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The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the Indian capital markets regulator, has recently amended the Sebi (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009. The stated purpose of some of these amendments is to introduce so-called reformatory measures to revive the primary capital markets in India. These measures, according to the minutes of the Sebi's board meeting, are to encourage enhanced retail investors' participation, impose a higher standard of accountability on companies and intermediaries, and ensure greater transparency in the initial public offering (IPO) process.

Following the implementation in Italy of Directive EU/7/2011 of the European Parliament and the European Council of February 16 2011, the Italian government has recently approved a legislative decree which introduces substantial changes to Legislative Decree No. 231/2002 relating to late payments in commercial transactions.

Mian Muhammad Nazir From a shariah perspective, it is necessary that any dispute under a shariah-compliant contract must be resolved in accordance with the principles of shariah which govern the relevant shariah-nominate contract. This principle has been reiterated by International Fiqh Academy in its resolution on the subject of governing law for shariah-compliant transactions. Despite the resolution and the importance of the governing law for shariah-compliant transactions, the matter has not received any significant attention from stakeholders. The main reason why the parties are reluctant to choose the principles of shariah as governing law is uncertainty surrounding the recognition of principles of shariah as a system of law by judicial and quasi-judicial authorities and tribunals. Apparently, this indifference accorded to shariah is largely attributable to lack of understanding of the Islamic jurisprudence and its principles. It is often said – indeed it has become a cliché among the legal fraternity – that the principles of shariah are mostly a set of discretionary rules laid down or inferred by a scholar or a school of Islamic jurisprudence based on his or its understanding of Qur'an and Sunnah (the two main sources of Islamic jurisprudence). Surprisingly, this notion has received considerable strength from judgments in a few cases and arbitration proceedings in some jurisdictions. Unfortunately, the Islamic banking industry, which owes its genesis to Islamic jurisprudence, has not made any effort to dispel this misconception.

UK lawyers have called for banks and law firms to consider recognising redenomination as a risk factor in deal documentation.

On July 20 2012, the Government of Vietnam promulgated Decree 58/2012/ND-CP, implementing a number of provisions on the Law on Securities. Decree 58 took effect on September 15 2012, replacing a number of legal instruments, including Decree 14/2007/ND-CP, Decree 84/2010/ND-CP and Decree 01/2010/ND-CP.

Hear the Bank of England's Andrew Haldane speak and you could be forgiven for assuming the banking sector circa 1980 was something of a financial utopia. His most recent interview with BBC Radio 4's The World at One is a case in point.

Few would name the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) as a class leading, benchmark-setting regulator when it comes to enforcement of the securities law. Over 90% of new cases launched against alleged violators are by way of administrative action, and the balance by way of criminal prosecution in courts. Sebi's perception as an effective regulator is often wrongly criticised. The criticism arises from two pieces of what's deemed as evidence. First newspaper reports which discuss the overruling of Sebi's administrative findings by the appellate authority. Second, the perception that Sebi brings too few people to book to be able to act as a disincentive to other wrongdoers.

The difficult economic situation in Europe has increased the focus on bank deleveraging. In Ireland, this is just the latest phase in a process which has seen Irish banks dispose of significant non-core assets located outside Ireland throughout 2011 and 2012. In 2013, the focus will shift to Irish assets and, in particular, loan portfolios connected with Irish real estate. Frequently, these portfolios involve multiple privately-owned companies and investment structures with individuals participating as borrowers and guarantors. The Irish tax system and the real estate focus of the loans means that Irish loan acquisition vehicles offer some distinct advantages over non-Irish vehicles.

Shadow banking won’t be as elusive

The Panamanian bank has used a contractual structure to issue Latin America’s first cross-border covered bond