EU Law, International Law, and Economic Sanctions Against Terrorism: The Judiciary in Distress?

This Article seeks to examine the relationship between European Union (“EU”) law, international law, and the protection of fundamental rights in light of recent case law of the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) and the Court of First Instance (“CFI”) relating to economic sanctions against individuals. It first looks at the judgment in Kadi. After a short presentation of the factual and legal background, it explores the question of whether the EU has competence to adopt smart sanctions. It then examines whether the EU is bound by resolutions of the UNSC, whether the ECJ has jurisdiction to review Community measures implementing such resolutions, and looks at the applicable standard of judicial scrutiny. It analyzes the contrasting views of the CFI, the Advocate General, and the ECJ, taking account also of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR” or “Strasbourg Court”). Further, the Article explores the consequences of annulling the contested regulation. It then turns to discussing CFI case law in relation to sanctions lists drawn up not by the UNSC but by the Community. The Article concludes by welcoming the judgment of the ECJ. While its reasoning on the issue of Community competence is questionable, once such competence is established, it is difficult to support the abrogation of Community standards for the protection of fundamental rights. Such standards should ensure procedural due process while recognizing the importance of public security

Ethical banks: an Alternative in the Financial Crisis

This paper studies the differences between traditional financial intermediaries (commercial banks, saving banks and credit cooperatives) and ethical banks that focus on positive social and ethical values. The credit crisis calls into question the functionality and good performance of traditional banks. The full incorporation of ethical values and principles by traditional financial intermediaries might be a form to solve their misleading financial situation. We have analyzed four factors that theoretically mean ethical differences: information transparency, placement of assets, guarantees and participation. These four factors are grouped in an index called Radical Affinity Index (RAI). The paper is focused on the study of RAI using a sample of 119 European banks. The evidence shows, that transparency of information and placement of assets are factors that differentiate ethical banks and the rest of financial intermediaries. The guarantees and participation, which seemed to be useful factors to differentiate ethical aspects of banks, do not support clear evidence to the analysis. In sum, RAI is a functional and useful index to show the ethical policy of financial intermediaries

Where does Volatility and Return Come From? The Case of Asian ETFs

We analyze return and volatility of Asian iShares traded in the U.S. The difference in trading schedules between the U.S. and Asia offers a unique market setting that allows us to distinguish various return and volatility sources. We find Asian ETFs have higher overnight volatility than daytime volatility, explained by public information released during each local market’s trading session. Local Asian markets also play an important role in determining each Asian ETF return. Nonetheless, returns for these funds are highly correlated with U.S. markets, indicative of the effects of investor sentiment and location of trade. Finally, returns in the U.S. market Granger-cause returns in all six Asian markets analyzed.International ETF; iShares; returns; variance; diversification

Planeación Urbana: crítica y tendencias desde el campo de la Teoría. El caso del estado de México

El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en demostrar la obsolescencia del modelo de planeación urbana en el estado de México, contrastando sus fundamentos con las aportaciones recientes de nuestro campo de conocimiento para poder ofrecer una alternativa de evaluación teórico-crítica de los principios y métodos de la planeación urbana, esperando que estos puedan ser aplicables en realidades semejantes a la nuestra. La experiencia planificadora del estado de México, durante al menos las últimas dos décadas, expresa las escasas posibilidades de tránsito y adopción del conjunto de planteamientos emergentes que se desprenden de la discusión reciente en materia de planeación urbana, por lo que la revisión crítica de su proceso de evolución, junto con las evidencias mostradas, se constituye como la base argumentativa principal. Esta tarea requiere de la revisión y análisis de los fundamentos de nuestra disciplina con el objeto de adaptarlos a las exigencias que se advierten a nivel internacional, tanto desde la perspectiva disciplinaria como desde el ámbito de la acción pública, para poder identificar cuáles son las rutas emergentes por las que habremos de transitar. Se trata de sentar las bases para emprender un proceso de reflexión sobre la pertinencia del modelo de planeación urbana vigente a fin de actualizar sus contenidos disciplinarios y reorientar los esfuerzos de intervención en un momento en el que el planeamiento de nuestras ciudades está en crisis