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On April 1 2012, the Revised Code of Civil Procedure (the Revised Code) came into effect, which defines the scope of the jurisdiction of the Japanese court with respect to international matters. Before the enactment of the Revised Code, Japan did not have a law that clearly defined the jurisdiction of the Japanese courts with respect to cross-border disputes. As such, until the enactment of the Revised Code, the jurisdiction of the Japanese court has been determined by judicial reasoning and court precedent, which was widely criticised due its lack of consistency.

Serene Sia Chen Shu The Monetary Authority of Singapore, on the advice of the Securities Industry Council (SIC), has revised the Code on Takeovers and Mergers which came into force on April 9 2012.

Andreas Moll On March 20 2012, the United Kingdom and Switzerland signed a protocol of amendment that supplements the withholding tax agreement of October 6 2011. The aim of the agreement is the effective taxation of UK taxpayers' assets in Switzerland. The agreement provides for withholding tax on future investment income and gains on assets, as well as taxing UK taxpayers' previously untaxed assets in Switzerland.

Samuel B Abad Yupanqui On April 4 2012, the regulation of Law 29785 became effective. It carries the right to prior consultation with indigenous peoples recognised by Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO), and is intended to ensure the right to consultation when an administrative or legislative measure, for example, a mining lease or the installation of gas pipelines, may directly affect collective rights.

The US Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) recently issued a final rule and guidance regarding non-bank entities that may be designated as systemically important subject to Federal Reserve supervision.

Chinonyelum Uwazie Several jurisdictions have, since the adoption of the Uncitral Model Law on Electronic Commerce in 1996, implemented national legislation to remove barriers to electronic commerce, including the United States through the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act 1999, New Zealand by the Electronic Transactions Act 2002, Australia through the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 with recent amendments in the Electronic Transactions Amendment Act 2011, and Malaysia with the Electronic Commerce Act 2006. Nigeria, like many of these jurisdictions, now wishes to remove the barriers to electronic commerce through proposed legislation before the Nigerian legislature, the Electronic Commerce (Provision of Legal Recognition) Bill 2011.

Malaysia has, in its Tenth Malaysia Plan for 2011 to 2015, re-emphasised its commitment to the use of renewable energy to meet the country's growing energy demands and the sustainability of the environment. This commitment can be seen through the enactment of the Renewable Energy Act 2011 (RE Act) and the Sustainable Energy Development Authority Act 2011 (Seda Act) coming into effect in December 2011, a significant milestone in the development of renewable energy in Malaysia.

Rodrigo Taboada In January, 2011, the National Assembly of Nicaragua approved Law No 741 that regulates trust agreements in Nicaragua. This is the first time that trusts have been regulated by law. The law declares that the regulation of trusts will have the purpose of allowing management of assets, execution of public and private investments, and creation of securities, among other things.

O n December 15 2011, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) issued Circular No. 40/2011/TT-NHNN regulating the licensing, organisation and operation of commercial banks, foreign bank branches, and representative offices in Vietnam of foreign credit institutions and of other foreign organisations with a banking operation.

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) of South Korea has announced a new corporate disclosure system under which there will be an introduction of computerisation of the entire disclosure process and the follow-on examination procedure as well as different review standards for both top-ranking and struggling companies.