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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:

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.

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).

Continuing its efforts to promote transparency, Vietnam's Ministry of Finance issued Circular No 52/2012/TT-BTC on April 5 2012, guiding the disclosure of information on the securities market (Circular 52). This came into effect from June 1 2012, replacing Circular No 09/2010/TT-BTC (Circular 09). In addition to Circular 52, the State Securities Commission (SSC) promulgated Decision No 515/QD-UBCK dated June 25 2012 enabling the disclosure of information on the SSC website (Decision 515).

The Ryanair/Aer Lingus deal reveals a shortfall in EU merger control regarding minority shareholdings. But is reform appropriate?

What do you get if you ask three economists to devise the future shape of the banking industry? It sounds like the beginning of a good joke doesn't it? Except, I can't quite think of the punch line.

Other countries are tipped to follow the UK Financial Services Authority's (FSA) lead and soften bank capital requirements ahead of Basel III implementation.

Zambia has become the latest Sub-Saharan sovereign to tap the international capital markets, issuing its inaugural sovereign bond.

What does the Liikanen review tell us about the banking model of the future?

Debate at last month’s Indonesia forum revolved around renewables, the next wave of project financiers, and the need for IPO reforms