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Securities litigation is going to be one of the hottest topics this year. After the initial fallout over structured finance, the courts will be full of shareholders, banks, investment houses or all three

Regulators want a clearer line between banks that distribute products and banks that take deposits - with some calling for an Asian Glass-Steagall Act

Kenneth Masotti will join Dechert in the firm’s New York office as counsel to the corporate and securities group.

In the US, the battle over the regulation of hedge funds has been gaining intensity for some time. Congress has been discussing regulation of the industry for over two years. On November 10 2008, Senator Charles Schumer told a securities industry group that he thought it was time for a single US regulator to be given responsibility for the regulation and oversight of private capital firms, including hedge funds. On November 13 2008, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform heard testimony from five leading US hedge fund managers. Committee chairman Henry Waxman began by observing that, with assets exceeding $2 trillion, hedge funds have the potential to constitute a systemic threat to the global economy. He and other congressmen referenced several concerns including excessive leverage, the lack of transparency and the disproportionately favourable tax treatment accorded to hedge fund earnings. The hedge fund managers offered statements defending their industry, their personal wealth, the capital gains tax treatment and the need for confidentiality. One manager indicated that he could see the need for some limitation on leverage. A manager made the point that excessive US regulation would exacerbate the trend towards concentrating hedge fund activity and related jobs outside the US.

To further mitigate the negative effects of the current financial crisis on Swedish households and businesses, the Swedish government has proposed an extensive plan to ensure the stability of the financial system. Part of this has been to present an act on public support to financial institutions.

Regarding public-private partnership (PPP) practice in Slovakia, the previous year was significant for the launch or continuation of tender procedures on the basis of which the state has been seeking to involve the private sector in the financing of large infrastructure projects for the first time. This was in line with the government's plans to speed up the process of construction of the highway infrastructure by way of PPP. More specifically, the subject matter of these tenders is the procurement of construction, operation and maintenance of highways and an electronic toll system for lorries weighing more than 3.5 tonnes.

On January 5 2009, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) released a draft regulation (amended regulation), which will replace the current Regulation on Securities Issuance and Disclosure (current regulation) in its entirety. It is scheduled to become effective on the effective date (February 4 2009) of the Capital Market and Financial Investment Business Act (Capital Market Act), following a 20-day public review period and a review by the Ministry of Legislation. As such, the current draft of the amended regulation is subject to changes.

On December 12 2008, the new Financial Instruments and Exchange Act took effect. This law, as well as other laws and regulations related to it, has been amended mainly to: (i) create a new market for professional investors; (ii) revamp the firewall regulations for banks, securities firms and insurance companies; and (iii) expand the administrative monetary penalty system. Please note that the amendments regarding firewall regulations have not yet taken effect but are scheduled to take effect by June 12 2009.

From 1998 to 2000, the Corporate Restructuring Committee (CORC), an organisation established by 205 financial institutions pursuant to the Financial Institutions Arrangement for Facilitating Corporate Restructuring, aggressively pursued and conducted corporate restructuring in Korea (workouts), while the Financial Supervisory Commission supervised workouts of financial institutions. Upon the dissolution of the CORC in 2001, the principal creditor banks of the workout companies took the lead in corporate restructuring pursuant to the Corporate Restructuring Promotion Act (CRPA).

On November 26 2008, the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) issued a tax circular concerning enterprise income tax (EIT) consolidation and prepayment by wholly foreign-owned banks, Guoshuihan (2008) 958 (Circular 958). Circular 958, which took effect retroactively from January 1 2008, specifies that wholly foreign-owned banks are also required to follow the Interim Procedures for the Administration of Income Tax Collection from Enterprises that Operate Across Different Administrative Regions and File Consolidated Enterprise Income Tax Returns (Interim Procedures), issued by the SAT under cover of Guoshuifa (2008) 28.