Search results for

Mian Muhammad Nazir The judgment of the Dubai Court of First Instance, in a case involving an ijara contract (lease contract), contemplates the UAE courts' level of familiarity with complex Islamic finance contract instruments. Though the court decision may be subject to appeal, but as it stands, it reveals an evidence of adequate judicial recognition for Islamic finance contracts. Although it is not the first case that recognises the application of principles of Shariah and Islamic contracts and instruments, the decision will nevertheless confirm the UAE legal and judicial systems' readiness to dispense justice and adjudicate civil and commercial disputes strictly in accordance with the terms and conditions of the underlying contracts and the governing law of such contracts.

Veena Sivaramakrishnan Pooja Yedukumar Restructuring continues to be the buzz word in India in 2013. It is not just in the context of non-performing assets that banks and financial institutions are seeking to restructure their books. Be it corporate debt restructuring (CDR) or restructuring under the statutory realm of the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), companies seem to be resorting to these methods as an easy means of rehabilitation. The CDR mechanism is technically voluntary, though most Indian banks (especially in the public sector) are members of the CDR Cell, thereby making it mandatory for them to participate in the restructuring of a company to which they have an exposure in India. The CDR process provides for banks and financial institutions (which are not a party to the Cell) to enforce their rights outside the CDR mechanism. Effectively this allows companies to get some leeway especially from CDR participating banks in relation to their obligations, while continuing to ensure that the rights of the non-participating banks are not adversely affected.

Mark-Oliver Baumgarten, Thiemo Sturny, Andreas Bättig and Stefan Knobloch of Staiger Schwald & Partner examine the reasons why Switzerland has remained a financial hub while economic instability has claimed so many of its neighbours

Akiko Tomiyama On April 16 2013, the Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA) submitted the Bill for Amendment of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, etc. to the ordinary Diet session. It was indicated that the main purpose of the bill is to put in place measures against insider trading and market fraud, measures against financial crises that originate from market disruption, and measures to strengthen the functions of the financial and capital markets and the financial industry in Japan. The bill includes amendments to many finance-related bills, including the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, the Investment Trust and Investment Corporation Act, the Deposit Insurance Act, the Banking Act, the Insurance Business Act, and the Trust Business Act. The main purposes of this bill are the strengthening of insider trading regulations, the establishment of an orderly resolution regime for financial institutions, revisions to asset management regulations, the encouragement of the provision of capital by banks, and the encouragement of the robustness of Japanese Real Estate Investment Trust (J-Reit) structures. The strengthening of insider trading regulations was proposed following recent insider trading cases, such as when a listed company made a public offering and information was compromised by an employee of the lead managing underwriter and an investor who obtained such information engaged in insider trading. In particular, the disclosure of inside information and trading recommendations made by corporate insiders who have inside information will be regulated under new rules. In addition, the monetary penalty for violations committed by asset managers with respect to their client accounts will be raised.

In 2008, the government of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) started the revision of the Land Law (Law 6/80/M) after concluding: "Given the demands of various sectors of society … it appears that the Land Law, in force for more than 30 years, is no longer able to respond effectively to the current development of MSAR" ('Explanatory Memorandum of the Draft Law'). The draft was approved in general terms by the Legislative Assembly of Macau on February 5 2013.

In response to the 2007 eurozone and US debt crises, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in 2010 introduced Basel III with a view to regularising standards on bank capital adequacy and market liquidity risk. The unprecedented speed with which Basel III was introduced was an attempt to stem the growing dissatisfaction with how banks were regulating themselves and to regain market confidence. While the aims of Basel III can be lauded, criticism on its viability in regions not affected by the European and US debt crises brings to the fore questions as to whether such standards would have counter-productive results.

Carlos Fradique Mendez Cesar Rodriguez A positive investment cycle and the consolidation of the country's macroeconomic framework have underpinned Colombia's sustained growth over the last decade. This was reflected in the investment grade rating in 2011 and the further upgrade in April 2013. Despite the significant improvement in Colombia's economic fundamentals, some issues remain pending in the country's transport infrastructure. In response, the Colombian government has launched an ambitious public–private partnership (PPP) programme with an estimated investment of approximately $20 billion, which is generating an unprecedented demand on local financing sources and the need to adopt new approaches to project finance. Institutional investors, supranational and international financial institutions are likely to play a paramount role: traditional sources of banking finance are fairly limited given the dramatic increase in financing needs.

Bumkyu Sung and Ik Hwan Cho of Kim & Chang explain the impact and future of South Korea’s law separating banks and securities firms

El Salvador enacted its Competition Law (CL) by Legislative Decree No 528, which entered in effect as of January 1 2006. Reforms to the law were introduced in 2007 to grant the competition authority more powers for the enforcement of the legislation.

Clive Cunningham, Pat Horton and Nish Dissanayake of Herbert Smith Freehills explore the impact of the AIFM Directive on marketing alternative investment funds