Symposium NewsSixteenth International Symposium on Economic Crime the Chairman reports

I am pleased to report that the Sixteenth International

Symposium on Economic Crime has once again been the

resounding success which has come to be expected. Some 700

delegates from 80 countries attended during the week ofo o

13 September 1998, at the traditional venue of Jesus College,

Cambridge.

ght: The lion Jonathan Winer, Deputy Assistant Secretary oj .S

Narcotics and Law Enforcement, US State Department; Hon Dr Hugo An

for Intelligence, Argentina; Professor Barry Rider, Director, IALS; Marcelo Ruiz, G

The theme this year The prevention and control of economic crime against governments, the control of abuses in the Jinancial sector was

extremely popular and well received. Delegates representing

many governments and government agencies were involved in

the presentation of a large number of papers and discussions

relevant to the theme. A very large number of diplomats

attended during the course of the week, and at the final dinnerO '

eleven Ambassadors and High Commissioners were present.

The feedback from the those attending made it abundantlyo >

clear that the annual symposium continues to be the leading

forum wherein international economic crime and its impact

upon the world community can be examined by the world's

leading experts and commentators. The symposium once again

has demonstrated its ability to assemble those most

knowledgeable in their respective relevant fields, without regard

to political differences. It provides a forum for those with

genuine concerns for stability in the international economic

community to meet their counterparts in an academic milieu for

the purpose of exchanging views, becoming sensitised to current11 o o o

problems, and forming new relationships with like-minded

individuals from around the world.

The date for the Seventeenth Symposium has now been fixed

for the week commencing Sunday 12 September 1999. The

symposium will focus on the topics of secrecy, confidentiality

and privilege as they affect the prevention and control of serious

economic crime and related issues. In particular, we shall

concentrate upon the implications for bankers, brokers, lawyers

and other intermediaries of changes in the law and practice on

the traditional relationship that they have with their clients, in

regard to the reporting of suspicious transactions and co­

operation with those responsible for the prevention and control

of serious crime. The implications of electronic fund transfers

and other aspects of e-trade on traditional legal practices and

relationships will also be analysed.

I have no doubt that the Seventeenth Symposium will be well

received by the international, legal, business, regulatory and

investigatory community, and that an extremely large attendanceo J ^^ J' J o

can be anticipated. ™

Saul M Froomkin, QBE, QC, FCIArb, FSALS (Hon)

Chairman, International Symposium on Economic Crime

The regional programmes

SOUTH AFRICA

The Unit for Economic Crime Studies of the Centre for

Business Law of the University of the Orange Free State, the

Institute of Advanced Legal Studies of the University of London

and the Centre for International Documentation on Organised

and Economic Crime, Cambridge, organised a South African

programme as part of the Sixteenth Symposium. The

programme focused on legal empowerment of victims of

economic crime and followed on the successful South African

regional programme that was introduced as part of the Fifteenth

Symposium. The main aim of the programme was to explore

mechanisms to increase the legal protection afforded to victims

of economic crime.

The plight ol the State as a victim of economic crime was

highlighted by Mr Justice William Heath, Head of the Special

Investigating Unit into Corruption and Maladministration in

South Africa, Mr Shauket Fakie, Deputy Auditor-General of

South Africa and Mr Timon Kathlolo, Director of the

Corruption and Economic Crime Bureau of Botswana. They

provided an overview of the impact of economic crime on the

government structures of South Africa and Botswana and

provided perspectives on innovative steps by the respective

bodies against corruption and maladministration. The success ol

the Heath Commission in recovering and protecting State assets

which were or may be lost due to corruption or

maladministration, as well as the holistic approach of the

Corruption and Economic Crime Bureau of Botswana to

prevent corruption, elicited particular discussion during

question time.

