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Shearman & Sterling and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised on Dresser-Rand Group's initial public offering (IPO). The offering, which raised $567 million, listed the engineering company's shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Edward Tolley of Simpson Thacher was issuer counsel on the deal. James Scott of Shearman & Sterling advised the underwriters, who were led by Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.

Pressure is growing on investment banks to ensure the accuracy of financial disclosure in securities offerings, but independent accountants are trying to cut back their involvement in the offering process. Is a new financial disclosure crisis looming? If so, regulators must intervene to protect investors. By Richard Baumann

A pilot scheme in China attempts to increase liquidity in China's equity markets by making more shares tradeable, but faces the challenge of compensating domestic investors without displeasing international investors. By Filip Moerman and Niping Wu

Romania's new Property Law created much controversy in the country, but in fact it will not change many of the substantive laws and procedural rules that have governed the Romanian real estate system. The Property Law (Law 247/2005 regarding reform in the property and justice fields and other ancillary measures), adopted on July 22 2005, has not touched the core of the real property system, but has instead lessened various hurdles faced by investors in Romania and made the judicial process easier for individuals seeking restitution of their properties. Changes have been made to the rules governing restitution of real estate and a property fund has been created that will act as an economic substitute in cases where restitution in kind is not practicable.

Over the last six months there have been a number of positive developments in the Dutch market for public-private partnerships (PPP) projects. Although public-private partnerships have been used in the Netherlands for a few years, so far the number of projects has been limited. Despite a positive attitude and appetite for this type of projects in the market, central government was treading carefully. In recent years it has carried out a number of pilot projects to establish whether PPPs were a possibility for projects in the Netherlands. These included the first PPP project for schools (which closed at the end of 2004) and a PPP project for the offices of the Ministry of Finance (the consultation phase is complete and the BAFO negotiations are about to start).

A new Financial Conglomerate Law of 2005 and respective amendments to the Credit Institution Law of 1995 have been passed to specify the regulations for Latvian banks now that the country has joined the EU.

The government has introduced a new draft law to harmonize the existing anti-money-laundering legislation with Directive 2001/97/EC (on prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering) (the Directive). The bill is awaiting parliamentary vote.

Recommendations for proper corporate governance behaviour in Denmark come under the auspices of a committee established in conjunction with the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. On August 15 2005, the committee provided a revised set of recommendations that, pursuant to the current rules on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, listed companies must adhere to.

Has financial disclosure in securities offerings become a less reliable part of offering circulars? Our cover story this month exposes how the disengagement of auditors from the due diligence process places additional pressure on other advisers and means investors may receive less accurate financial information about issuers.

China is exploring hybrid financial instruments, which offer exposure to the upside and/or downside of an index other than, or in addition to, the basis and credit spread that would be assigned to an issuer's obligation to pay a stated principal amount within a given time.