The Principle of Negotiability of Securities and the Restrictions Imposed Thereon

Abstract

This study aims to shed light on an important aspect of the economy upon which the initial concept of capitalism and joint-stock companies relied, namely transferable securities as distinctive economic and investment instruments. These securities are characterised by several features, the most important of which is negotiability. This can only emerge and be exercised publicly within a legal framework and a liberal economic system, specifically in the stock market (or the Stock Exchange in Algerian legislation), where they are traded continuously in an organised and regular manner.

However, our examination of the laws governing these securities reveals the principle of negotiability, alongside legally established exceptions or restrictions that limit negotiability, shifting it from an absolute to a relative principle. This raises the question of whether the notion of negotiability can be considered independently of the freedom of investment enshrined in various constitutions, or whether these are regulatory aspects without which the law does not permit securities to be traded.