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The European Commission (EC), by its very nature, loves to harmonise. From integrated capital markets and bank capital requirements, to its restrictive shipping law; harmonisation is a validatory process for those sat in Brussels. It's not always the right process though. As this month's cover story (p26) by staff writer Lizzie Meager discovers, an EU insolvency regime is not the way to solve the headaches caused by disjointed jurisdictional systems.

Luis Gabriel Morcillo María Camila Ordoñez In November 2015, the Brazilian National Monetary Council issued Resolutions 4444 and 4449 with the goal of attracting investments from insurance and local reinsurance companies, pension funds and capitalisation companies (institutional investors) to infrastructure projects.

Randall Barquero León In July 2015, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (the OECD) formally established the path for Costa Rica's accession. The process started in 2013 when the OECD stated that it would consider applications for Colombia and Costa Rica's entry. This was the first time the OECD had announced an expansion since 2007. If admitted, Colombia and Costa Rica would become the third and fourth Latin American members of the OECD, after Chile and Mexico. This has been considered both a vote of confidence for Costa Rica but also a challenge to its capacity to adapt to meet the organisation's standards. These standards include financial regulations.

Bassam Moussa In 1971, three teachers who had pooled $1,350 to start a coffee shop in Seattle needed additional capital to keep their business running. They ended up borrowing $5,000 from a bank. The start-up that they originally named Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spice was able to get the financing it needed to grow and expand, eventually becoming the Fortune 500 company we now know as Starbucks.

Elias Neocleous Law 144(I) of 2015 amends the Partnerships and Business Names Law (Cap 116) to introduce the concept of partnerships limited by shares (commonly referred to as limited liability partnerships, or LLPs) to the law of Cyprus. LLPs and their equivalents are widely used in other jurisdictions, particularly for investment holding purposes, and their introduction into Cyprus will provide a convenient new vehicle.

Oene Marseille Emir Nurmansyah In response to Rupiah's rapid decline in value, the central bank of Indonesia, Bank Indonesia (BI), has issued a series of regulations requiring that certain documentation be produced in foreign exchange transactions against Rupiah above a certain threshold.

The Basel Committee's framework has led to further liquidity fears among lawyers in the US

For US counsel mulling over how corporate equity markets will play out this year, front of mind is the question of whether 2015's disappointing initial public offering (IPO) activity will continue.

Jennifer Williams Corporate law firms have geared up for 2016 with intensive lateral hiring. The new year was young when PAUL HASTINGS announced it had lured partner and alternative lending specialist William Brady from Proskauer Rose in New York. Also in early January, DECHERT hired funds lawyer Timothy Spangler to its office in Orange County from Sidley Austin. Spangler, who held equivalent positions at Kaye Scholer, advises clients on the launch of hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, real estate funds, and funds of funds.

Catherine Tsang The new year marked a new start for a number of lawyers in Hong Kong. MAYER BROWN JSM, looking to build on its recent association with PRC firm Jingtian & Gongcheng, added a new partner in the special administrative region. Nicholas Chan – an expert on Hong Kong's IPO market – joined from Sidley Austin where he was a partner in its corporate finance group. WHITE & CASE also hired in Hong Kong, adding partner Catherine Tsang from Paul Hastings to strengthen its corporate and capital markets capabilities. ASHURST brought in partner Joshua Cole from King & Wood Mallesons to focus on Asian M&A; and UK firm INCE & CO added Balbir Bindra from CEC North Star Energy to reinforce its Asia transactional practice. Also in Hong Kong, OLSWANG established a non-exclusive association with local firm HALDANES to expand its media advisory, regulatory and transactional expertise.