Sovereign wealth fund

Abstract

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have proliferated in recent years and have become significant actors in international finance, investment and trade. However, the SWF is a matter for national law, not international law. This is a reflection of the principle of national sovereignty. Rather than public international law, national law regulates and supervises SWFs. The politicization of SWFs becomes all the more conspicuous due to the lethargy of public international law in the field. Therefore, every state is free to treat foreign SWFs as it sees fit. States are not obliged to treat foreign SWFs in the same manner. The only serious international legal initiative to regulate SWFs to date, the Santiago Principles, merely recommend some self-disciplinary measures for SWFs and the countries that have SWFs. They have still not transformed into binding public international law.