Harald Baum

The Derivative Action in Asia: A Comparative and Functional Approach

Introduction Brian R. Cheffins 1. The derivative action: an economic, historic and practice-oriented approach Harald Baum and Dan W. Puchniak 2. The complexity of derivative actions in Asia: an inconvenient truth Dan W. Puchniak 3. Land of the rising derivative action: revisiting irrationality and Japans unreluctant shareholder litigant Masafumi Nakahigashi and Dan W. Puchniak 4. Invigorating shareholder derivative actions in Korea Hyeok-Joon Rho and Kon-Sik Kim 5. Derivative actions in Taiwan: legal and cultural hurdles with a glimmer of hope for the future Wang Ruu Tseng and Wallace Wen Yeu Wang 6. Pathway to minority shareholder protection: derivative actions in the Peoples Republic of China Donald C. Clarke and Nicholas C. Howson 7. A parallel path to shareholder remedies: Hong Kongs derivative actions Paul von Nessen, S. H. Goo and Low Chee Keong 8. Singapore derivative actions: mundanely non-Asian, intriguingly non-American and at the forefront of the Commonwealth Meng Seng Wee and Dan W. Puchniak 9. The rarity of derivative actions in India: reasons and consequences Vikramaditya Khanna and Umakanth Varottil 10. The derivative action in Asia: some concluding observations Dan W. Puchniak and Harald Baum.

Independent Directors in Asia. A Historical, Contextual and Comparative Approach

The first part of this seminar will explore the often underappreciated and misunderstood rise of the independent director in Asia. Using extensive empirical and case study evidence, it will demonstrate that what appears to be a straightforward example of a significant legal transplant from the United States to Asia is far more complex than conventional wisdom suggests. Although the label ‘independent director’ has been transplanted precipitously from the US (in some cases via the UK) throughout Asia, who is labelled an ‘independent director’ (i.e., the ‘form’ that independent directors take) and what independent directors do (i.e., the ‘function’ they perform) in Asia differ significantly from the American concept of the independent director. To add to the complexity, the form and function of ‘independent directors’ varies within Asia from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. As such, in reality, there are varieties of independent directors in Asia—none of which conform to the American concept of the independent director. This challenges the widelyheld assumption that ‘independent directors’ are universally similar and follow the American concept of the independent director. The practical and theoretical implications of this finding will be explored in the first part of this seminar, which is based on Dan W. Puchniak and Kon Sik Kim, Varieties of Independent Directors in Asia: A Taxonomy, in Independent Directors in Asia: A Historical, Contextual and Comparative Approach (Puchniak et al. eds., Cambridge University Press, 2017).

The Derivative Action in Asia: Contents

Introduction Brian R. Cheffins 1. The derivative action: an economic, historic and practice-oriented approach Harald Baum and Dan W. Puchniak 2. The complexity of derivative actions in Asia: an inconvenient truth Dan W. Puchniak 3. Land of the rising derivative action: revisiting irrationality and Japans unreluctant shareholder litigant Masafumi Nakahigashi and Dan W. Puchniak 4. Invigorating shareholder derivative actions in Korea Hyeok-Joon Rho and Kon-Sik Kim 5. Derivative actions in Taiwan: legal and cultural hurdles with a glimmer of hope for the future Wang Ruu Tseng and Wallace Wen Yeu Wang 6. Pathway to minority shareholder protection: derivative actions in the Peoples Republic of China Donald C. Clarke and Nicholas C. Howson 7. A parallel path to shareholder remedies: Hong Kongs derivative actions Paul von Nessen, S. H. Goo and Low Chee Keong 8. Singapore derivative actions: mundanely non-Asian, intriguingly non-American and at the forefront of the Commonwealth Meng Seng Wee and Dan W. Puchniak 9. The rarity of derivative actions in India: reasons and consequences Vikramaditya Khanna and Umakanth Varottil 10. The derivative action in Asia: some concluding observations Dan W. Puchniak and Harald Baum.

The Derivative Action in Asia: List of Contributors

Introduction Brian R. Cheffins 1. The derivative action: an economic, historic and practice-oriented approach Harald Baum and Dan W. Puchniak 2. The complexity of derivative actions in Asia: an inconvenient truth Dan W. Puchniak 3. Land of the rising derivative action: revisiting irrationality and Japans unreluctant shareholder litigant Masafumi Nakahigashi and Dan W. Puchniak 4. Invigorating shareholder derivative actions in Korea Hyeok-Joon Rho and Kon-Sik Kim 5. Derivative actions in Taiwan: legal and cultural hurdles with a glimmer of hope for the future Wang Ruu Tseng and Wallace Wen Yeu Wang 6. Pathway to minority shareholder protection: derivative actions in the Peoples Republic of China Donald C. Clarke and Nicholas C. Howson 7. A parallel path to shareholder remedies: Hong Kongs derivative actions Paul von Nessen, S. H. Goo and Low Chee Keong 8. Singapore derivative actions: mundanely non-Asian, intriguingly non-American and at the forefront of the Commonwealth Meng Seng Wee and Dan W. Puchniak 9. The rarity of derivative actions in India: reasons and consequences Vikramaditya Khanna and Umakanth Varottil 10. The derivative action in Asia: some concluding observations Dan W. Puchniak and Harald Baum.

