Towards the Consolidation of Movable Security Registration: Is the Successful Romanian Model Applicable in China?

Abstract

The idea of a consolidated, unique registry for all types of movable securities at the national level has recently surfaced in Chinese academia and policy-making circles. This would align China with the global trend towards the adoption of national, unique registries, a solution in conformity with the one proposed in the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law's Model Law on Secured Transactions, issued in 2016. In Europe, the consolidated national registry was embraced with varied degrees of enthusiasm. One country where it was successful is Romania, which adopted an original model: notice (simplified) registration, but with filings performed by a capillary system of operators and agents, under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice. This article introduces the Romanian national registry for movable securities in a functional comparative perspective, as a potential source of legal transplant for the Chinese legal market. Adaptation to local conditions requires that the place of operators and agents in the Romanian model be taken in China by the commercial banks.