Assignment in European private international law

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The assignment of contractual rights is crucial in business and finance, particularly in the contemporary securitisation market where assignments occur on a large scale. Many receivables-based financial transactions, such as securitisations, are cross-border, making it essential to determine the governing law for the proprietary aspects of assignment. The European Commission's “Proposal for a Regulation on the law applicable to contractual obligations” introduces a conflict rule that ties the enforceability of an assignment against third parties to the law of the assignor's residence. This book argues that this solution is inadequate for receivables-based cross-border transactions. The authors propose that cross-border assignments should be governed by the law chosen by the assignor and assignee, or, in the absence of such a choice, by the law applicable to the assigned claim. They assert that the Commission's underlying policy—allowing assignor’s creditors to reference the assignor’s law for registration requirements—can be achieved through more nuanced methods, particularly with a special conflict rule for public filing systems. The Annexes include the full texts of the Commission's Proposal, the UN Convention on the Assignment of Receivables, and Chapter 11 of the Principles of European Contract Law (Assignment of Claims).