The central task in this study is to discover and analyse the legal framework applicable to input errors in electronic contracts. The study analyses the law of South Africa, the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (hereinafter referred to as the ECT Act) to be more specific, and the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts (2005) (hereinafter referred to as the UNECIC). The ECT Act is the statute regulating electronic communications and transactions in South Africa. It was passed by the South African parliament in 2002. Almost all provisions of the ECT Act are based on the United Nations Model Law on Electronic Commerce (1996) .However, section 20 thereof, which deals with input errors, was not based on the Model law, but on provisions from statutes of leading jurisdictions.1 The UNECIC is a new international convention by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (hereinafter referred to as UNCITRAL). The Convention came into operation on the 1st of March 2013,2 and is the first United Nations convention that deals with electronic communications. Article 12 thereof deals with automated transactions, and section 14 with input errors. These are the two provisions that shall be analysed in relation to the UNECIC in this work. With the UNECIC having come into full operation, there is a real need to harmonise domestic laws with it. In various jurisdictions, including Singapore3 and Australia,4 the statutes governing electronic communications have been amended with some provisions of the UNECIC. Article 14 is one of the provisions of the UNECIC which have been domesticated in both jurisdictions. Judged against the UNECIC, a number of issues relating to input errors in the ECT Act are inconsistent with the new international standards embodied in the UNECIC. This work recommends that South Africa must adopt the UNECIC, and secondly that some of the provisions dealing with input errors in the ECT Act must be aligned with the UNECIC by amendment. / LLM (Import and Export Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The mobile phone has not only changed the way the world works today, but also changed the direction the world is moving toward. The mobile phone changed the face of communication and enabled more people to reach more other people than ever before. The big four banks in South Africa represent 83.5 per cent of the total asset value of all banks in South Africa. Traditionally, banking customers (or potential customers) could be reached through the current 2 786 branches, 19 451 ATMs and potentially 4.59 million internet users. There are 47.9 million mobile phone subscribers in South Africa – increasing the number of potential contact points by order of magnitude. The possibilities for banks utilising the mobile phone are endless, however online banking and offering banking services through a mobile phone is increasingly more subject to fraud attacks. Online banking and credit card fraud is still on the increase. Today, SMS is used to alert customer of movements on their bank account. This keeps the customer informed and enables them to notify their banks and prevent subsequent fraudulent transactions. SMS can be sent from one mobile phone to another (P2P) or from a computer system to a mobile phone (A2P). In 2007, 2 trillion SMS's were sent worldwide and was responsible for 75 to 80 per cent of all mobile phone revenues. South Africa sent 34 billion A2P SMS in 2009 of which 29 per cent were sent as transactional SMS by the top three banks in South Africa. SMS-based transactional alerts are SMS sent each time a change occurs in a bank account, for example, when your credit card is used then you will get an SMS on your mobile phone. Each bank makes different functionalities available. Absa reported 2 million customers receiving SMS alerts in 2008. FNB reported 67 million transactional SMS per month in 2009. The core advantages for using transactional SMS are the cost, reliability and ubiquity. Research was conducted among five of the six largest banks. Data revealed that banks send between 16 million and 69.4 million SMS per month and have approximately between 4.5 and 5.1 million customers using this service. The impact was tested through personal interviews. The two common factors were fraud reduction and customer retention. The two key challenges the banks identified are: i) Capacity/throughput with the mobile network operators; and ii) Getting internal systems and processes