The plight of businesses as victims was addressed by Mr Stephen

Vink, a forensic auditor for a major insurance company, and Mr

Mossie Myburgh, General Manager: Crime Strategies of the

Banking Council of South Africa. They raised their concerns 17

about the level of crime in the sub-continent and the increasing

financial burden that it places on businesses to prevent

themselves falling victim to fraud and other types of economic

crime.

jjht: Saul froomkin QC, Symposium Chairman;

Professor Johan Hennina, Dean, Faculty of L

Dr George Gilligan of the Faculty of Law of the University of

Melbourne and Mr Justice Hendrik Nel, Head of the

Commission of Enquiry into the Affairs of the Masterbond

Group and Investor Protection in South Africa, addressed the

position of investors of economic crime. Dr Gilligan discussed

different models of analysis of the position of victims of

economic crime, while Mr Justice Nel analysed the weaknesses

in the system of investor protection in South Africa. These

weaknesses include fragmented and inadequate regulatory

structures; failure and non-enforcement of the Companies Act;

dishonesty, inefficiency and lack of independence in the auditing

profession; the lack of effective prosecution of fraud and other

offences committed by directors of companies and the lack of a

class action or alternative remedies for shareholders, holders of

debentures and creditors. He called upon the South African

government to address these problems and also suggested a

possible reform of company law to enable significant interests

groups in companies to appoint their own auditors. Such groups

would include creditors and employees and their auditors would

have access to the audit files of the main auditor of the company.

Professor JJ Henning, Dean of the Faculty of Law of the

University of the Orange Free State and Professor Louis dej O

Koker, Head of the Unit for Economic Crime Studies of the

University of the Orange Free State, supported the call by Mr

Justice Nel for the introduction of a class action for victims of

economic crime. In addition Professor de Koker discussed other

possible reforms to empower victims of economic crime,

including the establishment of a special commercial crime court,

the introduction of a pre-trial procedure that would enable more

effective management of prosecutions in respect of serious

economic crime, the introduction of a statutory constructive

trust into South African law and the management of the

confiscation procedure in respect of proceeds of crime and of

confiscated funds in the interests of victims of economic crime.

Comparative views were provided by Professor Fletcher

Baldwin, ST Dell Research Scholar and Director of the Centre

for International Financial Crime Studies of the University of

Florida and by Professor Ralph Henham of Nottingham Trent

University. Professor Baldwin discussed the use and abuse of

class action under American law, while Professor Henham

focused on the sentencing policy in respect of economic crime

in the UK.

The delegates supported practical steps to research and effect

the law reforms that were suggested by the various speakers.

Professor de Koker, Ms Lala Camerer, senior research fellow of

the Institute for Security and Dr Frik van Heerden, a member of

the South African Parliament and of the Portfolio Committee for

Justice, suggested various routes that can be followed to ensureJ ' OO

that results are obtained. Dr van Heerden undertook to bring the

importance of law reform to improve the position of the victim

of economic crime to the attention of the Portfolio Committee.

It was also decided that it would be highly beneficial to launch a

regional project to address the position of the victim of

economic crime in Southern Africa. The delegates undertook too ^_

lobby their governments to launch such a regional initiative.

Prof Louis de KokerUniversity of the Orange Free State

18

CENTRAL AND EAST EUROPE

In 1998, the Sixteenth Symposium launched a Central and

East European ('C&EE') Regional Programme. In its first year of

existence this programme addressed a wide range of issues

related to shadow economies and economic crime in C&EE.

Sixteen speakers from eight countries got together to contribute1 o o o

to the discussion of shadow activities and their criminal

implications in local and global contexts.

Shadow economies developed in countries of C&EE under

communism, but they took different pathways once the

communist regimes collapsed. The first session of the

programme, Inside the shadow economy, focused on comparative

aspects of current shadow activities in Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary,

the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Baltic States and Ukraine. Dr

Vadim Radaev (Moscow) analysed the main trends in the

development of new Russian entrepreneurship in the late 1990s.

He presented a study of 227 small and medium-sized businesses,

in 21 regions of Russia, with particular emphasis on corruption

and use of force. Dr Ase Grodeland (Glasgow) offered a

comparative analysis of public attitudes to corrupt practices in

different C&EE countries. This session became a dialogue

between East European scholars working on corruption and

Western scholars doing the same. The comparative analysis

could become even more telling if a wider country-spread could

be achieved.

