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Japanese companies have faced various stages of corporate governance reform since 2001. Hiroki Kodate and Norifumi Takeuchi of Anderson Mori & Tomotsune highlight the changes

Courts in the US have generally recognized solvent schemes set up in the UK, but that might change due to the new round of bankruptcy reforms. By Joe Bannister and Alexander Wood

In German mergers and acquisitions the buyer often has to pay an additional premium when buying out minority shareholders. Matthias Horbach and Stefan Koch explain how accounting reforms will soon bring change and offer some tips for bidders

The government of Serbia has recently proposed a new Takeover Act to more effectively regulate takeovers. The proposed Takeover Act, which is modelled on the EC Takeover Directive (Directive 2004/25/EC), incorporates the main principles of the Directive – the equivalent treatment of all shareholders, the provision of information so that shareholders can make informed decisions, the duty of management to act in the interests of the target as a whole, the prevention of false markets and market distortion, the duty of a bidder to secure funding before making an offer, and requiring the takeover to be carried out quickly to prevent damaging the target's business. The Takeover Law has been presented to the parliament and should be enacted by the end of 2005.

Spain's Council of Ministers has recently proposed a new draft Regulation on Collective Investment Institutions (CIIs).

Recently parliament has passed the Completion of the Privatization of the State and Municipal Property and Use of the Privatization Vouchers Law, which enters into force on September 1 2005.

On August 26 2005, the Ministry of Finance & Economy of Korea (Mofe) announced its tax-reform proposals including anti-tax-haven rules. If approved by the National Assembly later this year, the proposed changes are expected to take effect in January 2006.

Banks and counsel look set to be disappointed by proposals on auditors' involvement in due diligence. Ben Maiden reports

BNP Paribas appointed a new general counsel for North America. Betty Whelchel joined the French bank's New York office having previously served as global general counsel for Deutsche Asset Management. Whelchel had earlier served as deputy general counsel for Deutsche Bank's New York branch and, before that, was with Shearman & Sterling in New York and Tokyo. She will report to Hubert de Vauplane, global head of corporate and investment banking, legal and to Everett Schenk, CEO of corporate and investment banking for North America.

The Loan Market Association has issued standard language for loan agreements to deal with disruption caused by a terrorist attack or natural disaster. But, explains Andrew Balfour, the clauses do not address difficult questions of liability