defined and working together for the alerts. The advantages identified are competitive positioning, customer interaction, empowerment of people and revenue. Key findings of the research were: SMS-based transactional alerts offer strategic importance; Any system is as good as it is being utilised; Security controls are extremely complex; SMS capacity is a common challenge and big risk; Internal processes cause the most complexity; Return on investment is not adequately measured; Transactional alerts is a potential revenue stream; There is no interaction between the bank and the customer; SMS in South Africa create high dependencies; SMS-based transactional alerts are successful.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Business persons engaging in BEE deals, pertaining to ownership, encounter many obstacles and challenges relating to the formulation of appropriate structures and solutions during the deal process. The SMME market is arguably one of the most critical contributors towards the SA GDP and a sector of the economy with the most growth potential as noted from recent history, especially relating to BEE ownership. It is in the above frame of reference that the research report attempts to follow a logical flow of events that the business persons in the SMME market would encounter. The report therefore has a holistic approach to this market and although many of the concepts could be applied to a variety of industries and even to other market segments, based on size, the primary objective and research has been centred around SMME’s. The core concepts that are covered relate to: - Understanding the essence of BEE and BBBEE as well as Government’s role as conduit to empowerment. The various elements under the BEE scorecard will also be a prominent factor as ownership only accounts for a portion of the entire BBBEE rating. - Aligning the BEE deal to strategy is a crucial consideration and entails attracting the right partner and ensuring that the BEE transaction is directed at value creation, growth and sustainability of the business. The transaction should make strategic and economic sense. - Determining firm value is in all probability one of the most complex issues and business owners should merely attempt to understand and interpret the vastly complicated process that may be presented by business brokers or valuers that facilitate the BEE deal. The fair value concept and required adjustments could be influential in the valuation process as well as choosing the correct valuation methodology. - Business tax structure. This is also a complex process that may vary significantly from business to business. Certain legislative impediments are influential and various amendments may also influence future structuring of BEE deals. The use of SPV’s is a prominent theme highlighted in this research report as it is very often the most preferred structure. - The BEE deal. This may have to consider hybrid financial solution from various sources, such as senior debt, franchise funding, mezzanine debt including venture capitalists, non-traditional lending sources and alternative supporting or indirect funders to the business. The lending criteria principles relating to cash conversion cycle, free cash flow and sustainable growth rate have also briefly been covered. BEE transactions inevitably enter an area of uncertainty for business persons when it comes to drafting business plans, determining the BEE scorecard, structuring the new shareholding and many other factors. In other words, they may not have the necessary business or financial acumen to prepare a satisfactory business proposal to attract lenders to the deal. It is therefore crucial to understand the different elements of the BEE deal formulation process, which is exactly the intent of this research report. