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Chinonyelum Uwazie The regulation of market abuse has for many years been the subject of discussions among financial market participants and scholars. It dominated discussions before the recent global financial crisis (see, for instance, Avgouleas, The Mechanics and Regulation of Market Abuse: A Legal and Economic Analysis Regulation, Oxford University Press, 2005), and the crisis has done nothing but heighten the discussions since then. Market abuse is generally perceived as a serious offence that damages investor confidence and the integrity of financial markets. This has caused scholars to argue that the rationale for controlling market abuse is the maintenance of investor confidence among others (RCH Alexander, Insider Dealing and Money Laundering in the EU, Ashgate, 2007). Rider, Alexander and Linklater note that integral to the efficient operation of any market is the maintenance of confidence in the integrity of its functions. (BAK Rider, C Abrams and TM Ashe, Financial Services Regulation CCH Editions 1997, cited in Alexander, Ashgate, 2007).

Project financiers have a new set of environmental and human right standards to build into their risk analysis frameworks

Among the various measures taken by the Brazilian government to stimulate investments in infrastructure and research and development projects, one of them refers to issuance of debt securities to raise funds for such investments, which may be issued as debentures or any other type of securities admitted in Brazilian legislation (Capex Debentures).

In Hewlett-Packard Co. v Commissioner (TC Memo. 2012-135), the Tax Court recharacterised preferred equity owned by Hewlett-Packard Co (better known as HP) in a Dutch corporation as indebtedness and denied HP foreign tax credits and a capital loss on the exit transaction.

The Central Bank of Cyprus has announced that it has commissioned an independent review of the domestic banking system at the request of the so-called troika (the tripartite committee of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund that is coordinating assistance under EU support mechanisms). The exercise will cover the principal commercial banks as well as the Co-operative Central Bank and a representative sample of affiliated cooperative credit institutions. It will include an asset quality review and a bottom-up stress test aimed at determining the capital needs of each participating institution.

On September 20 2012, the Government of India issued several press notes liberalising foreign direct investment norms in sectors such as aviation and multi-brand retail (MBR). The government thus allowed foreign investors to hold up to 51% of the share capital in Indian companies operating in the MBR sector, and allowed foreign airlines to hold 49% in companies operating scheduled and non-scheduled air transport services. Before this liberalisation, foreign direct investment was prohibited in MBR, and foreign airlines were prohibited from investing in air transport services (though foreign entities other than airlines could make investments in this sector).

Iskandar Malaysia is the southern development corridor in Johor, Malaysia. It was officially launched in November 2006 and covers 221,634 hectares of land area within the southern-most part of Johor. The development region encompasses an area of about three-times the size of Singapore and two-times the size of Hong Kong, and has been identified as one of the catalyst developments to spur the growth of the Malaysian economy.

Eduardo Guevara In 2007, Peru's first gas supply agreement for the development of a fertilizer plant was granted through a private bid. This was the first step in the development of the country's petrochemical industry. Simultaneously the Peruvian government granted certain benefits, including tax stability, based on the long-term investment required for the development of this kind of project. In the following years, new projects appeared for the development of ammonium nitrate plants, as well as an ethane project. Important amounts of investments were announced, and various authorities announced future plants in their regions.

Jane Sim Serene Sia Through a press release on October 3 2012, Singapore's Ministry of Finance (MOF) confirmed that it has completed its review of the Companies Act. Following the public consultation carried out in 2011, the MOF has accepted 192 and modified 17 recommendations of the Steering Committee. This is the largest number of changes to the Act since it was enacted in 1967. The wide ranging changes are aimed at maintaining Singapore's competitiveness as a business hub, reduce regulatory burden and compliance costs for companies, provide greater flexibility for companies, and to improve the country's corporate governance landscape. Most importantly, it will bring benefits to various stakeholder groups such as companies, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), retail investors and company directors. Following are some of the noteworthy changes:

Mian Muhammad Nazir The Emirates Bankers Association has set up an Islamic Banking Committee (IBC) to review various shariah governance models at the regulator's level and to propose a suitable model for the Central Bank of UAE to implement. The IBC is assessing the merits and demerits of different models practised in other countries. The IBC is mandated to suggest a shariah governance structure at the Central Bank which will provide the regulatory support to Islamic financial institutions (including Islamic windows) through setting up an Islamic banking department at the Central Bank of UAE. Most likely the shariah governance structure at the Central Bank will essentially follow an improved form of any of the existing models. This involves, among other things, establishing a shariah supervisory board at the Central Bank to oversee the overall regulation of the Islamic financial institutions. In proposing a suitable governance structure, particularly recommending a shariah supervisory board at the Central Bank, the Emirates Bankers Association would certainly be endeavouring to reconcile the mandatory provisions of Federal Law No 6 of 1985 and the precedents of having a shariah supervisory board at the central banks.