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The Off-Exchange Trading Regulations came into force on January 27 2006. With the market capitalization of the Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) topping $1 billion and a constant increase in turnover, off-exchange trading means more flexibility for authorized intermediaries and investors.

Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank acted as sole mandated lead arranger on the $122.5 million financing of Pacific Alliance's acquisition of the Goodbaby Group. The financing represents the first completed leveraged buyout in the PRC, Goodbaby being China's largest baby goods supplier. Allen & Overy, led by Joseph Tse in Hong Kong, advised Taipei Fubon. Pacific Alliance Group was advised by White & Case on the acquisition and by Sidley Austin on financing matters.

Samuli Palin and Anu Tuomola of Castrén & Snellman Attorneys Ltd assess the surge in foreign interest in real estate deals, and explain how such deals are structured and financed

James Doyle and David Hudd set out some basic tips on documenting synthetic collateralized debt obligations and the potential legal issues that can arise during the structuring process

A recent aircraft deal was the first to use a group of monoline insurers to wrap a single class of notes. By Ben Maiden

Regulators in the US are facing a predictably mixed response to their most recent proposed rule changes. Planned reforms affecting deregistration and soft-dollar commissions attempt to frame simple rules in areas of some complexity. Neither set of proposals is beyond criticism. But the new rules bring welcome clarity for those they affect.

Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG recently acquired shares in Nova Banjalucka Banka ad, Banja Luka, creating the first concentration in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) ever to be cleared by the new competent authority, the Competition Council. The transaction highlighted some important procedural provisions to be aware of when submitting a filing for a transaction in BiH under the new Competition Law (Zakon o konkurenciji), which took effect on July 27 2005.

John France, Ashurst Ashurst appointed five partners in London, Frankfurt and Milan. David von Saucken and Matt McDonald joined the restructuring and insolvency group in the firm's London office, while Ingo Scholz was hired to the Frankfurt office, also in the restructuring and insolvency group. Energy, transport and infrastructure specialist Franco Vigliano and international finance partner John France joined Ashurst in Milan. McDonald, von Saucken and Scholz were previously partners at Haarmann Hemmelrath, where they advised on non-performing loan portfolio acquisitions and restructuring. Vigliano and France were both project finance specialists at Allen & Overy in Milan.

Espirito Santo Financial Group completed a Lehman Brothers-managed £500 million ($880 million) debt security issue. Linklaters, led by partner Keith Thompson, acted for Lehman on the fixed-rate note issue with warrants. The deal represents the first listing of notes with warrants since the implementation of the Prospectus Directive and the first issue of bonds with warrants by a European issuer since 2001. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer represented Espirito Santo Financial Group on the deal.

A recent decision by the High Court of England and Wales has further strengthened the position of creditors seeking to recover moneys owed by defaulting sovereign debtors. In Kensington International Limited v Republic of the Congo [2005] EWHC 2684 (Comm), the Court held that private creditors of the Republic of Congo could enforce their judgments in England against assets of numerous entities that it held to be emanations of the Congolese state.