1. Principles of Cooperation Among the NAFTA Countries, xxvii, 168 pp., 2003, hardbound, Order Code 1TIPRINOT, $95 plus shipping/handling -- Order this item  Download free excerpt

2. International Statement of United States Bankruptcy Law, xxv, 259 pp., 2003, hardbound, Order Code 1TIUSOT, $95 plus shipping/handling -- Order this item

3. International Statement of Canadian Bankruptcy Law, xxv, 197 pp., 2003, hardbound, Order Code 1TICANOT, $95 plus shipping/handling -- Order this item

4. International Statement of Mexican Bankruptcy Law, xxv, 393 pp., 2003, hardbound, Order Code 1TIMEXOT, $95 plus shipping/handling -- Order this item

Note: Use Order Code 1TIOTK for all four volumes at the special price of $325 plus shipping/handling—$81.25 per volume—a $55 savings  -- Order this item

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The North American Free Trade Agreement has stimulated a large increase in economic activity that crosses the Canadian, Mexican, and United States borders. Inevitably, this has resulted in an increase in the number of bankruptcies in which creditors and assets are located in more than one of the NAFTA countries. The American Law Institute’s (ALI’s) Transnational Insolvency: Cooperation Among the NAFTA Countries arose in response to this increasing number of bankruptcies of multinational economic enterprises.

The Project’s eventual goal was to develop principles and procedures for managing the general default of an economic enterprise having its center of interest in a NAFTA country and having assets, creditors, and operations in more than one NAFTA country. The indispensable first step, however, was to achieve among all participants an understanding of the insolvency laws of each of the other countries involved. In addition, achievement of the Project’s goals required the education of judges and lawyers in the bankruptcy laws of the NAFTA countries so they could function effectively in transnational cases and could apply the procedures to be developed in the Project.

The Project was divided into three national groups, with Reporters and Advisory Committees in each of the three countries. Because each of the NAFTA countries has its own unique laws and legal traditions, each national group produced its own Statement of its country’s bankruptcy laws. Each draft, however, was reviewed not only by its own national Advisers but by those from the other countries as well, with the result that the Statement of each country’s law is here presented from an international perspective that establishes common ground for practitioners and judges from all three countries and enables them to navigate more confidently the potentially hazardous shoals of transnational insolvency.

Phase II of the Project was to develop a set of agreed-upon principles governing multinational bankruptcy cases and to offer useful approaches to managing such cases based on those principles. The laws of the three countries reflect a number of common values, and discussions during the course of the Project revealed a wide measure of agreement on the principles and procedures that would advance the achievement of those common values in multinational cases. The published Principles draw upon formulations set forth in the 1997 UNCITRAL Model Law but are firmly grounded in the realities of U.S., Canadian, and Mexican law and practice.

This groundbreaking effort in transnational law reform consists of four volumes, all of which are described below: Principles of Cooperation Among the NAFTA Countries, International Statement of United States Bankruptcy Law, International Statement of Canadian Bankruptcy Law, and International Statement of Mexican Bankruptcy Law.

The Reporter for the Principles volume and for the United States Statement was Jay L. Westbrook of The University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas; the Chair of the Canadian Advisers and Reporter for the Domestic Aspects of the Canadian Statement was E. Bruce Leonard of the Toronto bar and the Reporter for the Transnational Aspects of the Canadian Statement was Jacob S. Ziegel of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law; the Chair of the Mexican Advisers and Co-Reporter for the Mexican Statement was Miguel Ángel Hernández Romo of the Mexico City bar and the Co-Reporter was Carlos Sánchez-Mejorada y Velasco, also of Mexico City.

PRINCIPLES OF COOPERATION AMONG THE NAFTA COUNTRIES

This volume provides an introduction and overview of the Project as a whole and discusses key concepts in international bankruptcy. The volume then sets forth its specific Recommendations, which are divided into three categories. The first and broadest of these consists of General Principles that reflect the common values of the bankruptcy laws of the three countries as applied to multinational cases. The second category consists of Procedural Principles, which embody practical approaches to cooperation within the existing legal competence of the courts without requiring new legislation or treaties. The third offers Recommendations for Legislation or International Agreement that go beyond current law to permit a substantially higher level of cooperation. Utilizing the familiar ALI format, each black-letter principle or recommendation is explained by means of accompanying Comments and Illustrations.

Detailed Reporters’ Notes, Appendices, and an Index add to the usefulness of the text. The innovative Guidelines for Court-to-Court Communications in Cross-Border Cases, set forth in Appendix B, are potentially applicable to cases other than those dealing with insolvency. They have already been approved not only by the ALI but also by both the International Insolvency Institute and the Insolvency Institute of Canada and applied in a number of major cross-border cases. Also included for convenient reference is the complete text of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency.

xxvii, 168 pp., 2003, hardbound, Order Code 1TIPRINOT, $95 plus shipping/handling -- Order this item; Order Code 1TIOTK for all four volumes at the special price of $325 plus shipping/handling—$81.25 per volume—a $55 savings -- Order this item

INTERNATIONAL STATEMENTS OF UNITED STATES, CANADIAN, AND MEXICAN BANKRUPTCY LAW

• To provide the courts in each NAFTA country with an internationalized text that may be regarded as definitive within the limitations inherent in any summary.
  
  
• To provide parties to cross-border insolvencies within the NAFTA countries with a common ground of  legal understanding as a basis for negotiation of both procedural and substantive accommodations and settlements after an insolvency proceeding (or pre-insolvency Workout negotiation) has begun.
  
  
• To provide private parties with a common understanding of the risks of an insolvency proceeding in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, so as to permit them to formulate reasonable and effective structures to allocate and contain  those risks as part of international sales and financing transactions
  

United States, xxv, 259 pp., 2003, hardbound, Order Code 1TIUSOT, $95 plus shipping/handling -- Order this item; Canada, xxv, 197 pp., 2003, hardbound, Order Code 1TICANOT, $95 plus shipping/handling -- Order this item; Mexico, xxv, 393 pp., 2003, hardbound, Order Code 1TIMEXOT, $95 plus shipping/handling -- Order this item; Order Code 1TIOTK for all four volumes at the special price of $325 plus shipping/handling—$81.25 per volume—a $55 savings -- Order this item.