The second session, Criminal aspects of shadow economies, concentrated mainly on criminal implications of shadow

business. Professor Leonid Fetuni offered a concept of 'shadow

economy', presented a comprehensive account of its forms and

assessed its scale and implications. An interesting attempt was

made to define the image of Russian 'organised crime' by Johan

Backman (Finland). Most contributors to this session, whether

Eastern or Western, tended to emphasise the functionality of

organised crime for business and commerce. Organised crimeo o

was presented, on the one hand, as inseparable from finance and

security of business itself, at least in Russia. On the other hand,

organised crime was seen as both a source of and a reproductive

force for economic crime on a global scale.

The third session, Forms of economic crime, was aimed at

outlining the main forms of criminal activities in C&EE.

Obviously one session was hardly enough for that. Mr

Konstantinov provided an insightful view on the state

penetration powers of Russian organised crime. Dr Mark

Galeotti outlined the main forms of penetration (hard, soft, and

service penetration) used by the Russian Mafia in different

countries all over the world. Dr Vladimir Chorniy (London)

presented a paper on banking crime in post-communist

countries, which generated much interest. Issues of C&EE

banking was suggested as a theme for the 1999 programme.

The workshop helped not only the exchange of information

and perspectives, but also the setting up of a theoretical agenda

for conceptualisation of crime, control and prevention of

economic crime in the countries with 'soviet' or 'socialist' legacy.

The fourth session, Control of economic crime: limitations of state policies, focused on written (legal) and unwritten (conventional)

norms regulating shadow and criminal behaviour. Dr Federico

Varese scrutinised corruption, Dr Vadim Volkov the role of

organised violence in the process of market-building and state

building in Russia. Elizabeth Turkson presented an OECD

approach to assessing the political, economic, financial and legal

framework of an investment-seeking country, in this case, Latvia.

Apart from the possible lines of development mentioned

above, 'approaches, methods, and sources of information' is

another important theme to follow up.

Dr Alena LedenevaResearch Fellow, New Hall, Cambridge

LATIN AMERICA

In the concluding stages of the Sixteenth Symposium, a day­

long regional programme devoted to Latin America took place.

The theme of the event was Corruption and money-laundering.

The programme consisted of four sessions focusing on the

following topics:

overview of economic crime in the region;

the significance of shadow transactions and underground

economy in the stability of the region;

money-laundering; and

the role of Latin America in international co-operation.

The first session served as a good introduction and set the

tone for the subsequent papers and discussions. Conceptual

approaches were outlined, and the framework within which

international crime operates explained, to give a clear

understanding of'the impact and far-reaching effects of this

criminal phenomenon. The practical side of the problem was

also touched upon when issues such as problems of co-operation

between Mexico and the USA were mentioned ('Operation

Casablanca'). The second session, complex by its own nature,

involved Dr Pedro David, President of the Criminal Court in

Argentina along with a number of other important participants.

Argentina and the South-American context were the main focus

of this session. Session three referred to South and Central

America (i.e. Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Panama) and to the

Caribbean region. In-depth discussion ensued concerning the

legal rules and measures adopted in the region against money-

laundering and the difficulties of implementation. An excellent

overview of the Caribbean reality and concerns was also

explored. Finally, the fourth session addressed the difficult issue

of international co-operation. The importance of mutual

understanding and of 'educational' exchange was put forward.

Both the representatives of the North American perspective (i.e.

that of the USA) and the Latin American concluded that mutual

respect and trust were of utmost importance to effectively fight

economic crime.

Erasmo Lara Cabrera

Symposium's dual programme proves successful

Following the keynote speeches at the beginning of the

symposium, the proceedings split into parallel sessions on the

public sector (at the Guildhall) and the private sector (at Wesley

House), the first time that such a dual programme has been

attempted at the symposium. Delegates could choose to attend

either session, or any of a series of workshops also running

throughout the week.

