The 17th AIIFL Distinguished Public Lecture

Asian Institute of International Financial Law
Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong

50th Anniversary Distinguished Lecture Series

The 17th AIIFL Distinguished Public Lecture

Rethinking Transnational Law

Professor Ignacio Tirado
Secretary General, UNIDROIT

5 November 2019 (Tuesday)
12:30 – 1:30 pm
Academic Conference Room, 11/F Cheng Yu Tung Tower
The University of Hong Kong

In the light of the open economy, with large markets open cross border, the world is slowly moving towards a legislative framework that underpins international transactions and enhances predictability and legal certainty for investment. This framework is composed of both treaties/conventions and soft law instruments, of different nature and scope. In this scenario, intergovernmental institutions like UNCITRAL, The Hague Conference on Private International Law and UNIDROIT (the “three sisters”) play a leading role; but they are not alone: international financial institutions, private sector stakeholders and national Governments are all involved in the decision-making process. The speaker, Secretary General of UNIDROIT, will present a critical analysis of the current state of transnational law and the interaction between the different players involved, sharing some reflections as to where this field of international should be headed for.

Professor Ignacio Tirado was appointed Secretary-General by the Governing Council at its 97th session, and officially took office on 27 August 2018. A national of Spain, Professor Tirado (Commercial, Corporate and Insolvency Law, Universidad Autónoma of Madrid, Spain) holds a PhD from the Universities of Bologna and Autónoma de Madrid and an LLM from the University of London. Professor Tirado has been a Senior Legal Consultant at the World Bank’s Legal Vice-Presidency and Financial Sector Practice for almost nine years, having also consulted for the IMF on insolvency related matters as well as for the Asian Development Bank on commercial legal reform. Amongst other accolades to his professional experience, Professor Tirado is a founding member of the European Banking Institute, Director of the International Insolvency Institute and an International Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.