Intermediation and Beyond

The global shift from securities being held directly by an investor to many securities being held via an intermediary raises important legal issues, including the impact on the rights of investors and the enforcement of those rights against intermediaries and issuers. The cross-border nature of such issues adds another layer of complexity and reduces legal certainty. Against this, intermediation offers benefits for many investors including a reduction in costs and the facilitation of the use of securities in the collateral, repo and securities lending markets.

This book will cover a number of topics relating to intermediated securities including the history of intermediation, the benefits and problems in the current system of intermediated securities and how future legal and technological developments could help to resolve these problems while retaining the benefits of intermediation. It also examines the possible impact of FinTech on this area, in particular the potential for Blockchain to be used, the extent to which this will solve some of the difficulties that currently exist, and whether it will create new difficulties that will need to be overcome.

This important statement on the question of intermediation will appeal to corporate law academics, practitioners and to students of corporate law.