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New beneficial ownership and information disclosure rules affect eurobond and other financing structures in Russia

The first Indian equity offering to include a safety net provision since 2006, has called into question regulatory proposals on safety net norms. Here's why

Carlos Fradique Méndez Lucas Moreno In late December 2012 Colombian Congress passed Law 1607, which introduces significant changes to Colombian tax law, with some provisions particularly relevant to the structuring of inbound and outbound financial transactions. This article, very briefly and generally describes some of the most salient features of the tax reform, with the proviso that the specific details and implementing rules and regulations are to be taken into account in specific cases given the complexity of the subject matters. The tax reform generally reduces the withholding tax rate applicable to gross payments to foreign portfolio investors from 33% to 14%. The 14% rate is generally applicable, unless the foreign investor is located in a tax haven (as indicated in a blacklist to be published by the Colombian Government), in which case the applicable withholding rate would be 25%. While dividends are not typically subject to double taxation, the 14% reduced withholding rate would not apply (and a 25% withholding rate would be applicable instead) to dividend payments subject to taxes in Colombia at the shareholder level.

My crystal ball has not been working perfectly lately. But based on information provided by clients, banks and the market in general, it is possible to make some predictions of how capital and financial markets will perform in 2013.

Here’s how to build effective compliance programmes and codes of conduct under the FCPA Guide and UK Bribery Act Guidance

Liam Carney Callaghan Kennedy In a decision helpful to both special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and service providers utilising SPVs, the Irish Supreme Court has given effect to a gross negligence carve-out to a general (and standard-form) limitation of liability clause (Clause) in an Irish-law commercial licence. The case also highlights the dangers of taking for granted the protections such clauses purport to provide, in particular where key terms such as gross negligence and wilful default are not defined.

Banji Adenusi As debt securities issued by governments, government agencies, and corporations, bonds are an external source of funding for the expansion of an issuer's business (as in the case of corporate bonds), or for the development of infrastructure projects. In recent times, the primary market for corporate bonds in Nigeria has witnessed tremendous growth, as the number of corporate bonds listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange has risen to a respectable 18 as of January 2013. While the issuance of government bonds and corporate bonds is regulated by the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the incidence of covered bonds is altogether a different proposition, as applicable legislation in this regard is non-existent. The United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation describes covered bonds as "general, non-deposit obligation bonds of the issuing bank secured by a pledge of loans that remain on the bank's balance sheet". Essentially, the defining feature of covered bonds is the duality of protection offered to investors, namely: (a) liability of issuer (typically a financial institution) for repayment; and (b) the special pool of collateral, also known as cover pool, on which investors have a preferential claim in the event of the issuer's insolvency. Typically, these collaterals are by way of high-grade mortgages or loans to the public sector or shipping loans. When contrasted with asset-backed securities (ABS), the cover pool becomes credit enhancement leverage, as they are more dynamic in the sense that assets can be added or replaced in the pool over time, especially where the value of these assets diminish or an early repayment has occurred. In addition, the credit risk stays with the issuer, as the borrower continues to absorb the risk of default and prepayment risk of the pool; much unlike ABS where the issuer does not absorb the risk of default beyond the agreed credit support and risk of prepayment is usually transferred to the investor. Herein lies the major difference between covered bonds and securitisation in general.

Jaime de la Torre Viscasillas Law 9/2012 on the restructuring and resolution of credit entities was approved on November 14 2012. The law was approved based on Royal Decree-Law 24/2012, on the restructuring and resolution of credit entities, which implemented commitments of the Spanish government assumed in its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreed with the international authorities on July 20 2011. The MOU established, among others, that real estate-related assets of banks that require state aid must be transferred to an asset management company. For this purpose, in December 2012, an asset management company named Sociedad de Gestión de Activos Procedentes de la Reestructuración Bancaria (AMC or Sareb) was incorporated. The AMC, through the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB), had a public participation lower than 50%. The purpose of this company is the tenancy, management, acquisition and transfer of so-called troubled assets. It is also authorised to issue obligations or other debt instruments (with no limits on the amounts).

Regulators in the Asia-Pacific have called for closer jurisdictional cooperation to protect emerging markets from onerous extraterritorial regulations.

US banks should brace themselves for stronger competition enforcement throughout President Obama's second term, a former Department of Justice (DoJ) antitrust official has warned.