Bilateral and regional trade and investment treaties (‘FTAs' and ‘BITs') have proliferated in the Asia-Pacific region, along with double-tax treaties (‘DTTs'). But countries like Australia have recently become more concerned about FTAs and BITs. This article examines processes that states...

Although arguments exist that fiscal disputes should remain beyond private adjudication, implicating as they do the sovereign prerogative of revenue raising, the practice proves very much to the contrary. Arbitration of tax-related disputes proves very much a reality despite doctrinal...

This article explores the possible involvement of tax specialist ombudsmen in the mutual agreement procedure (MAP). With the current level of development of the MAP still facing criticism for a lack of efficiency and transparency, and the arbitration only being adopted by a handful of states,...

Vodafone acquired Hutchison (India) in 2007. Post-acquisition Vodafone has faced a turbulent time dealing with the tax authorities. The liability on Vodafone to withhold Capital Gains Tax was upheld by the Bombay High Court but subsequently rejected by the Indian Apex Court. However, the matter...

Assume a hypothetical but very plausible scenario in which you had invested substantial fortune and efforts in a cross-border transaction. You entered this transaction after a thorough field study and you even consulted some tax experts in order to estimate your potential tax burden. The tax...

Much has been written about numerous aspects of investor-state dispute settlement, and the literature grows larger with the release of every publicly available arbitral ruling. One exception, however, is intellectual property provisions in international investment agreements. The absence of...

This essay (as a festschrift/melanges en l'honneur de Pierre Tercier, outgoing Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration and Professor at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland) argues that it is possible and desirable for such bodies as the ICC to...

Cross-border tax disputes are usually channelled through the "mutual agreement procedure", an informal negotiation between the tax authorities of the states involved. Arbitration has been suggested as an alternative, and is starting to be instituted. Arbitration will probably be a good "stick"...

Economic theory has made considerable progress in explaining why sovereign countries cooperate in trade. Central to most theories of trade cooperation are issues of self-enforcement: The threat of reprisal by an aggrieved party maintains the initial balance of concessions and prevents...