The Unidroit convention on substantive rules for intermediated securities, also known as the Geneva Securities Convention, was adopted on 9 October 2009. It has been signed by only one of the 40 negotiating States (Bangladesh), but not entered into force. The official commentary was published in 2012.
This convention adopted under the aegis of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Unidroit) complements the "Hague Securities Convention" adopted on 17 January 2002 by the Hague Conference on Private International Law, which entered into force in 2017.
Context
"Dematerialisation" and the development of "intermediated securities"
As for the Hague Securities Convention, the Geneva Securities Convention concerns only securities that are not traded under a paper form. These securities, sometimes called "dematerialised securities", constitute in many States, more than 99% of the securities issued by listed companies on the so-called "regulated markets".
The move towards "dematerialization" started partially in the United States in the late sixties, and has been generalised in France during the eighties, followed by the rest of Europe during the years 2000. Today, only the United States and the United Kingdom, due to more ancient and more extended infrastructures, maintain a substantial minority of securities under a paper form. The dematerialisation of securities incurs that most securities, even though they are sometimes characterised as "bearer securities", do not take any more the form of paper forms held at home by the investor or deposited in a vault with a bank. Instead of this, these securities take the form of a credit, that is to say a simple book entry written on an account statement characterised as "securities account".
These securities accounts may be opened: Either directly with the issuer, in its own books ("dematerialised securities in pure registered form"), or, more often, with an intermediary, which in most countries must be licensed in order to open securities accounts to its clients. In most EU Member States, these intermediaries are, either credit institutions, or investment firms governed respectively by the banking directive and by the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). When it is "maintained" by an intermediary, the security is characterised, either as "simply registered dematerialised security" where the name of the final investor is known by the issuer, or as "bearer dematerialised security", where the name of the investor is not known by the issuer. In the latter case, the final investor will be able to participate to shareholder or bondholder General Meetings organised by the issuer only if it gets from the intermediary a certificate providing that it is the right shareholder or bondholder.
Distinction between "substantive right" and "intrinsic right" The Unidroit convention focuses on the harmonisation of the sole rules governing "substantive rights", as opposed to "intrinsic rights".
This distinction characterises "intrinsic rights" as the rights stemming from the issue of the security (voting rights, perception of dividends, ... as provided under company law), whereas "substantive rights", are characterised as the rights resulting from the incorporation of the latter intrinsic rights in the securities (right to dispose and to acquire without the consent of the other shareholders or bondholders): these so-called "substantive rights" are closely linked to the "rights in rem", which itself pertains to financial law, and, if not, to civil law. Making it short, "intrinsic rights" focus the content, whereas "substantive rights" focus on the external envelop constituted by the security. The Geneva Securities Convention, is thus limited to the external aspect of the security, that is to say the way securities are handled, in particular in case of acquisition (purchase, securities borrowing, receiving a collateral on securities) and in case of disposition (sell, security lending, constitution of a collateral on the security).