THE PUBLIC SECTORPrior to the splitting of the programme, the first session in the

Guildhall programme examined the impact of economic crime

on economic and political stability, with Saul Froomkin QC in

the chair. Speakers included David Bickford, former Chief Legal

Adviser to MIS and MI6; Dr Ye Feng, Director General of the

Institute of Prosecutorial Studies, Supreme People's

Procuratorate of The People's Republic of China and Mr Stan

Morris, Former Director of FinCEN, US Department of the

Treasury.

Following this, the programme split, with those attending the

private sector sessions leaving for Wesley House. The next topic

on the agenda focused on fraud and economic crime in the

Public Sector. Chaired by Professor Mike Levi, (University of

Wales, Cardiff) the session highlighted key issues, with high-

profile speakers including Judge Lucila Larrandart, a federal

judge from Argentina, Professor Savona (University of Trento),

Dr Hugo Gandara, Sub-Director of Legal Affairs of the

Argentinian Intelligence Service, Professor Shizhou Wang

(Peking University) and Professor Leonid Fituni, Director of the

Centre for Strategic and Global Studies, Russian Academy of

Sciences, Moscow.

The debate then switched to corruption in the public sector,

the opening speech being given by the Attorney General of

Argentina, the Hon Dr Nicolas Becerra. He was followed by

Justice William Heath, Head of the Special Investigative Unit,

East London, South Africa. Other speakers included Neil

Maloney, Principal Investigator of the Hong Kong Independent 19

20

Commission Against Corruption and Jim Scott, Head of the

Economic Affairs Division, Societe Generate de Surveillance in

Geneva, former fraud investigator at the UK Inland Revenue and

Chief Executive of the Zambian Revenue Authority. The theme

continued the next day, focusing on corruption in an

international context. The opening speech was given by the

Attorney General of Cape Province, South Africa, the Hon Adv

Frank Kahn SC.

Anti-fraud officials formed the speakers' panel at the session

on procurement fraud, with the UK Serious Fraud Office being

represented by Martin Grieves, the Principal Financial

Investigator. He was followed by Anku Sapati, Acting Executive

Director of the Ghanaian Serious Fraud Office and Timon

Kathlolo, Director of the Botswana Directorate on Corruption

and Economic Crime. Balwinder Singh, Deputy Inspector

General of Police at the Indian Central Bureau of Intelligence

Academy also spoke, as did Dai Yu Zhong, Director of the

Chinese Anti-Corruption and Bribery Bureau.

The afternoon session discussing fraud against the Revenue

hosted mainly UK-based speakers, including Simon Willis, Head

of the Treasury Financial Crimes Branch, F Brannigan, the

Director of the Inland Revenue Special Compliance Office and

John Cooney, the Assistant Chief Investigation Officer at the

National Investigation Service, part of HM Customs and Excise.

A practitioner angle was added by Neil Gerrard, Head of the

Commercial Regulatory Group at Dibb Lupton Alsop. The day

finished with a discussion on fraud and abuse in the grant of

subsidies, with speakers including Professor Savona and Dr

David Chaikin, a barrister from New South Wales and former

Senior Commonwealth Fraud Officer at the Commonwealth

Commercial Crime Unit.

A completely different aspect of economic crime, namely the

counterfeiting of currency and credit cards, formed the topic of

the Thursday morning session. This is an area that requires

particularly close co-operation between the private and public

sectors and consequently speakers included representatives of

government agencies such as the US Secret Service and UK

National Criminal Intelligence Service as well as one from VISAo

card services. Later in the day, the emphasis shifted, with the

second afternoon session entitled Ethics in Government — Good Governance and chaired by Jonathan Charkham, a visiting

Professor at City University Business School, and former Sheriff

of the City of London and Chief Adviser to the Governors at the

Bank of England. Speakers came from a wide range of

backgrounds, and included the Director of the Slovenian Office

for Money-Laundering Prevention, Klaudijo Stroligo; also

Professor Hisao Katoh, Professor of Law at Keio University,

Tokyo, and a member of the Criminal Law Committee (under

the Japanese Ministry of Justice).

