Capital Controls and International Economic Law

Bryan Mercurio is the Simon F. S. Li Professor of Law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is co-author of World Trade Law: Text, Materials and Commentary (third edition, 2018), co-editor of International Economic Law after the Global Crisis: A Tale of Fragmented Disciplines (Cambridge, 2015) and author of Drugs, Patents and Policy: A Contextual Study of Hong Kong (Cambridge, 2018).

• Part I. Key Concepts: Capital Flows and Controls; 1. The Liberalisation of capital flows; 2. Capital flow management, measures; Part II. The IMF, Capital Flows and Controls; 3. Shifting the IMF mandate; 4. The Legality of the IMF's mandate expansion; Part III. Legal Frameworkss, Rules and Conflicts; 5. The multilateral trade framework; 6. Bilateral and regional trade agreements; 7. International investment agreements; 8. Conclusions.

'This essential volume illuminates a dark but critical component of international economic law: the international legal regulation of capital controls. This is a field of deep economic and political interest, and implicates the question of the “right to regulate,” in connection with economic policy in developing and developed countries. But the applicable law is fragmented and somewhat ambiguous, with various rules associated with various institutions. Prof. Mercurio provides a careful and persuasive analysis of the current legal situation under IMF, WTO, and preferential trade agreement law, and an essential roadmap for policy-makers as they seek to comply with, or perhaps to reform, the law. This lucid and well-documented volume also provides a valuable resource for students and scholars of international economic law.' Joel P. Trachtman, Professor of International Law and Henry J. Braker Professor of Commercial Law, The Fletcher School, Tufts University