The use of financial derivative instruments has outpaced the development of a comprehensive tax policy framework for these instruments in South Africa. Income character determination relies on common law principles which provide limited certainty within the context of modern portfolio management. How the courts will approach character determination for financial derivative instruments within investment portfolios is uncertain. This thesis considers applicable tax legislation and case law in three common law jurisdictions. The United States, the United Kingdom and Australia provide insight into the difficulties associated with formulating legislation in the light of rapid market innovation. The detailed tax code of the United States has proved a less than satisfactory policy approach and the courts have struggled with doctrines of interpretation. Australia and the United Kingdom have followed accounting principles. Simplifying proxies are used in this thesis to help disentangle the analysis from the varied and complex ways in which derivatives can be used in financial transactions. Only equity derivatives are considered within the context of regulated investment portfolios. Insolvency case law following the filing for bankruptcy by Lehman Brothers Holdings Incorporated in 2008 provides authority with which to analyse the nature of standardised derivative contracts used in the markets and the rights therefrom as ‘property'. The researcher argues per Smalberger JA in CIR v Pick ‘n Pay Employee Share Purchase Trust 1992 (4) SA 39 (A) that, ‘transactions involving shares do not differ from transactions in respect of any other property and the capital or revenue nature of a receipt is determined in the same way whether one is dealing with land or shares'. A definition is proposed to incorporate legal attributes of these instruments highlighted in the literature, and interpretive guidance issued by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs in the United Kingdom is supported for adoption as policy principles aligned with our own common law. There can be no context distinct from the general concepts of law specific to derivatives. Continuity and coherency within a long tradition of case law on capital and revenue characterisation should be maintained and a policy framework developed from this premise.

Today, the Internet cannot be described any more as a new technology, even though it is still growing and new features are constantly invented and added. The Internet is now in constant daily use by millions of users all over the world. However, as it could be observed many times before, legal developments find it difficult to hold pace with the technical development. That is especially true in regard to copyright law and the use of the Internet. Although computer programs and their specific requirements are now renown internationally by many legal system, so far there are little regulations which deal with the specific demands of the Internet use. However, efforts in that direction are undertaken, but the outcome is still uncertain. In Germany, first serious efforts to tackle the legal problems of the Internet could be observed in 1996, but only in the recent two years a large number of publications dealing with different problems in that regard were made available to the public. The situation in South Africa is somewhat different. Only little publication in that regard could so far be found. Often, for whatever reason, problems are actually more pointed out than an effort is made to provide an answer. Still though, one will actually find, that many problems can be discussed in an international context regardless to the exact provisions of a certain legal order. The following work will therefore compare the German and South African legislation and jurisdiction in regard to copyright related aspects of the Internet. Although one will observe that more room is given to the German point of view, it is to hope that this will at the same time serve as a source of inspiration to the South African lawyer. The final aim, however, should be to harmonise internationally rules in that regard, so that no legal order is to prevail or, to put it into other words, the aim is to make the law as 'international' as the Internet itself.

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The Internet allows contractual negotiations to take place electronically between parties in different national and international jurisdictions. A commercial transaction may be concluded and performed electronically without the parties ever having met or communicated with each other in a formal or informal manner. It is a unique technology that may resemble an instantaneous telex in certain instances, and therefore, may invoke prima facie comparisons to the legal principles relating to telephonic or telex communication. However, in other instances the medium resembles a conventional post box, an analogy that immediately invokes the expedition theory.

There are a number of circumstances in which parties, that enter into negotiations to conclude a contract, incur losses because the anticipated contract does not materialise. The parties could for example think that they concluded a contract, which is, however, void or an offeror sends together with his offer goods to a long known customer, wrongfully trusting that a contract will come about. Furthermore, the parties could have entered into lengthy negotiations about a costly project which do for some reason not ripen into a contractual agreement. In all these situations the parties might have made expenses with regard to the prospective contract that are now lost without any reward in return.

The present state of international trade law governing commercial contracts seems to be far from satisfactory. A commercial transaction between parties from different countries gives rise to a variety of legal issues that normally find no counterpart in a purely domestic transaction. 1 Since the traditional way of dealing with an international commercial contract is to make reference to the rules of private international law of the lex fori, in most cases rules of municipal law will govern the legal relationship between the parties. Yet, domestic law is not tailored to meet the specific requirements of modem international sales, and thus may often provide legal solutions that are not appropriate to cross-border transactions at all.

The problem when it comes to the concept of possession in terms of technology and transferring possession which requires the concept of exclusivity which cannot be tampered with. Data messages cannot in their current state cannot be a symbol of goods that by constructive possession rights of a holder could be transferred. Other researchers have commented on the fact blockchain could remedy this situation. It should be maintained that a specific type of blockchain should be the preferred approach to the dematerialisation of bills of lading in electronic form, but that does not exist yet. Other researchers think that blockchain generally should be the genus of technology that should be recognised to facilitate the electronic equivalent of documentary bills of lading.1 I think only a specific type should. As the technology in theory exists, it does not mean it is available. This should mean that an open standard to allows any technology to fulfil the void that is required for recognition in bills of lading should be facilitated to facilitate trade because of the multi-dimensional cost of dealing in paper.

In 2008 the world witnessed a transformational shift in its financial services with the introduction and subsequent adoption of cryptocurrencies. The self-regulatory nature of cryptocurrencies is an attractive feature for its users. Unfortunately, this feature is equally as attractive for criminal use. It is for this reason that in 2018 the Financial Action Task Force amended its regulatory Recommendations to extend the obligations of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism to cryptocurrency service providers and users. In turn, jurisdictions such as the European Union have amended their anti-money laundering laws to give the Recommendations effect. However, cryptocurrency transactions are presently unregulated in Namibia, despite the country also being a member state of the Financial Action Task Force. Namibia's concerns surrounding cryptocurrencies are in no way limited to their ability to corrupt the integrity of its financial industry, but also their ability to evade Namibia's capital and exchange controls. These controls preserve Namibia's foreign reserves which can theoretically be under threat by pseudonymous cross-border cryptocurrency transactions. Consequently, the imminent threat which these transactions pose, in their current form void of regulation, can arguably be quantified by their lack of transparency, accountability, and their jurisdictional concerns. Notably, cryptocurrencies have the ability to lower the entry level for financial inclusion and have the potential to propel Namibia's economic growth if cultivated correctly. Therefore, this dissertation examines whether the licensing of cryptocurrency service providers within Namibia can remedy the ills that plague cross-border cryptocurrency transactions, in order to safeguard the integrity of Namibia's financial industry and ensure the preservation of its foreign reserves without stifling innovation.

The focus of this minor dissertation is on the dispute resolution methods proposed by Action 14 of the Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project. The BEPS Project' was introduced in 2013 by the OECD working together with the G20 and other states to reform the international tax framework. The reform was necessary to deal with the challenges posed by globalisation. The existing international tax framework had not changed for many years and was unable to deal with these new challenges. As stated by the OECD in its Explanatory Statement in 2013, there was a need to build an international tax system to support economic growth and a resilient global economy. The report highlighted that the loss to international corporate income tax caused by these challenges was between 4% and l 0% of global corporate income revenues. As part of the proposed reforms, the report highlighted the need for new measures to address the problem of BEPS as well as provide a structure to support these newly introduced measures. Improving the international dispute resolution mechanisms was identified as an essential structural reform to support the new BEPS measures, as it was anticipated these measures would give rise to more inter-State disputes.