The Derivative Action in Asia: List of Abbreviations

Introduction Brian R. Cheffins 1. The derivative action: an economic, historic and practice-oriented approach Harald Baum and Dan W. Puchniak 2. The complexity of derivative actions in Asia: an inconvenient truth Dan W. Puchniak 3. Land of the rising derivative action: revisiting irrationality and Japans unreluctant shareholder litigant Masafumi Nakahigashi and Dan W. Puchniak 4. Invigorating shareholder derivative actions in Korea Hyeok-Joon Rho and Kon-Sik Kim 5. Derivative actions in Taiwan: legal and cultural hurdles with a glimmer of hope for the future Wang Ruu Tseng and Wallace Wen Yeu Wang 6. Pathway to minority shareholder protection: derivative actions in the Peoples Republic of China Donald C. Clarke and Nicholas C. Howson 7. A parallel path to shareholder remedies: Hong Kongs derivative actions Paul von Nessen, S. H. Goo and Low Chee Keong 8. Singapore derivative actions: mundanely non-Asian, intriguingly non-American and at the forefront of the Commonwealth Meng Seng Wee and Dan W. Puchniak 9. The rarity of derivative actions in India: reasons and consequences Vikramaditya Khanna and Umakanth Varottil 10. The derivative action in Asia: some concluding observations Dan W. Puchniak and Harald Baum.

The Derivative Action in Asia: List of Tables

Introduction Brian R. Cheffins 1. The derivative action: an economic, historic and practice-oriented approach Harald Baum and Dan W. Puchniak 2. The complexity of derivative actions in Asia: an inconvenient truth Dan W. Puchniak 3. Land of the rising derivative action: revisiting irrationality and Japans unreluctant shareholder litigant Masafumi Nakahigashi and Dan W. Puchniak 4. Invigorating shareholder derivative actions in Korea Hyeok-Joon Rho and Kon-Sik Kim 5. Derivative actions in Taiwan: legal and cultural hurdles with a glimmer of hope for the future Wang Ruu Tseng and Wallace Wen Yeu Wang 6. Pathway to minority shareholder protection: derivative actions in the Peoples Republic of China Donald C. Clarke and Nicholas C. Howson 7. A parallel path to shareholder remedies: Hong Kongs derivative actions Paul von Nessen, S. H. Goo and Low Chee Keong 8. Singapore derivative actions: mundanely non-Asian, intriguingly non-American and at the forefront of the Commonwealth Meng Seng Wee and Dan W. Puchniak 9. The rarity of derivative actions in India: reasons and consequences Vikramaditya Khanna and Umakanth Varottil 10. The derivative action in Asia: some concluding observations Dan W. Puchniak and Harald Baum.

Law in Japan: A Turning Point (review)

Tokyo not Nuremberg raised the question of whether the representatives of a few, concerned countries may justly impose individual criminal liability only on the leaders who can somehow be coercively subjected to trial while others who by all accounts are guilty of the same or even greater evils go free because, for whatever reason, such coercion is not available. Tokyo not Nuremberg revealed the dilemma of political expediency in granting immunity from prosecution or in imposing less severe penalties. Tokyo not Nuremberg demonstrated the diffi culties faced by most contemporary international criminal tribunals in obtaining evidence and proof in countries where the prosecuting authorities do not have full control over all sources of data. The Tokyo Tribunal not the Nuremberg Tribunal faced the issue of whether an international criminal tribunal may justly prosecute, convict, and possibly execute military commanders, such as Generals Matsui Iwane and Yamashita Tomoyuki, solely for their having failed to ensure that troops under their command observed the laws of war or international convention without evidence that their orders would have been obeyed. Finally, Tokyo but not Nuremberg erased claims of collective responsibility of the nation and its citizens for the war and its conduct. Nuremberg condemned, Tokyo exculpated. At Tokyo and throughout East Asia, individuals deemed responsible for criminal decisions and acts, all committed outside Japan, were prosecuted and punished. Whatever debts were owed to those who suffered were thereby paid in full. Japanese people, who neither participated in nor knew of these acts of evil and who themselves suffered at least if not more severely the horrors of the war, did not share their blame. Further reparation or effort for reconciliation was thus unnecessary as the Japanese people collectively began to rebuild and restore their nation. If present and future international criminal trials can do no better, then they are surely more apt to be facsimiles of Tokyo not Nuremberg.

Changes in Ownership, Governance and Regulation of Stock Exchanges in Germany: Path Dependent Progress and an Unfinished Agenda

Competitive pressure from an increasingly internationalised market for exchange services forces market participants as well as regulators to adapt and modernise. Thus it comes as no surprise that in Germany too, as elsewhere, ownership, governance and regulation of exchanges have changed rapidly within a surprisingly short period of time over the last few years. Further reforms are already being discussed. However, some structural and regulatory features are surprisingly resistant to change. What we see can therefore be labelled as distinctly ‘path dependent’ progress resulting in a somewhat unfinished agenda.

Vorzüge und Genußrechte in übernahmerechtlicher Sicht

Die zu den hybriden Finanzinstrumenten zählenden Genussrechte haben in den vergangenen Jahren eine erstaunliche Renaissance erfahren. Aufgrund der ihnen eigenen Inkongruenz von gewinnabhängigem Vermögensrisiko und fehlenden korrespondierenden Mitwirkungsrechten bereitet ihre risikoadäquate regulatorische Erfassung erhebliche Schwierigkeiten. Diese Probleme sind seit längerem aus dem Aktienund Umwandlungsrecht bekannt. Sie treten jedoch auch im Übernahmerecht auf, sind dort aber bislang kaum diskutiert worden. Wirtschaftlich ist die Stellung der Genussberechtigten derjenigen der Vorzugsaktionäre weitgehend angenähert; aktienrechtlich fehlt es hingegen an einer Gleichstellung zwischen beiden. Die übernahmerechtliche Qualifizierung der Genussrechte differiert international: Teilweise wird an die Vermögensgefährdung angeknüpft und übernahmerechtlicher Schutz gewährt, teilweise wird er unter Hinweis auf eine fehlende Mitgliedschaft versagt. Für das deutsche Recht empfiehlt sich de lege lata keine Einbeziehung der Genussrechte in den Schutzbereich des Übernahmerechts.