The study of Asia and its plural legal systems is of increasing significance, both within and outside Asia. Lawyers, whether in Australia, America or Europe, or working within an Asian jurisdiction, require a sound knowledge of how the law operates across this fast-growing and diverse region. Law and Legal Institutions of Asia is the first book to offer a comprehensive assessment of eleven key jurisdictions in Asia - China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore and the Philippines. Written by academics and practitioners with particular expertise in their state or territory, each chapter uses a breakthrough approach, facilitating cross-jurisdictional comparisons and giving essential insights into how law functions in different ways across the region and in each of the individual jurisdictions.

The Chinese have a saying about family businesses: the first generation builds the company, the second generation grows the company, and the third generation destroys the company. There are many examples of this growth and decline in many countries, especially in Indonesia where the business conglomerates - mostly owned by ethnic Chinese - are notoriously secretive; their companies' trials and tribulations are known only to a very select group. However, every once in a while, one of the insiders opens the company's doors and allows the general public a chance to see what has really transpired over the generations. Even less frequently are these stories allowed to be published in a book. Family Business is one of those rare books. For the first time, the inside story of one of Indonesia's largest traditional medicine companies is available in the English language. From the tales of the founder's struggles in raising a family and managing a company, to the passing of command to its second and third generations, Family Business is a real insider's account of how in business, everything is personal. Filled with anecdotes and court cases, advertising campaigns and newspaper clippings, Family Business is an Indonesian success story and case study detailing what to do - and more importantly what not to do - in running a family business. It should be required reading for entrepreneurs all over the globe. ABOUT THE AUTHORS ASIH SUMARDONO has worked as a journalist since 1986 - for the BBC, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review. Most of that time has been spent in Asia, covering uprisings in Thailand and Burma, wars in Cambodia, East Timor and Afghanistan. MARK HANUSZ is the author of the critically acclaimed Kretek: The Culture and Heritage of Indonesia's Clove Cigarettes and co-author of A Cup of Java. He is also the founder of Equinox Publishing.

Most readers, especially those with car loans or home mortgages, know about "collateral"--property that the lender can take away from the borrower in the event that the borrower defaults. In low/middle income countries, it is understood that conservative lenders exclude firms from credit markets with their excessive collateral requirements. Usually, this is because only some property is acceptable as collateral: large holdings of urban real estate and, sometimes, new motor vehicles. Microenterprises, SMEs, and the poor have little of this property but they do have an array of productive assets that could easily be harnessed to serve as collateral. It is only the legal framework which prevents firms from using these assets to secure loans. In countries with reformed laws governing collateral, property such as equipment, inventory, accounts receivable, livestock are considered excellent collateral. This book aims to better equip project managers to implement reforms to the legal and institutional framework for collateral (secured transactions). It discusses the importance of movable property as a source of collateral for firms, the relationship between the legal framework governing movable assets and the financial sector consequences for firms (better loan terms, increased access, more competitive financial sector), and how reforms can be put in place to change the lending environment.

"This volume formulates the hypothesis of a truly global revolution that reflected a Great Divide between ancient and new legal regimes. The volume brings together several case studies of transition from an ancient to a new legal regime characterized by the positivization of the law. This was an effect of Western imperialism, but also of local elites' conviction that positive law was an efficient instrument of governance. The contributors emphasize the depth and scale of the positivist legal revolution and explore the phenomenon whether it was the outcome of either direct colonialism (Morocco, Egypt, India) or indigenous reformism (Ottoman empire, China, Japan). Contributors are: Léon Buskens, Jean-Philippe Dequen, Baudouin Dupret, Jean-Louis Halpérin, Béatrice Jaluzot, Gianluca Parolin, Avi Rubin, and Tzung-Mou Wu"--