On Friday, Richard Southwell QC chaired a session on the

Government as a plaintiff. The sessions then merged and looked

at parallel proceedings in both civil and criminal courts. This was

chaired by George Staple of Clifford Chance and former

Director of the SFO. Speakers included Thomas Roche, Deputy-

General Counsel and Vice President at the Federal Reserve Bank

of New York, Daniel Murphy, Senior Counsel in the Strategic

Prosecution Policy Section, Criminal Law Branch, Canadian

Department of Justice and Chris Dickson, Executive Counsel at

the Accountants' Joint Disciplinary Scheme and former Senior

Assistant Director at the SFO. George Mills, also of the SFO,

spoke at the following session on the investigation of financial

services fraud, as did Ben Swagerman, a Dutch Senior Public

Prosecutor and Head of the Financial, Economic and

Environmental Team.

International co-operation in dealing with the international

economic criminal was discussed by speakers, including Philippe

de Koster, Solicitor General at the Mons Court of Appeal

(Belgium) and Philip Ong, Deputy Director of International

Affairs at the Taiwan Securities & Futures Commission. The

session was then wound up by a discussion on the way ahead by

Raymond Kendall QPM, Secretary General of Interpol. Overall

the Guildhall programme was a great success with nearly all the

speakers being high-profile figures in their own right. The

organising institutions were particularly pleased to welcome a

number of distinguished speakers from the People's Republic of

China, demonstrating the closer links that the IALS is forming

with the Chinese Government. There were also a number of

well-known faces in evidence, with speeches given by Charles

Saphos (Fila & Saphos), William Tupman (University of Exeter),

Professor John Maher (Dickinson School of Lawr and

Commissioner, Pennsylvania Securities Commission) John

Moscow (Assistant District Attorney, New York) and Alan

Lambert, former Head of the Financial Investigation Unit,

Hertfordshire Constabulary. Dr George Gilligan (University of

Melbourne) also gave a paper in the Guildhall (amongst others

throughout the week) as well as co-ordinating the general

running of the Guildhall programme.

THE PRIVATE SECTOR

The Wesley House programme began by examining the

implications of fraud in the financial sector, with Professor John

Maher, Professor of Law and sometime Dean, Dickinson School

of Law, USA, as chairman. An international panel of speakers

included Justice Hendrik C Nel, of the Nel Commission of

Inquiry into Investor Protection, South Africa; Dr Bruce

Butcher, General Counsel, Special Projects, Australian Securities

Commission; and the Hon Mr Victor Odonzi, Deputy Governor

of the Central Bank of Nigeria. From the UK, Wayne Smith,

from the National Criminal Intelligence Service, and Patricia

Howse, Head of the Statutory Investigations Department of the

Financial Services Authority, also contributed.

Dr George Gilligan, chairman of the Faculty of Law at the

University of Melbourne, chaired a session on manipulation and

abuse which also featured G Philip Rutledge, Deputy Chief

Counsel of the Pennsylvania Securities Commission; Rune

Grundekjon, Executive Legal Adviser, Banking, Insurance and

Securities Commission of Norway; Dr Richard Overill, Senior

Lecturer, Computer Science Department and International

Centre for Security Analysis of King's College, London; and

Professor Johan Henning, Director, Centre for Business Law and

Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of the Orange Free State.

Wednesday morning featured a series of presentations on a

topic of great current concern the high pressure selling of

securities and fraudulent investment schemes. Chaired by a well

known figure within the EU Dr Paulo Clarotti, former

Director of DG XV chaired the session, with contributions

from Professor Thomas R Hurst, from the University of Florida

Law School; John Moscow, Assistant District Attorney, County of

New York; Dr Cecile Ringpenberg of Ringgenberg & Schulthess,1 oo o oo o '

Geneva; Professor Johan Henning; and Professor Barry P\ider,

Director, IALS.

