Testing the Profitability of Simple Technical Trading Rules: A Bootstrap Analysis of the Italian Stock Market.

The aim of this paper consists in testing the profitability of simple technical trading rules in the Italian stock market. By means of a recently developed bootstrap methodology we assess whether technical rules based on moving averages are capable of producing excess returns with respect to the Buy-and-Hold strategy. We find that in most cases the rules are profitable and the excess return is statistically significant. However, the well-known problem of data-snooping, which seems to be confirmed by our analysis, requires some caution in the application of these methods.

Provisional Application of the Energy Charter Treaty: A Short Analysis of Article 45

This paper discusses the provisional application of the ECT under Article 45, with particular attention to three major cases currently pending against the Russian Federation. It makes four main points. First, paragraphs (1) and (2) of Article 45 function independently from each other. This means that Article 45 (1) can be invoked even if no declaration has been made under Article 45 (2) - as in the case of the Russian Federation. Second, the domestic law clause in Article 45 (1) can be invoked only if the relevant domestic legal instrument existed at the time of signature and is still in force. Having signed the ECT in 1994, the Russian Federation is prevented from invoking the 1995 Federal Law on international treaties for the purpose of Article 45 (1). Third, even assuming that the 1995 Federal Law could be invoked, it is not inconsistent with the provisional application of the ECT. Finally, Article 45 is a complex but sufficiently clear provision aimed at rapidly making the ECT applicable between signatories while accommodating the needs of recalcitrant members with a view to achieving the broadest possible participation

An Unique non-State Actor in International Law: The International Committee of the Red Cross

The essay discusses the unique role played by a special non State actor – the International Committee of the Red Cross (hereinafter ICRC) – in the development, implementation and enforcement of international humanitarian law. It argues that the question of international legal personality is not as uncontroversial as it is often claimed to be and that at any rate solving such a question is not absolutely necessary to understand the nature and the role of the ICRC

Nonlinear elliptic problems related to some integral inequalities

The aim of this Ph.D. thesis is to present some recent results concerning nonlin- ear elliptic equations involving spherical and cylindrical weights. In particular, we address our interest in problems related to some integral inequalities in weighted Sobolev spaces. One of the most known is the Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg inequality proved in 1984 in the celebrated paper [22] (see also Chapter 2). Here we state it in a particular case

Travelling the National Route: South Africa's Protection of Investment Act 2015

With the 2015 Protection Investment Act, the pendulum of the rights and obligations in the field of foreign investment has swung decisively in favour of the state. Balancing private and public rights and obligations is more than legitimate, as is switching from international treaties to domestic legislation. What is not convincing is the necessity of the drastic reduction of foreign investors’ substantive and procedural rights realised by the Act. It is argued that a better equilibrium could have been achieved by adjusting the existing level of legal protection for foreign investors, either by amending or even renegotiating existing treaties, or by the adoption of domestic legislation properly protecting the interest of foreign investors while preserving the capacity of South Africa to fully exercise its sovereign prerogatives

Beware of freezing clauses in international investment agreements

With States increasingly concerned about safeguarding their regulatory powers, it is rather striking to find in investment treaties clauses reminiscent of contractual freezing clauses. Aimed at protecting investors against subsequent regulatory action, these clauses are problematic for their potential negative impact on the attainment of economic and social policies

Foreign Investment and Measures Adopted on Grounds of Necessity: Towards a Common Understanding

The paper critically examines whether common grounds on the treatment of necessity pleas could be identified in the stream of investment arbitration that followed the serious economic crisis that hit Argentina in 1999-2001

Public Actors in International Investment Law

This open access book focuses on public actors with a role in the settlement of investment disputes. Traditional studies on actors in international investment law have tended to concentrate on arbitrators, claimant investors and respondent states. Yet this focus on the “principal” players in investment dispute settlement has allowed a number of other seminal actors to be neglected. This book seeks to redress this imbalance by turning the spotlight on the latter. From the investor’s home state to domestic courts, from sub-national governments to international organisations, and from political risk insurance agencies to legal defence teams in national ministries, the book critically reviews these overlooked public actors in international investment law

Provisional Measures in ICSID Arbitration from "wonderland's Jurisprudence" to Informal Modification of Treaties

Since 1999, ICSID tribunals have almost systematically held that they have the power not only to recommend but also to order provisional measures under Article 47 of the ICSID Convention and Rule 39 of the Arbitration Rules. This article argues that the legal arguments offered by these tribunals are often not fully elaborated and in any case not entirely convincing. It then provides an alternative reading of the decisions relating to the mandatory character of provisional measures, in the sense that they imply a significant departure from the meaning the contracting parties recorded in the treaty. Yet, as the majority of icsid members have endorsed, accepted or at least acquiesced in such departure, it appears that Article 47 of the ICSID Convention has been informally modified through subsequent practice