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On September 29 2005, the Serbian parliament adopted the new law on voluntary pension funds. The law is the legal basis for the establishment and operation of voluntary pension funds and their management companies, which are being introduced in Serbia for the first time. The law also governs so-called retirement savings plans, defined as contracts for the benefit of pension fund participants, entered into between employers or their associations on the one hand, and management companies on the other. To allow enough time for the existing pension funds to bring their operations in line with the new law, and to allow regulators to adopt the necessary implementing bylaws, the new law is scheduled to enter force on April 1 2006.

Mergers, divisions and changes in the form of Latvian companies fall under the reorganization rules. This summary covers the main legal and tax points to be taken into account in reorganizations in Latvia.

At press time the Russian state Duma was considering several amendments to the Federal law on the Securities Market No. 39-FZ of April 22 1996 and the Federal law on joint-stock companies No. 208-FZ of December 26 1995. The amendments are designed to facilitate the IPO (initial public offering) process and to bring Russian IPOs more in line with western standards and practices.

As of January 10 2006, a new book-entry transfer system for corporate bonds will begin operation. This system, which will be available to both domestic and foreign issuers for all new corporate bond issues, is another step towards conversion of the Japanese bond market from the old recorded bond system to a truly paperless bond transfer system. It is believed that all existing recorded corporate bonds will also eventually be converted into book-entry corporate bonds.

The purpose of this article is to examine the practical implications of the EU Prospectus Directive (2003/71/EC), rather than to further educate the reader on its origins, content or precise application. As expected in the wake of such an ambitious legislative advancement, many useful summaries have been generated, with most commentators extolling the virtues of the Directive. As the dust settles however, it has become apparent to some that the Directive is somewhat flawed.

Cyprus was not party to the delays associated with the creation of the European Company (Societas Europeae (SE)) entity as the country acceded to the EU on May 1 2004, six months prior to the coming into force of the SE Regulation (EC/2157/2001) on October 8 2004.

The Copenhagen Stock Exchange (CSE) has launched its alternative market place for small and medium-sized companies that could be candidates for public offerings without satisfying all requirements needed for larger companies.

Following the UK water industry's use of securitization as a financial restructuring tool, it now looks to be the turn of the gas industry. By Julian Davies

Ben Maiden reports on the arrival of Ecaps deals in the US capital markets

Paul Hastings hired Dan Goldman as a partner to its litigation practice in New York. Goldman, who was previously with Kasowitz Benson, has a practice that focuses on commercial litigation. He has tried cases on behalf of companies in New York, Texas, California, Washington DC and Delaware.