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A tour around the Loan Market Association's first guide to Islamic finance and its terms

Dubai's first securitisation had a conventional structure. Insolvency, however, was an issue

A new way to issue under Rule 144A

Loyens and LG open in Dubai Loyens and LG set up on the sunny beaches of Dubai Dutch law firm Loyens & Loeff has announced that it is to open an office in Dubai on January 1 2008. This marks the first time that a continental European legal and tax service provider has made such a move. The Loyens & Loeff Dubai team will be led by tax lawyer Stijn Janssen who will be supported by partners Philip van Hilten and Waldo Kapoen. Seven other lawyers will complete the team, but the firm intends to expand when necessary. The new office will be situated in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

On November 1 2007, the European Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid) replaced the Investment Services Directive (ISD). The act carrying out the Mifid in Dutch legislation also came into force on November 1. One of the main objectives of the Mifid is to obtain a more harmonised regime for investment firms in all jurisdictions of the European Economic Area (EEA). Contrary to the ISD, most provisions in the Mifid feature the concept of maximum harmonisation, which means that individual member states do not have the right to exceed the terms of the Mifid. Introduction of these harmonised rules to the Dutch financial system has led to a number of changes in the regulatory regime for investment firms providing services in the Netherlands.

Switzerland Recommended firms Tier 1 Bär & Karrer Homburger Lenz & Staehelin Niederer Kraft & Frey Tier 2 Baker & McKenzie Pestalozzi Lachenal Patry Schellenberg Wittmer Walder Wyss & Partners Wenger & Vieli Tier 3 CMS von Erlach Henrici Nobel & Hug Prager Dreifuss Python & Peter Vischer A steady economy, high standards of living and a favourable tax environment are all reasons why multinationals such as Kraft, Google, Yahoo and E-bay are choosing to set up headquarters in Zurich and the Geneva area.

Recent years have seen a big increase in the commoditization of structured finance in Spain. After several years of consistent growth, the banks are finally treating Spain as just another western jurisdiction, with the same expectations of quick turnaround, high volume and low fees from their external counsel. More deals are also being executed by the banks in-house, given their now extensive knowledge of how these deals work in the Spanish market. This, obviously, means even less work for external counsel, but several firms have made the smart move of volunteering templates and other standard documentation to the banks' internal teams. This may not be hourly charging, but by getting the banks to pay for this service it does compensate for some of the lost revenue otherwise felt by commoditization.

A wide swathe of law firms benefited from this year's US equity volume. It was a good thing to have in a volatile year

Is it an attempt to placate regulators?

Ikea may now be able to sell it s chairs in Thailand Thailand's Finance Ministry has given much-needed hope to foreign investors after insisting it will approve ING's $674 million stake in TMB Bank.