This work consists of a selection of key papers presented at the first Anglo-Japanese Comparative Law Conference, held at Jesus College, Cambridge in September 1996. The conference was organized under the auspices of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London; the University of Tsukuba, Japan; and Murdoch University in Australia. The conference brought together a number of leading business lawyers from around the world, who discussed the impact of globalization on commercial law. If the internalization of trade and business has produced problems for lawyers, the impact of globalization, particularly in such areas as the capital markets, has proved to be even more problematic. The implications for all those who operate in the commercial and financial sectors, and for those who advise them, of developments in the nature and character of the markets are increasingly significant. The publication should be of interest to academics, those involved in trans-national business, and legal practitioners.