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Despite finalised Basel commitments there is still ambiguity around key proposals, including how they interact with national rules

A recent New South Wales (NSW) Court of Appeal judgment on the scope and enforceability of exclusive jurisdiction clauses strikes a further blow to the forum shopper, in a move that represents a notable development of the common law and increases certainty in global investment.

The Isda regional conference tackled short selling, Basel III and concerns about confidentiality

IFLR’s Asian and European Private Equity forums found an industry worrying about a regulatory deluge and changing structures.

Chun-yih Cheng

Philbert E Varona

Alvaro Castellanos Howell

Dr Ilir Mustafaj Endrit Shijaku A considerable number of loans that Albanian banks have made to their customers are secured with mortgages over immovable properties. Yet the extent to which immovable properties are being used as collateral for lending in Albania, is far from its full potential. Although an increase in the collateralisation of much of the immovable properties for borrowing money from the banks would provide additional fuel for the Albanian economy, the Albanian authorities have several challenges in addressing some major obstacles before they can win the confidence of the banks to accept more types of immovable properties as collateral, and thus issue more loans.

Belgium is determined to finalise the AIFM Directive during its EU Presidency. But will a speedy compromise result in fair access?

Covered bond legislation in the US appears to be working its way through the legislative process. The House Financial Services Committee has passed a covered bonds bill and discussion has once again been taken up in the Senate. Although the private sector has successfully kept this dialogue active and focused, a large segment of our financial services industry has not yet focused on the role that covered bonds may eventually play in financing residential mortgage loan origination by regional and community banks. A robust covered bond market in the US will assuredly be led by our largest financial institutions. But once this development is underway, the market should expand to include smaller issuers that could execute covered bond offerings in the public and private markets. Developments in the European covered bond market and our own history of on-balance sheet mortgage-backed bond financings confirms this prospect. Up to this point, regional banks and regional banking associations have not been active participants in the discussion of US covered bonds legislation. As covered bonds may well end up as one of the more important components of their suite of funding alternatives, now is the time to take a seat at the legislative table.