For information only - not an official document
UNIS/L/187
16 July 2013
VIENNA, 16 July (UN Information Service) - On 16 July 2013, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) adopted the UNCITRAL Guide on the Implementation of a Security Rights Registry (the "Registry Guide").
The Registry Guide provides commentary and recommendations on issues relating to the establishment and operation of an efficient publicly accessible security rights registry, where information about the potential existence of a security right in movable assets may be registered.
The Registry Guide will supplement the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions (the "Secured Transactions Guide"), which provides guidance to States with respect to legislative issues that should be addressed in a modern secured transactions law. Together, the Secured Transactions Guide and the Registry Guide will provide comprehensive guidance to States with respect to legal and practical issues that need to be addressed to implement a modern security rights registry.
Such a modern registration regime is likely to increase transparency and certainty of rights, which in turn may increase access to credit at more affordable rates and thus assist States in dealing with the current economic crisis by enhancing economic growth, sustainable development, competitiveness, rule of law, financial inclusion and efforts to combat poverty.
In addition, implementation of the recommendations of the Registry Guide will result in the harmonization of national security rights registry regimes and easier coordination among national registries. This result in turn is likely to facilitate the cross-border recognition of security rights and thus international trade, which, if achieved on the basis of equality and mutual benefit to all States, is an important element in promoting friendly relations among States.
The work on the preparation of the Registry Guide was undertaken by the UNCITRAL Working Group VI (Security Interests) from its eighteenth session in the fall of 2010 until its twenty-third session in the spring of 2013. The final version of the Registry Guide will soon be available at http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/uncitral_texts/security.html.
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The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law. Its mandate is to remove legal obstacles to international trade by progressively modernizing and harmonizing trade law. It prepares legal texts in a number of key areas such as international commercial dispute settlement, electronic commerce, insolvency, international payments, sale of goods, transport law, procurement and infrastructure development. UNCITRAL also provides technical assistance to law reform activities, including assisting Member States to review and assess their law reform needs and to draft the legislation required to implement UNCITRAL texts. The UNCITRAL Secretariat is located in Vienna, Austria.
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For information contact:
Timothy
Lemay
Principal Legal Officer
UNCITRAL Secretariat
Email: timothy.lemay[at]uncitral.org