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Besigheidspersone wat SEB-transaksies met betrekking tot eienaarskap aangaan, ondervind baie struikelblokke en uitdagings in verband met die formulering van toepaslike strukture en oplossings wanneer die transaksie aangegaan word. Die KMMO-mark is stellig een van die mees kritieke bydraers tot die SA BBP en ’n sektor van die ekonomie met die meeste groeipotensiaal, soos die onlangse geskiedenis ons geleer het, veral met betrekking tot SEB-eienaarskap. Dit is met bogenoemde in gedagte dat hierdie navorsingsverslag poog om ’n logiese vloei van gebeure te volg wat die sakepersone in die KMMO-mark sal teëkom. Die verslag het dus ’n holistiese benadering tot hierdie mark en hoewel baie van die konsepte op ’n verskeidenheid nywerhede en selfs op ander marksegmente, gegrond op grootte, toegepas kan word, is die primêre doelwit en navorsing op KMMO’s gerig. Die kernkonsepte wat behandel word, het betrekking op: - Begrip van die kern van SEB en BBSEB asook die Regering se rol as geleibuis tot bemagtiging. Die verskillende elemente van die SEB-telkaart is ook ’n belangrike faktor aangesien eienaarskap net ’n gedeelte van die algehele BBSEB-aanslag verteenwoordig. - Die inlynstelling van die SEB-transaksie met die strategie is ’n kritieke oorweging en behels die lok van die regte vennoot en die versekering dat die SEB-transaksie tot waardeskepping, groei en volhoubaarheid van die besigheid gerig is. Die transaksie moet strategiese en ekonomiese sin maak. - Die bepaling van stewige waarde is in alle waarskynlikheid een van die mees komplekse kwessies en besigheidseienaars moet bloot probeer om die enorme gekompliseerde proses te verstaan en te interpreteer wat deur besigheidsmakelaars en waardeerders wat die SEB-transaksie fasiliteer, voorgelê word. Die billikewaarde-konsep en die vereiste regstellings kan invloedryk op die waardasieproses asook die keuse van die korrekte waardasiemetodologie wees. - Besigheidsbelastingstrukturering is ook ’n komplekse proses wat aansienlik van besigheid tot besigheid verskil. Sekere wetlike struikelblokke is invloedryk en verskeie wysigings kan ook toekomstige strukturering van SEB-transaksies beïnvloed. Die gebruik van SDV’s is ’n prominente tema wat in hierdie dokument uitgelig word aangesien dit in die reël die verkieslikste struktuur is. - Die SEB-transaksie sal moontlik hibridiese finansiële oplossings van verskeie bronne soos seniorskuld, franchise-befondsing, tussenskuld insluitend waagkapitaliste, nie-tradisionele uitleenbronne en alternatiewe ondersteunende of indirekte befondsers van die besigheid moet oorweeg. Die uitleenkriteriabeginsels met betrekking tot kontantomskeppingsiklus, vry kontantvloei en volhoubare groeikoers word ook kortliks gedek. SEB-transaksies betree onvermydelik ’n gebied van onsekerheid vir sakepersone wanneer dit kom by die opstel van besigheidsplanne, die bepaling van die SEB-telkaart, die strukturering van die nuwe aandeelhouding en baie ander faktore. Met ander woorde, hulle kan moontlik nie die nodige besigheids- of finansiële vernuf hê om ’n bevredigende besigheidsvoorlegging op te stel wat uitleners na die transaksie sal aantrek nie. Dit is dus kritiek om die verskillende elemente van die formulering van die SEB-transaksie te verstaan, wat presies die doel van hierdie navorsingsverslag is.

集團企業是多個子公司的組合，在追求集團整體利益極大化的過程中，可能爲了追求內部資源市場配置，因而犧牲某些子公司的個別利益，或是彼此子公司之間出現交叉補貼的現象。在交叉補貼的動機下，雙方子公司進行交易時，將可能有一方犧牲，而另一方受惠；或是一方受惠較多，一方受惠較少的情形。在此情形下，集團企業爲追求長期利益，應採取何種管理作為以促使子公司間進行交易，是本研究的核心問題。 本研究以集團企業之子公司間交易為主題，嘗試探索影響子公司間交易發生的因素(本研究將影響子公司間交易發生的因素命名為「交易情境」)，且以「交易情境」的觀點，進一步探討集團企業中子公司間交易之管理方式。為此，本研究以台灣集團企業作為研究對象，結合集團企業之綜效管理相關理論及文獻，針對實務現象進行分析。 本研究採質性研究方法，以集團企業中子公司間的「交易」為分析單位，進行資料蒐集與個案分析。本研究分二階段進行。第一階段為前導個案研究，依個案分析歸納發現，子公司間交易發生的情境因素包括：「投入可衡量程度」、「投入成本程度」、「市場失靈程度」以及「產出互惠程度」。子公司間交易的管理作為包括：「目標一體化」、「轉撥計價」和「市場機制(市價)」。並且建構子公司間「交易情境」與「管理作為」之配適模式，發展出初步的研究架構、研究發現與研究命題，作為後續個案研究之原樣複現基礎。第二階段為後續個案研究，目的在修正並驗證前一階段建立的研究架構與研究命題，使其內容更為豐富。 本研究整合前導個案與後續個案，歸納出下列研究發現： 一、 公司間交易情境與管理作為之配適模式 集團企業進行子公司間交易管理時，應考量「交易」的本質，也就是交易情境，針對「市場失靈程度」、「投入可衡量程度」、「投入成本程度」以及「產出互惠程度」之不同，選擇較能發揮綜效之管理作為。子公司間交易的管理作為包括「目標一體化」、「轉撥計價」和「市場機制(市價)」，因應不同的交易情境組合，管理作為的搭配組合也有所不同，藉由此配適模式，以追求集團企業之綜效。 二、 「目標一體化」程度之提升，有助於「轉撥計價」、「市場機制(市價)」方式的發揮 集團企業在追求綜效過程中，若需要犧牲某一家子公司，成全另一家子公司利益時，「目標一體化」將扮演重要的角色。透過提升「目標一體化」程度，使「轉撥計價」、「市場機制(市價)」方式更能發揮。換言之，集團企業的綜效是源自於「目標一體化」，「目標一體化」有助於子公司之間交易成本的降低。 三、 「目標一體化」、「轉撥計價」和「市場機制(市價)」的使用有其搭配的強弱程度 「目標一體化」對於「轉撥計價」和「市場機制(市價)」具有調節作用，當子公司間交易依賴「高轉撥計價」時，則使用「目標一體化」的程度較低。當子公司間交易依賴「低轉撥計價」時，則使用「目標一體化」的程度較高。當子公司間交易依賴「市場機制(市價)」時，則使用「目標一體化」的程度較低。 / A business group is composed of several subsidiary companies. To increase group-level profits, the profits of subsidiaries may be scarified and one subsidiary may cross-subsidize others. In cross-subsidization between two subsidiaries, one may benefit more than the other or one may benefit and the other may suffer. Giving this understanding, two-stage study is conducted to observe the phenomena by studying business groups in Taiwan. In the first stage, ten pilot cases are conducted and eight more cases are examined in the second stage. Taking the view of “the contexts of transactions”, this study aims to examine how headquarters manages inter-subsidiaries transactions to create group synergy. As part of the methodology, a qualitative research method is adopted and the unit of analysis is inter-subsidiaries transaction. The research process includes two stages. In the first stage, it is found that the contexts affecting inter-subsidiaries transactions consist of “level of input measurability”, “level of input cost”, “level of market failure” and “level of outcome reciprocity”. The mechanisms for managing inter-subsidiaries transactions include “goal alignment”, “transfer-pricing” and “market mechanism (market price)”. Further, a fitting model between “the context of transactions” and “mechanisms” is proposed as a prior research framework for the second stage. In terms of integrating two-stage case analysis, three main research findings include: 1. A fitting model between “the contexts of transactions” and “mechanisms” Headquarters should take into account the essence of transaction when managing inter-subsidiaries transactions. The essence of transaction means “level of input measurability”, “level of input cost”, “level of market failure” and “level of outcome reciprocity”. In other words, different mechanisms should be adopted in different contexts of transactions to achieve group synergy. 2. The increase of the level of “goal alignment” is conducive to “transfer-pricing” and “market mechanism (market price)” “Goal alignment” plays an important role in a business group, especially when the profits of subsidiaries may be scarified and one subsidiary may cross-subsidize others. The increase of the level of “goal alignment” is conducive to “transfer-pricing” and “market mechanism (market price)”. In other words, synergy in a business group results from “goal alignment”, and “goal alignment” decreases the transaction cost between subsidiaries. 3. The combination of three mechanisms with different level “Goal alignment” has mediating effect for “transfer-pricing” and “market mechanism (market price)”. If headquarters depends on high level of “transfer-pricing”, then the level of “goal alignment” is low. If headquarters depends on low level of “transfer-pricing”, then the level of “goal alignment” is high. If headquarters depends on “market mechanism (market price)”, then the level of “goal alignment” is low.

關係人交易與公司績效之關係，在過去文獻上並未獲得絕對一致的結論，惟過去文獻並未考慮集團內進行關係人交易的公司，不同公司特徵所誘發進行關係人交易不同之交易動機。因此，本文利用Sharma et al.（1981）及 Le et al.（2006）之調節性多元迴歸分析方法（moderated multiple regression；MMR），考慮集團內個別公司不同特徵下之關係人交易與公司績效之關聯性。基於本文實證結果，發現在集團內不同公司特徵之關係人交易與公司績效的確有不同的關聯性，並且發現集團內具有以下三項特徵的公司，所進行的關係人交易有利公司績效，分別是：1.較高的董監持股 2.較高的機構投資人持股 3.較高的流動比率。而集團內具有以下六項特徵之公司，所進行的關係人交易不利公司績效，分別是：1. 經理人兼任的董監席次較多 2.金字塔股權結構 3.集團的核心公司 4.較高的負 債比 5.較高的長期負債比 6.較低的利息保障倍數。 / The relationship between related party transactions and company’s performance in the past literature has not reached absolutely unanimous conclusion, but the past literature has not considered the different characteristics of individual company in the group and different related party transactions’ motive induced by those characteristics. Therefore, moderated multiple regression（MMR）that adopted by Sharma et al.（1981） and Le et al.（2006）is employed in this study in order to discuss the relationship between the transactions made by individual company with different characteristics in the group and the individual company’s performance. According to the empirical results in this paper, there are indeed different relationships between the transactions made by individual company with different characteristics in the group and the individual company’s performance. On the one hand, the results indicate that there is a positive relationship between the related party transactions made by the individual company with the three characteristics in the group and the companies’ performance. The three characteristics are as follows: 1. higher board shareholdings. 2. higher institutional investors’ holdings. 3. higher the current ratio. On the other hand, the results show that there is a negative relationship between the related party transactions made by the individual company with the six characteristics in the group and the companies’ performance. The six characteristics are as follows: 1. managers as more seats in the board. 2. pyramidal ownership structure. 3. the core companies in the group. 4. higher the liabilities ratio. 5. higher the long-term liabilities ratio. 6. lower the time interest earned.

