La contabilizzazione delle operazioni di M&A è radicalmente mutata nel corso degli ultimi dieci anni, nel contesto statunitense come in quello europeo. A seguito di tali cambiamenti l’ammontare di goodwill (avviamento) iscritto nei bilanci di molte società si è incrementato. Questo studio si propone in primo luogo di far luce sulla reliability di tali valori analizzando le cause della svalutazione del goodwill, a partire dall’ipotesi essa sia causata in molti casi dal pagamento di un prezzo eccessivo da parte dell’impresa acquirente, piuttosto che essere la conseguenza di eventi successivi all’operazione. L’analisi, in secondo luogo, ha lo scopo valutare se l’impairment test del goodwill, reso obbligatorio dallo SFAS 142 raggiunga l’obiettivo di individuare in modo tempestivo le perdite durevoli di valore del goodwill acquisito e, dunque, di evitare che rimangano iscritti in bilancio come assets valori che di fatto non lo sono. Lo studio ha considerato un campione di 929 acquisizioni concluse nel periodo 1999-2007 che hanno coinvolto società statunitensi quotate ed è stato condotto sviluppando un modello predittivo basato su alcune misure indicanti potenziale overpayment da parte dell’acquirente alla data di acquisizione. I risultati mostrano in primo luogo come alcuni indicatori di overpayment, come la percentuale del prezzo pagata in azioni dell’impresa acquirente e un ammontare elevato di goodwill rispetto al prezzo di acquisto, diano un contributo significativo nella stima di future svalutazioni del goodwill. Un risultato piuttosto preoccupante, poiché segnala una almeno parziale incapacità da parte degli attuali Principi Contabili (SFAS 141) di garantire che alla data di acquisizione il valore attribuito a tale asset sia effettivamente fondato sulle sinergie e sul valore di “going-concern” del target (“core goodwill”), escludendo elementi ad esso estranei, come l’ overpayment da parte dell’acquirente. Per quanto attiene al secondo obiettivo, i risultati mostrano che il lasso temporale tra la data di acquisizione e il momento della svalutazione è in media di due - tre anni, a differenza di quanto accadeva precedentemente all’entrata in vigore dello SFAS 142, quando tale distanza temporale è stata stimata essere tra i quattro e i cinque anni. Tale risultato pertanto suggerisce che l’impairment test (almeno) annuale ha ottenuto l’effetto di migliorare la tempestività dell’individuazione di eventuali perdite durevoli di valore, contribuendo a bilanciare l’effetto sopra descritto che potenzialmente si ingenera alla data di acquisizione. / The purpose of this study is to shed light on the reliability of accounting goodwill numbers by examining whether the root cause of many goodwill impairment losses is the overpayment for the target at the time of the original acquisition, rather than the deterioration of goodwill values caused by events occurred after acquisition. A second related objective is to assess whether the annual impairment test of the acquired goodwill introduced by SFAS 142 improved the ability of accounting standards to timely capture situations in which the amount of goodwill is overstated and should thus be written down. I tested these hypotheses over a sample of 929 acquisitions completed by US listed companies over the nine-year period from 1999 to 2007. To assess whether the occurrence of a goodwill impairment loss can be predicted based on overpayment indicators, I developed a prediction model of goodwill impairment losses using some indicators measured at the acquisition date that signal potential overpayment by the acquiring firm. First, I found that certain measures, such as the percentage of stock in the consideration and the amount of purchase price assigned to goodwill, in fact represent powerful indicators of the occurrence of a subsequent goodwill impairment. This result is troubling as it suggests that SFAS 141 provisions are at least partially unable to avoid that components other than “core goodwill” being included in the amount recognized as goodwill, casting some doubt on the credibility of prominent goodwill amounts included in the financial statements of many corporations. I also found that the recognition of goodwill impairments lags behind the acquisition time by an average of two to three years. Compared with findings of earlier studies this result indicates that SFAS 142 requirements for annual impairment tests in fact improved the timeliness of recognizing goodwill write-offs, eventually helping to mitigate the failure of SFAS 141.

The thesis focuses on the situation when the carousel structure is misused for illegal activities, specifically fraud in the system of value added tax, and thus brings the term carousel fraud into life. The main objective of this thesis is to understand the issue of fraud on the value added tax, process and analyze the impact of carousel fraud and try to find possible solutions to reduce this fraud, or possibly eliminate it. This is a current issue of considerable importance. Its timeliness has been evident in legislative activity in recent years, and currently solved cases. The importance of the problem is eventually illustrated by the value of both the volume of VAT in the tax collection and also the amount of tax arrears arising from carousel fraud. The thesis offers a description of the general characteristics and design of carousel fraud, practical examples how the fraud is performed in practice, and information about the legislation and case law associated with the fraud as such and what the possible defense is that the managing authorities can apply in the fight against carousel VAT fraud, while the question of whether the carousel fraud can be completely eliminated is also considered.

