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Elias Neocleous On August 8 the Cyprus Government published a roadmap for the lifting of restrictions that were imposed on banking operations in March 2013, and which apply to funds in the domestic banking system at the time of the bail-in. Funds remitted to Cyprus from abroad after March 27 2013 are exempt from the restrictions. The government is committed to restoring the free movement of capital as soon as conditions allow, and indeed a number of relaxations of the controls have already taken place. The roadmap reflects the strategy agreed between the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Cyprus and the troika of international lenders, namely that controls should remain in place only for as long as is strictly necessary, and should be gradually removed through prudent incremental steps, so as to safeguard financial stability.

The region’s market watchdogs are beefing up their surveillance and enforcement activities. Here are the latest statistics and strategies

Andrés Felipe Parra Ana María Rodríguez In 2011, the Colombian Congress enacted an anti-corruption statute known as Law 1474 of 2011 to bring the country's anti-corruption laws up to international standards. The Law contains provisions that specifically refer to anti-corruption policies and prohibitions that are applicable to all sectors of the economy. Therefore, companies undertaking business activities in Colombia should adopt specifically tailored compliance policies and procedures, including the establishment of compliance manuals, to heighten awareness within the corporate organisation and minimise the potential legal liabilities that may arise out of unlawful conduct by any of its employees or third-parties acting on the entity's behalf. Surprisingly, most companies in Colombia remain unaware of the existence of the new anti-corruption regulations, and the severe penalties that may be imposed for violations of the new law. One of the most significant penalties includes the potential cancellation or suspension of the company's registration with the Chamber of Commerce if it can be proven that the entity has sought to benefit from the commission of a criminal offence against the public administration, such as the commission of a bribery-related offence.

Alexei Bonamin Marcus Vinicius Fonseca On September 5 2013, the Brazilian National Monetary Council enacted Resolution 4,263, which finally regulated structured operations certificates (certificado de operações estruturadas) or COEs. Similar to a structured note, COEs are already used by banks in other countries, which allows the combination of different investment structures, such as fixed-income and variable-income, in one instrument. The COE was created in 2010 together with financial bills (letras financeiras) by the Provisional Measure (Medida Provisória) of December 15 2009, (converted into Law 12,249 of June 11 2010), to be a fundraising alternative for banks established in Brazil.

Milagros Maravi Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been used in Peru since the 90s, primarily for the development or improvement of public infrastructure and services, specifically transportation (ports, airports, highways, urban road networks, train and subways) telecommunications, health, sanitation, electricity, hydrocarbons, public cleaning and disposal of solid waste, agriculture and irrigation sectors. PPPs in Peru bind private investors with the national, regional or municipal governmental agencies, as a means to promote projects within their corresponding competence or jurisdiction.

Bo Yong Ahn and Sung-Soo Choi of Kim & Chang explain the rapid growth of private equity funds in South Korea in recent years

James Stacey and Angela Taylor of Slaughter and May advise caution when dealing with unilateral jurisdiction clauses

Verizon Communications' $49 billion bond issuance was the largest corporate bond sale in history. Here's how it could influence future corporate bond offerings from other well-established companies

Wesfarmers and Bunnings’ innovative sale-and-leaseback transaction was the first of its kind in Australia

The nominations for the Euromoney Legal Media Group Asia Women in Business Law Awards 2013 have been announced