UNCITRAL’s Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions

A UCC Article 9 for the World?

WHEN: Tuesday, June 27, 2006; 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: New York City Bar Association, 42 West 44th Street.

While Wall Street and numerous governments have made great progress in securitizing asset pools for everything from home mortgages and car loans to defaulted bonds, Main Streets the world over are in much greater need of asset-based lending on a much smaller scale. The ability to borrow secured by a business’s equipment or accounts receivable, and a consumer’s ability to purchase major appliances on credit, are practices we take for granted that are largely unavailable in perhaps a majority of the world’s economies -- to the detriment of both local borrowers and domestic and cross-border lenders.

The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) has been working for five years on developing legislative recommendations and commentary on secured financing. Given the need for general agreement by member and observer states, as well as international, governmental and non-governmental organizations (among them, the New York City Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Commercial Finance Association), the process requires delicate negotiation and management by UNCITRAL’s experienced legal staff supported by a panel of experts.

This effort is nearing conclusion. The Commission will be deliberating on key issues at its 39th Annual Session in UN headquarters the week of June 19th, and we will benefit from the presence of a group of experts the following week. Our panel of speakers will explain the process, problems and progress of this important international and multinational undertaking.

Moderator

• ROBERT E. MICHAEL, Chair, Committee on Foreign and Comparative Law

Speakers

• SPIROS V. BAZINAS, Senior Legal Officer, International Trade Law Division, UN Office of Legal Affairs (Secretariat of UNCITRAL). “An Overview of the UNCITRAL Process and the Structure of the Draft Guide.”
• NEIL B. COHEN, Jeffrey D. Forchelli Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School . “How (and Why) Does the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide Differ from Our Article 9.”
• EDWIN E. SMITH, Bingham McCutchen LLP. “Key Controversies and How the United States Delegation Develops and Promotes its Policies.”

About the Association
The Association of the Bar of the City of New York (www.nycbar.org) was founded in 1870, and since then has been dedicated to maintaining the high ethical standards of the profession, promoting reform of the law, and providing service to the profession and the public.

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