of legal practice to create non-possessory security interests and trust/beneficiary relationships to be met. This was done by the creation of the non-possessory pledge and by the introduction of special rules on administration, together with special rules on irrevocable powers of attorney. 20 As to pledges, these rules can be found in Book 3, Articles 237 and 239 of the NCC. It may be helpful to cite the first paragraphs of these Articles, as they provide the general framework. Article 237(1)reads The right of pledge on a moveable thing, on a right payable to bearer, or on the usufruct of such a thing or right, can also be esta blished by an authentic deed or a registered deed under private writing, without the thing or the document to bearer being brought under the control of the pledgee or of a third person Article 239(1)states A right of pledge on a right which can be exercised aga inst one or more specifically determined persons and which is not payable to beareror order, or a right of pledge on the usufruct of suc h a right can also be established by an authentic deed or a registered deed under private writing without notification thereof to those persons, provided that the right in question already exists at the time of the establishment of the right of pledge or will be directly acquired pursuant to a juridical relationship already existing at that time In contrast to what Meijers originally proposed( the introduction of a so-called registered pledge), the non-possessory pledge is not registered in a public register, but with the tax authorities, merely to certify the date. 2 In this respect, old and new Dutch property law still advocate secret personal property security interests and no policy change took place. Transfer of ownership for security purposes is not made public and retention of title or a non possessory pledge is not publicly registered Meijers'attempt to introduce the principle of transparency(publicity)in this area of the law was(and, even more so, today still is) completely justified in the light of global developments; I need only refer to Article 9 of the U.S. Uniform Commercial Code and the 2002 Cape Town Convention on Mobile Equipment. 2 Also, the influence of European law is now felt in this area, as it may very well be argued that secret security interests violate the European freedoms, especially the freedom of capital as it is laid down in Article 56 EC. 23 Considering the developments in the Netherlands in hindsight, it is amazing to see that, on the one hand, an attempt was made to purify property law as it is laid down in the new Civil Cf for the irrevocable power of attomey Book 3, Article 74 of the NCC: To the extent that the object of the procuration is the performance of a juridical act which is in the interest of the procurator or a third person it may be provided that the procuration shall be irrevoca ble or that it will not term inate upon the death or by the placement under curatorship of the principal. The former prov ision includes the latter, unless a different intention is evident See for the parliamentary debates, Van Zeben, Du Pon and Olthof, Parlementaire geschiedenis, pp 685 The text of Article 9 UCC can be found at the web site of the Comell Legal Information Institute lwww.law.comelledu;thetextoftheCapeTownConventiononthewebsiteofUnidRoit 23ThetextoftheEcTreatycanbefoundathttp:/euroa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/search/searchtreatieshtmlCf Court of Justice of the European Communities, 16 March 1999, case C-222197(Trummer/Mayer), to be found at thecourtswebsitehttpcuriaeu.int/en/transitpage.htm6 of legal practice to create non-possessory security interests and trust/beneficiary relationships to be met. This was done by the creation of the non-possessory pledge and by the introduction of special rules on administration, together with special rules on irrevocable powers of attorney.20 As to pledges, these rules can be found in Book 3, Articles 237 and 239 of the NCC. It may be helpful to cite the first paragraphs of these Articles, as they provide the general framework. Article 237(1) reads: The right of pledge on a moveable thing, on a right payable to bearer, or on the usufruct of such a thing or right, can also be established by an authentic deed or a registered deed under private writing, without the thing or the document to bearer being brought under the control of the pledgee or of a third person. Article 239(1) states: A right of pledge on a right which can be exercised against one or more specifically determined persons and which is not payable to bearer or order, or a right of pledge on the usufruct of such a right, can also be established by an authentic deed or a registered deed under private writing without notification thereof to those persons, provided that the right in question already exists at the time of the establishment of the right of pledge or will be directly acquired pursuant to a juridical relationship already existing at that time. In contrast to what Meijers originally proposed (the introduction of a so-called registered pledge), the non-possessory pledge is not registered in a public register, but with the tax authorities, merely to certify the date.21 In this respect, old and new Dutch property law still advocate secret personal property security interests and no policy change took place. Transfer of ownership for security purposes is not made public and retention of title or a non￾possessory pledge is not publicly registered. Meijers’ attempt to introduce the principle of transparency (publicity) in this area of the law was (and, even more so, today still is) completely justified in the light of global developments; I need only refer to Article 9 of the U.S. Uniform Commercial Code and the 2002 Cape Town Convention on Mobile Equipment.22 Also, the influence of European law is now felt in this area, as it may very well be argued that secret security interests violate the European freedoms, especially the freedom of capital as it is laid down in Article 56 EC.23 Considering the developments in the Netherlands in hindsight, it is amazing to see that, on the one hand, an attempt was made to purify property law as it is laid down in the new Civil 20 Cf. for the irrevocable power of attorney Book 3, Article 74 of the NCC: ‘To the extent that the object of the procuration is the performance of a juridical act which is in the interest of the procurator or a third person, it may be provided that the procuration shall be irrevocable or that it will not terminate upon the death or by the placement under curatorship of the principal. The former provision includes the latter, unless a different intention is evident.’ 21 See for the parliamentary debates, Van Zeben, Du Pon and Olthof, Parlementaire geschiedenis, pp. 685 ff. 22 The text of Article 9 UCC can be found at the web site of the Cornell Legal Information Institute: http://www.law.cornell.edu; the text of the Cape Town Convention on the web site of UNIDROIT: http://www.unidroit.org/english/internationalinterests/main.htm. 23 The text of the EC Treaty can be found at: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/search/search_treaties.html Cf. Court of Justice of the European Communities, 16 March 1999, case C-222/97 (Trummer/Mayer), to be found at the court’s web site: http://curia.eu.int/en/transitpage.htm