Private entities have recently attempted to invade the realm of central banking activities. This Article identifies this activity as “Shadow Central Banking,” and draws analogies with the previous emergence of “shadow banking” more generally. The “shadow banking” system emerged as a...

An appropriately conceived and well-designed border climate adjustment scheme, as a policy mechanism potentially utilizable by many States party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, may lead to desirable consequences for the development of comprehensive global greenhouse...

This chapter surveys empirically the broad features of trade policy in goods for 31 major economies that collectively represented 83% of the world's population and 91% of the world's GDP in 2013. We address five questions: Do some countries have more liberal trading regimes than others? Within...

In 2016 and 2017, states continued their engagement with international investment law. A small minority of states displayed scepticism or tried to disengage themselves from their investment law obligations. This chapter addresses select institutional developments in international investment law...

Over the years, the substantive content of international investment agreements (IIAs) has shifted to reflect political change and to respond to lessons learnt in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). With a focus on eight IIAs, selected with a view to geographical representativeness, this...

International investment law is undergoing a time of reflection, review and revision. Increasing dissatisfaction with the functioning of the current system that governs the protection of international investment and the wish to ensure that investment is channelled towards sustainable development...

This article begins by presenting some recent statistical data on rule of law, investment, and corruption in Venezuela. It focuses afterwards on analysing the 2014 Venezuelan Anti-Corruption Law, and it develops various arguments that may lead to question this Law´s real objectives from an...

Notorious for its non-participation in the international system of investment protections, Brazil is one of the most popular destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) around the world. But unlike most countries, including its neighbours in Latin America, Brazil is neither party to any...

Since the inception of the international investment law system, investment promotion and protection have been the raison d’être of investment treaties and states have confined their policy space in order to attract foreign investment and protect their investors abroad. Languishing in relative...