ABSTRACT
Introduction The discussion which is currently taking place in the UK on a new regime for security interests over movable assets, especially the work of the English Law Commission,1 is of great interest to all commercial lawyers in Europe (and other continents as well) who are interested in the modernisation of their domestic systems of security instruments. Over the past two centuries most European countries have developed in a haphazard, piecemeal way sets of rules to deal with a new phenomenon of overriding importance, namely non-possessory security interests. The growing demand for the supply of credit to entrepreneurs and enterprises made it obvious that the traditional possessory pledge, which had until then served as the main form of security interest, was no longer sufficient to satisfy the need for adequate security. Economic actors could no longer utilise the pledge since it meant turning over their productive assets such as plant and machinery which they needed to retain in order to produce goods for public consumption. Without the ability to produce, no revenue/profits could be created and, therefore, no repayments of debt could be made. Therefore, it became imperative for borrowers and lenders alike to be able to obtain effective new forms of non-possessory security interests. The modern industrialised economy as we now know it was founded, at least in part, on the success of the new forms of security interest that have materialised in recent years.
