Professor Martin Wenz speaks at the “Financial innovations” symposium in St. Gallen

From 31 May to 1 June 2012, a symposium on the topic of “Financial innovations – economic development dynamics and legal regulations in the intersection between corporate organization and financial markets” was held at the Law School of the University of St. Gallen, where Professor Martin Wenz spoke about financial innovations in tax law.

In his speech, Professor Martin Wenz, who holds the Chair for Tax Management and the Laws of Liechtenstein and International Taxation at the University of Liechtenstein, first introduced the taxation of financial instruments, especially in relation to the concept of income and capital tax. He then went on to explore the taxation of current income and capital gains in Swiss, German and Austrian tax law. In addition, Professor Martin Wenz spoke about the differentiation of taxation of dividends and interest rates in international tax law, as well as the international regulation of tax competition and the guarantee of tax liabilities. At the end he provided an overview of alternative taxation models for financial innovations.

As part of the event, the following topics were discussed:

I. Development of financial innovations
	Financial innovations in view of jurisprudence Professor Peter Nobel
	Financial innovations in view of financial-market theory Professor Heinz Zimmermann
	Financial innovations as a means of contract design Professor Peter Sester
	Protectability of financial innovations in intellectual property law Professor Joseph Straus
II. Regulation of financial innovations in companies
	Financial innovations, management responsibilities and corporate governance Professor Susanne Kalss, LL. M. (Florence)
	Financial innovations, management responsibilities and corporate governance in regulated areas (banks, insurance companies) Professor Katja Langenbucher
	Financial and legal engineering Professor Günter Reiner
	Financial innovations in corporate insolvency Professor Horst Eidenmüller
III. Regulation of markets for financial innovations
	Financial innovations and the governance of financial market authorities Professor Gérard Hertig
	Financial innovations in European financial supervision Professor Alexander Kern
	Financial innovations in financial market legislation Professor Rolf Sethe
	Financial innovations in insurance contract law Professor Helmut Heiss, LL. M. (Chicago)
IV. Assessment and taxation of financial innovations
	Financial innovations in accounting Professor Thomas Berndt
	Financial innovations in tax law Professor Martin Wenz