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By Alejandro Candioti Candioti Gatto Bicain & Ocantos

Law 37 of 2009 on the Procedures for the Recovery of Illegally Obtained Public and Private Funds was issued in late December 2009 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, in his capacity as the Ruler of Dubai. The Law came into force on December 31 2009.

Mexico City's congress recently passed an amendment to contract law provisions of the Civil Code for the Federal District (Mexico City) introducing the theory of unpredictability or imprévision, as it is known under French law, granting debtors the right to seek relief for unpredictable circumstances. The amendment was published in the Official Gazette of the Federal District on January 22 2010 and became effective the day after. The change in the contract law provisions of the Civil Code for the Federal District, granting debtors the right to seek amendment to civil law contracts as a result of non-contractual events, is an exception to the general principle of civil law that has ruled contractual arrangements in Mexico "pacta sunt servanda": the agreements are to be kept.

The latest changes that the Capital Markets Board (CMB) has introduced to the Communiqué on Real Estate Investment Companies (REICs) have put these companies in line before the CMB to go public. Initial public offerings (IPOs), which had nearly ground to a halt due to the global financial crisis, seem to be livening up the real estate investment sector thanks to healing signs in the market and the latest amendments to the Communiqué, which soften IPO conditions for REICs.

Sukuk in general market parlance refers to negotiable financial instruments that do not have elements that are prohibited in Islam. Formal definitions can be found in international standards such as in the shariah standard of the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Instititutions (Aaoifi) as well as in local regulatory guidelines such as in the case of Malaysia issued by the Securities Commission of Malaysia. In the former, investment sukuk are described as certificates of equal value representing undivided shares in ownership of tangible assets, usufruct and services or (in the ownership of) the assets of particular projects or special investment activity whilst in the latter sukuk are simply defined as a document or certificate which represents the value of an asset.

On January 28 2010, Regulation of Bank Indonesia concerning Non-Bank Offshore Loans was enacted, which requires all public companies, listed companies, foreign investment companes and other private companies (established in Indonesia or not)) that have obtained or plan to obtain offshore loan (conventional or shariah- based) to submit a report to Bank Indonesia.

Mauricio Salas, BLP Abogados The securities regulator of Costa Rica, the Superintendencia General de Valores (Sugval) is drafting new rules for venture capital funds, in an effort to bolster financing of entrepreneurial transactions. Several funds operate in Costa Rica on a private basis. Public offering of funds has not been authorised by the regulator so far, despite being expressly authorised by statute in Costa Rica's Ley Reguladora del Mercado de Valores.

Recent changes to Cyprus's Income Tax and Special Defence Contribution laws will benefit holders of units in Collective Investment Schemes, boosting Cyprus's attractiveness as a base for such schemes.

New Basel rules are affecting everyone differently. In the UK banks are worried about grandfathering, in Germany the headache is hybrids and in the US it's risk structures. Meanwhile Japan has some tips and Hong Kong structured its first hybrid

Translation has become best practice on Indonesian deals as banks seek to comply with Law 24