Modern principles and secured transactions law in Asia

This article examines the law of secured transactions in selected Asian jurisdictions against modern principles of secured transactions law embodied in model laws such as the UNCITRAL Model Law on Secured Transactions and personal property security statutes based on Article 9 of the US Uniform Commercial Code. Almost all the selected jurisdictions have undertaken law reform in the past 20 years. This has brought their laws closer to the modern principles. The degrees of correspondence vary, as do the processes of, and motivations for, reform. Because their legal starting points diverged in various ways from the modern principles, these jurisdictions have had to make changes in their substantive law and legal infrastructure to transform or translate their law. The collective experience of the selected jurisdictions shows that, while legal tradition is commonly perceived to be an obstacle against the adoption of the modern principles, this can be overcome where the impetus for law reform is strong enough. Some jurisdictions have succeeded in making far-reaching changes to their secured transactions legal regimes, while other jurisdictions with similar legal traditions have had difficulties moving away from certain deeply rooted traditional legal concepts. Considerations other than legal culture are important factors that influence law reform. Given the interplay of various competing factors, a diversity of approaches can be seen in various jurisdictions. There has been much discussion and analysis of the modern principles resulting from the promotion of texts such as the UNCITRAL Model Law, the developmental work of international institutions, and the interest generated by the enactment of new personal property security statutes. This is helpful for jurisdictions considering or embarking on secured transactions law reform, which can look to the modern principles for inspiration and guidance and, ultimately, choose an approach that best meets their needs and circumstances.