Hezbollah’s Global Tentacles: A Relational Approach to Convergence with Transnational Organized Crime

That terrorists, criminals, and their facilitators exploit the global marketplace is well known. While the global movement of illicit goods is well documented, robust empirical evidence linking terrorism and organized crime remains elusive. This article posits Network Science as a means of making these links more apparent. As a critical case study, Hezbollah is quite possibly the most mature globalized terrorist organization, although it thinks of itself as the “Party of God.” However, the means seem to justify the ends: this article shows that Hezbollah’s holy men have no qualms about resorting to pornography, contraband cigarettes, immigration fraud, and credit card fraud to raise funds. Beyond establishing links, Social Network Analysis reveals other important characteristics, such as the relative autonomy from Hezbollah headquarters that local fundraising networks enjoy. That finding implies a paradigm shift: Hezbollah is no less a terrorist organization than an organized crime syndicate. This is apparent in a network’s structure. Transnational Organized Crime is typically about nodes being connected to many others in the network. Yet, Hezbollah fundraising networks allow such connectivity because of the group’s typically high levels of mutual trust and familial relationships. This creates a vulnerability that can be exploited by law enforcement and intelligence organizations.     

The impact of revenue diversification on municipal debts: comparing short-term and long-term debt levels

The extant literature has offered two competitive implications of revenue diversification: revenue stabilisation and fiscal illusion. Stabilisation helps governments have less revenue volatility, while fiscal illusion expands tax burdens through the increase in expenditure. The competitive views on revenue diversification leave a niche to explore the association between revenue diversification and debt levels in local governments. We estimate the static and dynamic effects of revenue diversification on both short-term and long-term debt levels in 150 fiscally standardised cities. Our findings show that local governments with greater revenue diversification are more likely to reduce short-term debts while expanding long-term debts. The findings imply that a stabilised revenue structure helps local governments better manage operational budgets but also invest in capital projects with greater debt capacity.     

论我国保险公司破产原因立法之妥适性——兼论我国《保险法》第90条、第149条之规定

保险公司破产具有特殊性,因此,从世界各国立法来看,保险公司的破产原因经历了从现金流标准和资产负债表标准向监管性标准的转变,是一个从“时间上的后置性”逐渐向“时间上的前置性”的演进过程。而目前我国保险公司的破产原因与一般企业相同,仍采用的是现金流标准和资产负债表标准,没有体现保险公司破产原因“时间上的前置性”。因此,有必要在参照国外监管性标准的基础上,重构我国保险公司的破产原因。而采用监管性标准为监管机构和法院提供了一个明确的、可以量化的标准,为未来我国保险公司破产原因之立法完善方向。     

地方政府投融资平台公司债务风险治理的私法向度简

地方政府投融资平台公司的设立是政府的一种行政私法行为，即行政主体为了达到公法上的目的而从事的私法活动。投融资平台公司功能的充分发挥吁求政府进行弱行政化治理，赋予平台公司更多的市场自主性，促使投融资平台公司在参与市场竞争以及承担政府职责之间寻得平衡。国发[2010]19号文件创设了清理地方投融资平台公司的有益机制。借由公司法以及担保法等民事立法向度，我们可以寻觅到治理地方政府违规担保、债务主体不明、滥发企业债券、混淆企业债务与政府债务等问题的路径，进而构建防治债务风险之体系。     

论我国农村资金互助社的融资制度创新及其法律保障

农村资金互助社是我国农村金融实践的产物,是我国农村合作金融的起步形态。由于相关法律制度的缺陷及政策支持的不足,目前农村资金互助社普遍面临着融资困境,主要表现为难以获得金融许可证,处于银监会监管下的正规农村资金互助社发展步履维艰。针对农村资金互助社融资制度中存在的法人财产权属制度模糊和融资方式低效两个缺陷,应赋予农村资金互助社法人财产制度合作金融特征,实质性拓展农村资金互助社的融资方式,并完善农村资金互助社融资制度创新的法律保障。     

试析中小企业融资难问题

改革开放以来,我国的中小企业异军突起,已成为支撑我国经济快速增长的重要力量。然而,在中小企业发展的过程中却遭遇了几大难题,其中融资难成了阻碍中小企业发展的"瓶颈"。本文在探讨我国中小企业融资难的现状以及原因的基础上,提出了解决问题的相关建议,旨在促进我国中小企业健康、快速的发展。     

浅谈企业应收账款的管理

我国大多数企业存在着的应收账款数额大、周期长的问题,严重影响了企业的发展,加强应收账款的管理显得非常重要。科学的应收账款管理方法是在尽量不减少收入的同时,将应收账款的风险降至最低。信用管理的出现将给我国企业在应收账款管理方面提供新的思路。     

论个人独资企业债务承担

个人独资企业虽不具有法人人格,但其独立的商事主体地位不可否认。我国法律对个人独资企业转让后的债务承担问题并未明确。本文通过对国内外不同观点及立法例的比较认为,个人独资企业转让后,原投资人对在其经营期间欠下的债务应当与现投资人承担补充连带责任;个人独资企业财产不足以清偿企业债务时,应当适用双重优先原则,使企业债务和投资人个人债务均能得到合理受偿。