectuer l’étude de manière conjointe. / Understanding of private modern law would imply a large knowledge of the medieval law it is flowing from, particularly considering law of obligations. From centuries 12th to 15th, innomate contracts and pacts had risen as well as legal arrangements such as vestimenta theory. Therefore lawyers had made considerable efforts of both definition and classification. In the meantime canonists rule Ex nudo pacto actio oritur has been developed contrary to roman’s one Ex nudo pacto nulla actio oritur. Granting of action allowing punishment of any promise, even not expressly recognized by roman law, means a better taking into account of consensus.Otherwise, historians often consider innomate contracts and pacts separately. Thus, these two concepts had been artificially splitted while they should be gathered as innomate contracts are no more than pacts with a legal definition. Both ideas have to be studied together.

Magister Legum - LLM / The Cape Flats is known for poverty, gangsterism, over population and a general lack of basic necessities. What is often overlooked is where this negative perception emanates from. Generational poverty is an existent issue and has been influential in shaping the Cape Flats to what it is today. What this study aims to do, is to provide a background on a possible theory for this typecast that accompanies the areas broadly known as the Cape Flats. The study will show how the Apartheid era created a ripple effect for future generations, and how this may be the cause of these vulnerable groups of children being failed by a system which have long forgotten about them. The study demonstrates how vulnerable groups on the Cape Flats, struggling and pleading for State intervention in the delivery of basic human rights, have fallen on deaf ears. The study further reveals that the State has not fulfilled its constitutional mandate, neither has it lived up to the enabling provisions contained in international instruments which has been adopted by the South African government, and confirms that all three spheres of government have lacked in the accomplishments it set out to achieve upon the adoption of various pieces of legislation, notwithstanding the proclamation of domestic laws to help the State realise its socioeconomic rights obligations. The study was a particularly challenging task to undertake, as research topics on the issue of socioeconomic rights realisation on the Cape Flats is not a well-studied subject. The intention behind the study is to make an important contribution towards awareness of the issue under discussion, paving the way for future knowledge sharing and an open dialogue focusing on the role of the State in the realisation of socioeconomic rights of children on the Cape Flats.