Company law and economic protectionism : new challenges to European integration

The financial crisis has brought about a revival of state protectionism across the globe. Most Western leaders have made a virtue of big government and state intervention; bail-outs and Sovereign Wealth Funds have been among the first responses to the economic contraction. Company law rules are one of the instruments frequently used to restrict or to discourage integration or to deter foreign investment. Examples for the new protectionism can be seen in a wide range of legislative and regulatory measures, for instance state measures preventing foreign takeovers, 'golden shares' or laws on foreign direct investment targeting Sovereign Wealth Funds, mainly from Asia. This book presents timely research by a number of company law and EU law experts into this field of law. The chapters cover a broad range of topics, spanning from takeovers/mergers over the one share-one vote debate through to the foreclosure of markets against Sovereign Wealth Funds. This Is A Collection Of Essays Examining The Conflict Between Eu Law And Company Law, Covering A Broad Range Of Topics Including Takeovers, Mergers And Restructuring, Sovereign Wealth Funds And Proportionality Of Ownership And Control. European Company And Financial Law : Observations On European Politics, Protectionism, And The Financial Crisis / Klaus J. Hopt -- Is 'protectionism' A Useful Concept For Company Law And Foreign Investment Policy : An Eu Perspective / Crispin Waymouth -- Protectionism, Capital Freedom, And The Internal Market / Jonathan Rickford -- When The State Is The Owner-some Further Comments On The Court Of Justice 'golden Shares' Strategy / Andrea Biondi -- The Takeover Directive As A Protectionist Tool? / Paul Davies, Edmund-philipp Schuster, And Emilie Van De Walle De Ghelcke -- Varieties Of Corporate Governance And Reflexive Takeover Regulation / Andrew Johnston -- Cross-border Restructuring : Company Law Between Treaty Freedom And State Protectionism / Jesper Lau Hansen -- Mechanisms Of Ownership Control And The Issue Of Disproportionate Distribution Of Power / Ulf Bernitz -- Deviations From Ownership-control Proportionality-economic Protectionism Revisited / Wolf-georg Ringe -- Deviations From Ownership-control Proportionality-private Benefits And The Bigger Picture / Arad Reisberg -- Sovereign Wealth Funds-market Investors Or 'imperialist Capitalists': The European Response To Direct Investments By Non-eu State-controlled Entities / Heike Schweitzer -- Sovereign Wealth Funds : Neither Market Investors Nor 'imperialist Capitalists' : A Response To Heike Schweitzer / Katharina Pistor -- The European Model Company Act (emca)-a New Way Forward / Paul Kruger Andersen -- The Role Of European Regulation And Model Acts In Company Law / Jennifer Payne -- How Does The Market React To The Societas Europaea? / Horst Eidenmuller, Andreas Engert, And Lars Hornuf -- Empirical Notes On The Societas Europaea / Jodie A Kirshner. Edited By Ulf Bernitz And Wolf-georg Ringe. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. ## Abstract The financial crisis has brought about a revival of state protectionism across the globe. Most Western leaders have made a virtue of big government and state intervention; bail-outs and Sovereign Wealth Funds have been among the first responses to the economic contraction. Company law rules are one of the instruments frequently used to restrict or to discourage integration or to deter foreign investment. Examples of the new protectionism can be seen in a wide range of legislative and regulatory measures, for instance state measures preventing foreign takeovers, ‘golden shares’ or laws on foreign direct investment targeting Sovereign Wealth Funds, mainly from Asia. This book presents research by a number of company law and EU law experts. The chapters cover a broad range of topics, spanning from takeovers/mergers over the one share-one vote debate through to the foreclosure of markets against Sovereign Wealth Funds.