The development of the concept of securities in Latvian legislation

Rīga Stradiņš University, Latvia

Abstract

The doctrinal analysis and legal regulation of the legal nature of the securities in Latvian law is fragmented and unclear. This paper discovers that according to the prevailing legal doctrine the securities are classified as intangibles under Latvian law and that leads to the exclusion of the dematerialized securities from the context of the property law. In contrast the bearer debt securities due to their dual legal nature get the legal treatment associated with the tangible movables, including the right to raise property claim and the protection of the bona fide acquirer, while other securities as intangibles do not have the benefit of these substantial property law rules, which leads to the significant legal uncertainty in case of the unauthorized transfer of the securities. The research takes the comparative approach, since historically Latvian securities law has experienced significant influence of the German law.