Further sessions during the week covered insider abuse

(chaired by Professor Louis de Koker, University of the Orange

Free State); intermediaries, insolvency and fraud (chaired by

Charles Saphos); abuses and uses of derivatives (chaired by

Professor John Maher); electronic markets and abuse (chaired

by Dr James Backhouse). Professor Rider chaired three further

programmes on offshore financial centres and fraud in the

financial sector, the impact of money-laundering laws, and

policing the markets. ™

Symposium Workshops

A strong list of speakers for the session on conflicts of interest

chaired by Dr Mads Andenas of the IALS included Dr Path

El-Rahman Abdalla El-Sheikh, Chief Legal Adviser to the Gulf

International Bank and Gulf Investment Corporation, Bahrain;

and Wilmer Parker III, former Assistant US Attorney, US

Department of Justice and Chief, Drug Division, Organised

Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (SE Region).

As in other years the main proceedings of the symposium

were complemented by a series of workshops. The workshops

have been identified by delegates from previous years as an

important forum for facilitating discussions on specific themes

and enabling delegates to share their expertise in a more

substantial way. This year, we were delighted to have a total of 17

workshops taking place throughout the week.

Virginia Towler (IALS) started the ball rolling with her

presentation on An interdisciplinary approach to finding solutions to Nigerian organised crime. Mike Dixon and Graham Broome, both

of Cambridgeshire Constabulary Headquarters, introduced the

use of information technology in investigating economic crime

in the sessions on Real world use of technology in the detection and investigation ofjinancial crimes and The use of information technology in operational policing respectively. Professor Betty Taylor (University

of Florida) and John Lulejian (O'Melveny & Myers LLP)

discussed aspects,of Computer security and economic crime from the

US perspective, while Fred Yeager and Bill Gillespie (CMC

Company) introduced Monitoring economic crime — Using the Table of 11.

Discussions on international themes were led by Audrey

Stephenson-Burton (Maxima Group), on Money-laundering in a global context — Politics, practicalities and progress, Jan Koers (Deputy

Chief Prosecutor, Amsterdam), on New trends in international

mutual assistance in criminal matters, and Lu'ayy Rimawy, on Fraud — The Islamic perspective.

Practical issues were considered by Robert Linquist and James

Hunt (PricewaterhouseCoopers), in Fraud 101; Terry Burke

(Investigative Group International) on The role of intelligence in combating serious crime; and Cecile Ringgenberg and Cedric

Schweizer (Ringgenberg & Schulthess) on Boiler-room operations. Neil Jeans (National Crime Squad) and Mike Dixon presented

papers entitled: National Crime Squad workshop on investigating money-laundering and Seeking out the bad apples respectively.

Broader themes were examined by Michael Ricks (CIDOEC)

and Chris Blackhurst (Daily Express) on The media's role in investigating fraud and corruption, and Irene Lynch and Kevin Davis

(University College, Cork) on The role of criminal law in insolvency. Rob Barnes, Warburg Dillon Reed, led a highly interactive

' O ' O J

session in Trading and derivatives basics —Jargon and math games.

The workshops ended with a team comprising of Virginia

Towler, Jason Haines, Shazeeda Ali and Carlo Zaccagnini (IALS)

on Show me the money — A money-laundering hypothetical.

The workshops were an enormous success and it is most

encouraging for us to be receiving proposals already for the

Seventeenth Symposium. Indeed, we are most interested to hear

about your suggestions and it is our greatest pleasure to thank

you once again for your tremendous support. ®

Cheong Ann Png

IALS

Third Anglo-Japanese Law Conference

In a bid to make Tokyo a truly international financial centre,

Japan is currently undergoing the so-called 'Tokyo Big Bang',

which is set to deregulate the financial sector and cast it under

an entirely new regulatory regime. The Third International Law

Conference on Anglo-Japanese Law, held on 19 September

1998, at lesus College, Cambridge, focused on some of the kev' J O O ' J

issues and analysed the implications of the proposed reform in

Japan from a comparative perspective, by contrasting Britain and

countries whose regulatory systems are going through a period

of change. This highly successful programme in comparative law,

organised under the auspices of the IALS and Tsukuba University

of Japan, was inaugurated by the IALS in 1996 when the first

conference was held in Cambridge. The second conference took

place last year at Tsukuba University Graduate School in Tokyo.

