finance

Georgia Professor Assaf Harpaz selected as laureate at the Journal of International Economic Law Junior Faculty Forum

University of Georgia School of Law assistant professor Assaf Harpaz has been selected as a laureate to present his paper titled “Global Tax Wars and the Shift to Source-Based Taxation” at the Journal of International Economic Law Junior Faculty Forum (JIEL JFF).

Below is an abstract of the paper:

Current debates in international taxation often focus on how to fairly allocate taxing rights between jurisdictions. When an enterprise earns income abroad, both the country of residence (where the taxpayer resides) and the country of source (where income is generated) have legitimate, competing claims to tax that income. The issue is further complicated in a digital economy where tax avoidance and profit shifting practices are abundant.

Income tax treaties have traditionally favored residence-based taxation. Now, the international tax framework is at a crossroads with intergovernmental organizations battling to redefine the principles of cross-border taxation. The regime has been dominated by the Global North through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which has drawn backlash due to its undemocratic procedure and unfavorable outcomes for developing countries. The United Nations has held a relatively peripheral role in global tax governance, yet this could change with an upcoming UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation – an initiative overwhelmingly supported by developing countries. This article conceptualizes the international tax discourse as “tax wars,” contrasting the taxing powers and interests of the OECD-led Global North with those of the UN-backed Global South. It highlights the distributive effects of tax treaties and argues for a shift toward source-based taxation. To do so, it proposes revisiting the permanent establishment standard in model treaty language, creating an opportunity for broader taxation of business profits in the source country. This transition will address longstanding disparities and is increasingly warranted in a digital economy that does not rely on physical presence

Assaf Harpaz joined University of Georgia School of Law as an assistant professor in summer 2024 and will teach classes in federal income tax and business taxation. Harpaz’s scholarly focus lies in international taxation, with an emphasis on the intersection of taxation and digitalization. He explores the tax challenges of the digital economy and the ways to adapt 20th-century tax laws to modern business practices.

Georgia Law Professor Bruner comments on Princeton symposium in Bermuda’s daily newspaper

Christopher Bruner, the Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law here at the University of Georgia School of Law, was quoted earlier this month in The Royal Gazette, a daily newspaper based in Hamilton, Bermuda. The article reported on participation by Bruner and others in Princeton University’s Law, Identity, and Economic Development in the Post-Colonial Era symposium held during April. (prior post)

Entitled “Bermudians join discussions on regional economic development,” the article cited Bruner’s 2016 Oxford University Press book, Re-Imagining Offshore Finance: Market Dominant Small Jurisdictions in a Globalising Financial World. It then reported Bruner’s comments respecting the significance of issues that the Princeton conference explored:

“Small jurisdictions around the world – including in the Northern Atlantic and Caribbean regions – are at the front lines of a range of global environmental and economic challenges.

“Now more than ever, it is critical that we explore sustainable economic development models available to small jurisdictions, as well as the lessons that all jurisdictions can learn from their experiences.”

Georgia Law Professor Bruner presents at University of Macerata in Italy

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Christopher M. Bruner, the Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law here at the University of Georgia School of Law, spoke at a 2-day conference last week at the University of Macerata in Italy.

“Business Risk, Financial Markets, and Sustainable Companies” was the title of the presentation by Bruner, a scholar of corporate law, corporate governance, comparative law, and sustainability, whose most recent book is The Corporation as Technology: Re-Calibrating Corporate Governance for a Sustainable Future (OUP 2022) (prior posts).

The conference, titled The Prism of Sustainability, was supported by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

Georgia Law Professor Christopher Bruner presents to International Monetary Fund on corporations and sustainability

Professor Christopher Bruner, the Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law here at the University of Georgia School of Law, recently presented “The Corporation as Technology: Re-Calibrating Corporate Governance for a Sustainable Future” to the International Monetary Fund, a 75-year-old organization of 189 countries that, operating within the United Nations system, works to “foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.”

Bruner’s online presentation was organized by the IMF Legal Department and moderated by Rhoda Weeks-Brown, Director of the Legal Department and the IMF’s General Counsel.  Attendees included staff lawyers and economists from across the IMF.

His talk was based on the book that he is currently writing, which is due to be published by Oxford University Press next year.

Georgia Law Professor Christopher Bruner speaks at London conference on technology and corporate governance


Christopher Bruner, the Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law here at the University of Georgia School of Law, presented his scholarship at a conference on “The Future of the Firm” held last Friday in London.

Professor Bruner’s presentation was entitled “Distributed Ledgers, Artificial Intelligence, and the Purpose of the Corporation.”

Among the other speakers were scholars from the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University College London, and Loyola Law School-Los Angeles.

The event was hosted by the University College London, Faculty of Laws. Co-sponsors included the University of Cambridge Centre for Corporate and Commercial Law, as well as the Brussels-based European Corporate Governance Institute, of which Professor Bruner is an Academic Member.

Georgia Law Professor Christopher Bruner takes part in financial regulation conference in Singapore

Christopher Bruner, Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law here at the University of Georgia School of Law, took part in two panels at a conference entitled “Financial Services Law and Regulation in Singapore.” Hosting the February 28-March 1 conference was the Centre for Banking & Finance Law at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law.

On the conference’s 1st day, Bruner presented on “Development of Financial Services in a Globalising Financial World,” focusing his remarks on the framework developed in his 2016 Oxford University Press book, Re-Imagining Offshore Finance. (prior post). Bruner also participated in the reflections panel that concluded the conference.

Occasioning the conference was the the publication of Financial Services Law and Regulation (Academy Publishing, 2019), edited by Dora Neo, Hans Tjio, and Luh Luh Lan, and featuring Singapore-based contributors. Professor Bruner and others from abroad provided global and comparative context.