This doctoral thesis represents an investigation into financial fraud in online banking and card payment systems in the UK and China, involving network security, online financial transactions, internet fraud, card payment systems and individuals' perception of and behaviours towards electronic environments. In contrast to previous studies, the research questions were tackled by survey questionnaires both in the UK and China, with a particular interest in fraud and attempted fraud. The main findings from the UK respondents were that those with higher IT skill and younger respondents are more likely to be defrauded on the internet. Certain types of online activities are associated with higher risks of fraud, these being internet banking; online shopping and media downloading. Furthermore, four predictors (internet banking, online education services, downloading media and length of debit card usage) provided significant effects in the logistic regression model to explain fraud occurrence in the UK. Based on the data collected in China, younger respondents were more likely to have higher general IT skill and higher educational qualifications. However, online shopping was the only online activity which was significantly correlated to fraud occurrence. Finally, two predictors (frequency of usage of online shopping and number of debit cards) were selected in the logistic regression model to explain fraud occurrence in China.

Avec la complexité croissante des systèmes sur puce, de nouveaux défis ne cessent d’émerger dans la conception de ces systèmes en matière de vérification formelle et de synthèse de haut niveau. Plusieurs travaux autour de SystemC, considéré comme la norme pour la conception au niveau système, sont en cours afin de relever ces nouveaux défis. Cependant, à cause du modèle de concurrence complexe de SystemC, relever ces défis reste toujours une tâche difficile. Ainsi, nous pensons qu’il est primordial de partir sur de meilleures bases en utilisant un modèle de concurrence plus efficace. Par conséquent, dans cette thèse, nous étudions une méthodologie de conception qui offre une meilleure abstraction pour modéliser des composants parallèles en se basant sur le concept de transaction. Nous montrons comment, grâce au raisonnement simple que procure le concept de transaction, il devient plus facile d’appliquer la vérification formelle, le raffinement incrémental et la synthèse de haut niveau. Dans le but d’évaluer l’efficacité de cette méthodologie, nous avons fixé l’objectif d’optimiser la vitesse de simulation d’un modèle transactionnel en profitant d’une machine multicoeur. Nous présentons ainsi l’environnement de modélisation et de simulation parallèle que nous avons développé. Nous étudions différentes stratégies d’ordonnancement en matière de parallélisme et de surcoût de synchronisation. Une expérimentation faite sur un modèle du transmetteur Wi-Fi 802.11a a permis d’atteindre une accélération d’environ 1.8 en utilisant deux threads. Avec 8 threads, bien que la charge de travail des différentes transactions n’était pas importante, nous avons pu atteindre une accélération d’environ 4.6, ce qui est un résultat très prometteur. / With the increasing complexity of SoCs, new challenges continue to emerge in the design of these systems in terms of formal verification and high-level synthesis. Several research efforts around SystemC, considered the de facto standard for system-level design, are underway to meet these new challenges. However, because of the complex concurrency model of SystemC, these challenges remain difficult tasks. Thus, we believe it is important to continue on a better footing by using a more effective concurrency model. Therefore, in this thesis, we study a design methodology that provides a better abstraction for modeling parallel components based on the concept of transaction. We show how, through simple reasoning about transactions, it becomes easier to apply formal verification, incremental refinement and high-level synthesis. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of this methodology, we set the goal to optimize the simulation speed of a transactional model by taking advantage of a multicore machine. We present a modeling and parallel simulation environment that we developed. We study different scheduling strategies in terms of parallelism and synchronization overhead. An experiment made on a Wi-Fi 802.11a transmitter model achieved a speed up of about 1.8 using two threads. With 8 threads, although the workload of individual transactions was not significant, we could reach a speed up equal to 4.6 which is a very promising result.

