The Geneva Securities Convention and its relevance for China

Abstract

This article considers the applicability of the Geneva Securities Convention (the “Convention”) to the systems for holding securities in China. This article argues that property law uncertainties are equally present in transparent systems as in non-transparent systems and thus the Convention is equally applicable to transparent systems. Part A introduces intermediated holding systems, property law implications and selected jurisdictions. Part B gives an overview of selected aspects of the Convention. Part C introduces the Chinese securities holding systems and the legal uncertainties in the Chinese transparent and non-transparent securities holding systems. Part D analyses the relevance and applicability of the Convention to improving the Chinese legal framework on intermediated securities. Part E gives the conclusion.