Business Law

The well-known term “conflicts of interest” could be found in different societal areas. It usually has the same meaning and alludes on situations where a natural person or an organization is involved in multiple interests. This set of circumstances creates risks that professional judgment or a decision will be influ-enced by a secondary interest. This article will mainly focus on theoretical treatment of the conflict of in-terest in the company law area and its application in different legal systems. Only company’s directors (management of the company) and supervisory board conflicts of interest will be relevant to this work. Different legislatives’ provisions will be analyzed. Various legal perspectives, circumstances and legal actions related to the directors’ conflicts of interest will be presented. Apart from the binding norms, pro-visions included in different “good governance codes” will be also analysed.

Predkladaná publikácia sa venuje problematike právnej úpravy podnikania. Sprostredkúva základné poznatky ohľadom jednotlivých foriem podnikania (živnosti, obchodné spoločnosti, družstvá). Ďalej približuje aj reguláciu obchodných záväzkových vzťahov a poskytuje prierezový pohľad na základné inštitúty pracovného práva, najmä s prihliadnutím na práva a povinnosti, ktoré má podnikateľ ako zamestnávateľ.

Výber tém autori podriadili cieľu sprístupniť a spopularizovať v rámci širokej verejnosti základné poznatky o právnych aspektoch podnikania. Práve preto je možné publikáciu chápať jednak ako učebnicu, ale aj ako pomocníka pre začínajúcich podnikateľov.

Výhodou publikácie je jej prehľadnosť, ktorá umožňuje lepšiu orientáciu v preberanej matérii. Od podobne zameraných publikácií sa odlišuje svojim praktickým zameraním, keďže obsahuje množstvo praktických príkladov, prípadne excerptov z judikatúry, ktoré umožňujú lepšie pochopiť ten-ktorý inštitút.

PREFACE

“You will not grasp her with your mind
Or cover with a common label,
For Russia is one of a kind –
Believe in her, if you are able...”
Fyodor Tyutchev  (November 28, 1866)

These insightful and, in some way, mysterious words, written by F. Tyutchev almost more than 150 years ago, could be also applied today to various spheres of the Russian life. This could even be applied to the way we do business or so-called “entrepreneurship.” Furthermore, it seems that one could have such a perception not only in relation to doing business, but also the law around it. Our attempt here is to show that this is not the case. Certainly, Russian law, especially business law, could hardly be covered “with a common label;” if anything related to Russia could be done so at all. However, you can definitely “grasp” the Russian business law “with your mind,” at a high-level, even without having a legal background. Our main goal is to help you to achieve such an understanding.
The study of business law is an essential requirement for a business lawyer, businesspersons (including managers and entrepreneurs), as well as for academics. Consider this - what would you do if (1) your client or company has a legal issue in Russia, or (2) you want to tell your students about recent law developments in business transactions in Russia, or (3) you are simply interested in learning about the new Russian law system regulating business relations and conditions of the market economy? Whom would you ask, or where would you look up first? Answers may vary according to the situation: one could hire a law firm, call a friend, or just “google” it. However, it would be much more convenient to have something to use that is reliable, concise, and comprehensive.
The absence of a helpful resource in English encouraged our team of professors, PhD students, and graduates of the Lomonosov Moscow State University Business Law Department to prepare this book, which tells about the regulation of business in Russia. However, one should not consider that its main purpose is to simply retell the content of legal acts related to the regulation of business relations. Our team strove to resolve a much more complex problem: on the one hand, to show in what way particular areas of business are regulated, and on the other, to define the fundamentals of business regulation in Russia.
This book covers the following areas of the Russian business law:
1. Business Legislation
2. Business Association Forms
3. Core Business Contracts
4. Securities Regulation
5. Banking Regulation
6. Competition
7. Bankruptcy
8. Regulation of Natural Resources
9. Investment Regulation
10. Business Litigation, Arbitration and Other Remedies

Thus, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the ten core areas of Russian business law; in other words, its essentials.


Evgeny P. Gubin,
Moscow, January 2016