Le report des garanties accessoires sur l’obligation de restitution du contrat principal anéanti est une règle du code civil dans sa version issue de l’ordonnance n° 2016-131 du 10 février 2016 portant réforme du droit des contrats, du régime général et de la preuve des obligations. Précisément, la règle est formulée par l’article 1352-9 du code civil : « Les sûretés constituées pour le paiement de l'obligation sont reportées de plein droit sur l'obligation de restituer sans toutefois que la caution soit privée du bénéfice du terme ». Il s’agit de la codification d’une jurisprudence rendue en d’abord en matière de cautionnement, ensuite étendue à l’hypothèque, enfin, par généralisation, à l’ensemble des sûretés, y compris à la solidarité. La portée d’une telle règle est donc générale en droit français. En droit uniforme des affaires issu de l’OHADA, l’Acte uniforme portant organisation des sûretés révisé n’a pas prévu une telle règle. Par contre, le récent projet de texte d’Acte uniforme portant droit général des obligations dans l’espace OHADA prévoit, en s’inspirant de la solution retenue en droit français, d’adopter la règle sous la forme d’une « extension » des garanties accessoires sur l’obligation de restitution du contrat principal anéanti. En effet, l’article 210 alinéa 1 du projet de texte uniforme précité énonce : « Les garanties stipulées pour le paiement de l’obligation primitive sont étendues à l’obligation de restitution ». Les formulations des deux textes, les articles 1352-9 du code civil et 210 alinéa 1 du projet de texte uniforme, sont différentes mais la logique et la politique législative de deux systèmes juridiques convergent. La thèse défendue est que le terme « report » employé par le code civil en son article 1352-9 dans sa version issue de l’ordonnance n° 2016-131 du 10 février 2016 n’existe pas en tant que tel. Le report est en réalité une double substitution ; il y a une substitution d’abord, dans le rapport principal d’obligation et une substitution consécutive dans le rapport de cautionnement. La première substitution qui a lieu concerne le rapport entre le débiteur principal et le créancier. L’anéantissement des effets du contrat principal produit une substitution à l’obligation initiale de source conventionnelle d’une obligation légale fondé sur le quasi-contrat de paiement de l’indu. Cette première substitution conduit à la disparition, par le jeu ou la règle de l’accessoire, de l’obligation initiale de la caution et de son remplacement par une obligation légale nouvelle. Il y a donc une substitution dans le rapport entre le créancier et la caution due à la première substitution. L’obligation légale nouvelle de la caution reprend certains éléments de l’obligation conventionnelle ancienne de celle-ci, tout en étant distincte par d’autres éléments. La base même de l’obligation nouvelle de la caution reste le cautionnement que la caution avait souscrit préalablement. / The postponement of ancillary guarantees on the obligation to return the terminated main contract is a rule of the Civil Code in the version resulting from Order No. 2016-131 of 10 February 2016 related to the reform of contract law of the general regime and the proof of obligations. Specifically, the rule is formulated by article 1352-9 of the Civil Code: "Securities created for the payment of the obligation are automatically transferred under the obligation to return without however depriving the surety of the benefit of the term". It is about the codification of case law handed down first in the field of suretyship, then extended to mortgages, and finally, by generalization, to all securities, including solidarity. The scope of such a rule is therefore general in French law. In the uniform business law of OHADA, the revised Uniform Act on the Organization of Security Interests has not provided for such a rule. On the other hand, the recent draft text of the Uniform Act on the general law of obligations in the OHADA area provides, under the inspiration of the solution adopted in French law, for the adoption of the rule in the form of an "extension" of the accessory guarantees on the obligation to return the terminated main contract. Indeed, Article 210 paragraph 1 of the aforementioned draft uniform text states: "The guarantees stipulated for the payment of the original obligation are extended to the obligation of restitution". The wording of the two texts, Articles 1352-9 of the Civil Code and 210 paragraph 1 of the draft uniform text, are different, but the logic and legislative policy of both legal systems converge. This thesis focuses on the determination of the legal nature of the deferral (or extension) mechanism and its regime. It defends the view that postponement (or extension) is not a technical concept. The deferral is actually a double substitution: a substitution in the main report and a substitution in the bond report.

The focus of this dissertation is in the area of theoretical knowledge in customs law and tax law connected with practical knowledge implemented throughout legal relations, its subjects and objects, the rights and obligations of parties in the Act on Taxes and Charges Administration and the new Tax Code as a complex concept of legal proceeding within individual branch of financial law while fulfilling the determining criterion in the system of law. I understand the term "system of law" has more meanings. The system of law is a variously formatted summary of relations between the branches of objective law and legal rules. I also take the term as a set of basic legal systems. Usually it can also be described as a system based on a set of elements connected to each other by a certain structure of relations. On the other hand the system of law symbolizes the indication of the structure of law as a normative legal framework. It then represents a greater unity but also the inner differential in law. The differential sign of dividing law into branches or sub-branches is the nature of the group of social relations which are subject to legislation. The legal system (objective law) is in every country (national law) always somehow structured. The way of matching and organizing the legal institutes into branches is...