- The Principle of Fair Business Transactions The submitted thesis called The Principle of Fair Business Transactions deals with assessment of impacts of private law's recodification on this principle and the issue of its application. The thesis consists of two main parts - theoretical and analytical. The theoretical part is divided into general and specific. The general theoretical part focuses on the specification of the business principle and its emplacement among other similar private law's principles such as principle of good faith and fair dealing and good manners. The aim of this part was to define divergences of each of the principles and the aftermaths of breaking these principles. It is impossible to go through the topic of the principle of fair business transactions globally, especially due to the extensiveness and variety of usage of the principle in business law relationships. Therefore, special attention has been paid to the principle of fair business transactions in the field of contractual penalty in the next theoretical part. In the analytical part, I endeavour to deal with the issue of the exercising of the right of a contractual penalty. In the first part, there is a short discourse on the contractual penalty itself, definition of an inadequate amount of the contractual penalty...

This Master's Thesis deals with the application of the concept of lex mercatoria in process of contracting process and in the dispute resolution, particularly in international commercial arbitration. The first chapter briefly describes the historical development of lex mercatoria and examines in detail the circumstances of the establishment of modern lex mercatoria . Further, the Thesis describes the general methods of regulation of the private relations with an international element. In connection with the use of lex mercatoria in the process of contracting the specific attention is given to the choice of applicable law by reference to certain rules of lex mercatoria. The criticism of such choice-of-law method is analysed, as well as its justification and also the requirements for the validity of such choice-of-law method. The second half of the Thesis is dedicated to a particular formalized rules of lex mercatoria, as well as to their legal grounds in Czech law, and also to some legislative changes in the Czech Republic after January 1, 2014, relevant to the lex mercatoria. The final chapter addresses the practical application of lex mercatoria in the international commercial arbitration. The chapter begins with a brief and general introduction to the international commercial arbitration....

La notion de juridiction gracieuse est traditionnellement rattachée à l’activité du juge civil. Le juge administratif connaît pourtant d’une activité gracieuse a côté de son activité contentieuse. Entendue comme l’activité du juge en dehors de tout litige, elle est peu étudiée en droit administratif, mais largement analysée en droit judiciaire privé. Il pourtant est intéressant de comparer la manière dont les juges envisagent leur office dans le cadre gracieux, et d’approfondir les points communs et les divergences entre les deux régimes juridiques. Le développement d’une telle activité peut cependant apparaître paradoxal à l’heure où les tribunaux sont toujours plus engorgés et l’attrait pour les modes alternatifs de règlement des litiges, toujours plus développé. La progression de l’activité d’homologation de certains actes administratifs et notamment des transactions peut cependant permettre d’éviter la longueur d’un procès. Cette nouvelle procédure peut ainsi favoriser le renouvellement du principe de sécurité juridique et d’envisager sous un nouvel angle la définition de la fonction juridictionnelle du juge administratif. / The notion of non-contentious jurisdiction is traditionally connected to the activity of the civil judge. Still, the administrative judge administers contentious as well as non-contentious justice. Understood as the activity of the judge outside of any litigation, it is little studied in administrative law but widely examined in private judiciary law. Nevertheless, it is interesting to compare the way judges consider their office in a non-contentious frame as well as analyse further the common points and the differences between the two juridical regimes. However, the development of such an activity can appear paradoxical when courts keep being more and more congested and when the attraction for alternative ways of settling disputes keeps developing. Yet, the progression of the certification activity of some administrative acts, including transactions, can make it possible to avoid the length of a trial. This new procedure can thus favor the renewal of the principle of juridical security and makes it possible to consider from a new point of view the definition of the jurisdictional function of the administrative judge.