This year's conference, chaired jointly by Professor Barry

Rider, Director of the IALS, Professor Yutaka Tajima, Professor

of Law, Tsukuba University Graduate School and the present

writer, was supported by a number of other organisations,

including the British Japanese Law Association which co-hosts a

highly successful lecture series with the SALS.

In the first session, a comparative overview was given by Mr

Hiroshi Naka of the Ministry of Finance, Japan, Professor Yutaka

Tajima and Dr Mads Andenas, Senior Research Fellow in

Corporate Law and Director of the Centre for Corporate &

Commercial Law of the IALS. The second session analysed the

implications of the financial reform from diverse perspectives,

given by Professor Masaaki Iwasaki of Yokohama National21

University'; Mr Kazuhisa Fujita of Mitsubishi Corporation, a

committee member of the British Japanese Law Association; Mr

Yasunobu Sato, attorney at law (Japan and New York State, USA)

and IALS PhD student; Dr George Gilligan, of University of

Melbourne; and Mr Jason Haines, Research Fellow in Financial

Regulation at IALS.

The third session focused on market abuses, addressed by

Professor Katoh of Keio University, Ms Rinita Sarker of Dibb

Lupton Alsop and the present writer. Professor Rider focused on

the involvement of organised crime in the Japanese financial

sector, highlighting the long-standing link, which had rarely been

addressed in the past. The final session looked at a number of

issues concerning investor protection, addressed by Mr Shiraz

Mahmood of the Financial Services Authority and IALS PhD

student, Mr Eisuke Nagatomo of the Tokyo Stock Exchange,

Miss Rie Morita of Osaka University and Professor Izumi

Kawashima-Iwasaki of Senshu University. The proceedings of

this conference will be published by Kluwer Law

International.

Dr Chizu Nakajima

Director, Centre jor financial Regulation, City University Business School

Chinese Commercial Law Conference

In addition to the Symposium's regional programmes, held on

Saturday 19 September, a Chinese Commercial Law Conference

was held on Friday 18 September in the School of Pythagoras, St

John's College. The conference was organised jointly by the

Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and the Faculty of Oriental

Studies of Cambridge University. This was the first year that such

a programme had been held, and indeed that an event associated

with the symposium had been organised in conjunction with an

outside institution.

The conference focused on three principal areas: Anglo-

Chinese joint ventures (in particular those which follow the

privatisation of Chinese state-owTied enterprises), the protection

of intellectual property rights in China and Chinese

environmental law. The speakers included representatives of

Beijing University, the University of Hong Kong and Denton

Hall, while the delegates were chosen from a wide range of

institutions in both China (including Hong Kong) and the West.

We were particularly pleased at the participation of Dr Ye Feng,

Director of the Institute of Prosecutorial Theory of the Supreme

People's Procuratorate of the People's Republic of China,

Professor Shizhou Wang of Beijing University and Humbolt

Research Fellow at UC Berkeley, Professor Na Li of the

University of Jilin and Visiting Fellow at the Institute of

Advanced Legal Studies and David Fitzpatrick, a barrister at Gilt

Chambers, Hong Kong. The latter all took part at the special

invitation of the IALS and also attended the main symposium.

Following Cambridge University's invitation to the Institute

to become involved, the conference was very much a joint

venture between the two institutions, co-ordinated by Patricia

Wilson in Cambridge and Richard Alexander at the Institute.

Logistical support was provided on the day by members of the

Symposium Secretariat, notably Michael Chan,'Richard Sataiyah

and Shazeeda Ali. The day ended with a dinner in King's College.

The Institute was represented by Dr Mads Andenas, Senior

Research Fellow in Company and Commercial Law and Director

of the Institute's Centre for Corporate Law and Practice.

Both the Institute and Cambridge University were very

pleased with the conference and its outcome and it is hoped to

hold a similar event next year as part of the Seventeenth

Symposium.

Richard Alexander

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