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There was renewed buzz around contingent convertible capital instruments (CoCos) last year, off the back of impressive issuances by UBS and Barclays. The permanent write-down – rather than conversion to equity – adopted in both deals led to speculation of a new breed of CoCo. But these deals represent just one of many twists to the classic CoCo concept that will appear this year.

The Brazilian government has in the last few years announced some important programmes to increase investments in the infrastructure sector in the country. Most of the investments proposed in these infrastructure programmes are to be made by the private sector, especially those related to airports, railways, energy, and others. In many projects the government expects that the private sector will invest and subsequently operate the relevant project under a concession or public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.

Freddy Karyadi Oene Marseille Bapepam-LK has recently issued a revision of the procedure for the implementation of quasi-reorganisation through Regulation No IX.L.1 attachment Decision of Head of Bapepam and LK No KEP-718/BL/2012 (which has replaced Decision of the Head of Bapepam No KEP-16/PM/2004). The background to the issuance of the new regulation is the convergence of the Financial Accounting Standard Statement (Pernyataan Standar Akutansi Keuangan, or PSAK) to IFRS under which it was considered that PSAK 51, regarding accounting for quasi-reorganisation, was not compatible with the concept under IFRS. In relation to this point, the Board of Financial Accounting Standards – Indonesian Institute of Accountants (Dewan Standar Akuntansi Keuangan – Ikatan Akuntan Indonesia/DSAK-IAI) published its Statement of Revocation of Financial Accounting Standard (Pernyataan Pencabutan Standar Akuntansi Keuangan/PPSAK) No 10, revoking PSAK 51, effective on January 1 2013.

The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) recently promulgated the Revised Guidelines on the Exercise of Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) and Related Processes (NCIP Administrative Order No 3, series of 2012), which repealed The Free and Prior Informed Consent Guidelines of 2006.

Bertha Xiomara Ortega Since 2008, Nicaragua has been modernising the administration of labour justice. The Ministry of Labor started the modernisation with the implementation of an oral process for the fulfilment of certain formalities required before it, such as termination of employment contracts for justified cause, collective suspensions and business closures. The implementation of this oral process has been successful because it reduces and simplifies the processes. In the judicial field, the National Labor Court of Appeals was established in 2011 and has national jurisdiction to hear as the second and final instance all the individual and collective disputes of legal matters which arise from the employment relationship between employers and workers. The National Labor Court of Appeals was established to provide legal certainty to employers and workers; it is a specialised labour court that will unify the jurisprudence on this matter. Before its creation, labour jurisprudence was divided into different courts of the country; the authorities in charge of labour decisions were the civil courts of appeals of various jurisdictions.

Poland started its adventure with public private partnerships (PPPs) in 2005. The then enacted Public-Private Partnership Act introduced the concept of PPPs into the Polish legal system. It was, however, overregulated and missed the required secondary legislation.

Nicholas Chang Linette Zhang Xiao Lin The Singapore central bank has proposed changes to the regulations of the Securities and Futures Act and Financial Advisers Act as part of its efforts to enhance and refine the country's regulatory framework. One of the key changes made by the central bank is the extension of the statutory obligations to ensure effective control and segregation of duties to mitigate conflicts of interest that may arise from the operations of a capital markets services (CMS) licence holder or a licensed financial adviser to the CMS licence holder or financial adviser, respectively. Under the present law, these statutory obligations are imposed on a director and chief executive officer of a CMS licence holder or a financial adviser only. The central bank found that the control failures are often not solely attributable to chief executive officers and directors. The proposed amendments therefore seek to extend these statutory obligations to CMS licence holders, together with their directors and senior management to ensure proper institutions and implementation of risk management and compliance systems.

Mian Muhammad Nazir The compatibility of contemporary insolvency legislation in the context of Islamic financial institutions and Islamic capital markets instruments is an important subject which regulators, courts and other stakeholders must address sooner rather than later to ensure the sustainable and continuous growth of the industry. This issue deserves more serious consideration from the legislatures and regulators as lack of an appropriate and legal and regulatory regime on insolvency in respect of Islamic financial institutions would certainly affect insolvency proceedings and the remedies sought or granted pursuant to such proceedings. Some of the most commonly used Islamic contracts and instruments result in automatic preference for investors and, in some cases, particularly when the competing obligations of an obligor are not shariah compliant, even a contractual waiver (either for a pari passu arrangement or sub-ordination) may not be effective. Considering the unique business model of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) and the nature of the shariah nominate contracts and instruments, many of the well-drafted laws and regulations on insolvency may not be relevant to IFIs in the event of any insolvency or restructuring proceedings.

Money market mutual funds (MMFs), while benefiting from quality and liquidity floors implemented in 2011, remain a source of vulnerability for the US economy. The Financial Stability Oversight Counsel (Fsoc) should see that fund managers hold enough capital in the event of another meltdown.

Will less stringent regulation boost innovation in China’s securities market?