Close-out netting in the European Union: contract practice and unification of legal regulation

The article focuses on the general characteristics of the European Union legal framework pertaining to close-out netting; it offers analysis of standard documentation provisions used within European Union for netting. Close-out netting is the process of termination of financial transactions by the parties in case of violation of obligations under master agreements, often with participation of banks and other financial institutions. Currently, EU legislation on netting consists of two major parts (regulatory regimes): the prudential regime and the insolvency regime. The former addresses banks and financial institutions regulating requirements for financial ratios and capital adequacy of these organizations. The insolvency framework is the most complex of the said legal regimes as it is comprised of various directives and regulations affecting performance of netting in the course of bankruptcy procedures. In recent years, the insolvency regime has undergone immense change marking the transition from unconditional legislative support of netting without any exemptions to a more balanced approach aimed at limiting close-out netting possibilities with respect to systematically important financial organizations.

Unionism in a Right-to-Work Environment: United Faculty of Florida from Stagnation to Crisis Mobilization to Power Building

The Janus vs. AFSCME District 31 legal decision forced all U.S. public-sector unions to operate under “right-to-work” conditions: any union fees for those covered by a union contract are now optional. Past experiences of successful public-sector unions operating in right-to-work states should offer lessons to all public-sector unions on how to succeed. This article examines the history and recent success of the United Faculty of Florida, a statewide higher education public-sector union. Critical turning points, crises, and lessons from that history are included.

The consequences of Brexit on existing and future commercial contracts

In this article Dr Muriel Renaudin (Lecturer in Law, School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University) argues that given that English contract law as a whole has predominantly remained untouched by European legislation, a continued membership in current trade agreements will avoid the uncertainties created by Brexit and will ensure that principles of commercial law such as predictability, security and low costs are maintained. Index keywords: Brexit, United Kingdom, European Union, contract law

Signing Up in the Shipyard

This chapter recounts the successful effort by a multi-racial group of 19,000 men and women at the Newport News shipyard to form a union with the steelworkers union in 1978, and a brutal strike in 1979 in which the workers fought for a union contract. The civil and women’s rights movements clearly fed the union fire in this organizing campaign.