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The Tokyo office of Linklaters hired Hidehiro Utsumi, a tax expert specializing in cross-border transactions. He joined from Japanese firm Nishimura & Partners and worked as a chartered accountant before becoming a lawyer. Linklaters expects him to advise on the legal and tax aspects of M&A transactions. Utsumi becomes the fifth partner to join Linklaters in Tokyo in three months.

Clifford Chance and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy were international counsel on the first Brazilian perpetual bond offering. Banco Bradesco issued $300 million in perpetual non-cumulative junior subordinated securities, the first Tier 1 bond deal by a Brazilian financial institution and one of the first in Latin America. The securities were sold in the US under Rule 144A and internationally under Regulation S. Milbank Tweed partner Michael Fitzgerald and counsel Taisa Markus acted for Merrill Lynch on the deal. New York-based Clifford Chance partner Anthony Oldfield acted for Banco Bradesco. Pinheiro Neto Advogados was Brazilian counsel to Merrill Lynch through partners José Carlos Junqueira Meirelles, Ricardo Luiz Becker and Bruno Balduccini. Machado Meyer Sendacz e Opice Advogados partner Nei Schilling Zelmanovits was lead local counsel to the issuer.

The Netherlands had to implement emergency legislation to avoid missing the July 1 implementation date. Erwin Schreuder and Ella van Kranenburg explain what this means for issuers

Hungary has met the implementation deadline; the final rules are due to be published soon. By Andrea Miskolczi

New and proposed international accounting rules attempt to blend a European approach with US elements. Increased transparency of deals will need to be weighed against additional costs of due diligence. By Kathryn Cearns

The Swedish Covered Bonds Act (as amended) (Sw: lag (2003:1223) om utgivning av säkerställda obligationer) came into force on July 1 2004. The Act allows Swedish mortgage lending institutions to issue bonds secured by mortgage loans separated into a specific security pool.

As the Kyoto Protocol established serious commitments to curtail greenhouse gas emissions, transposition of the EU Emissions Trading Directive took place in Portugal, implementing an emission allowances trading scheme and providing the necessary framework within EU guidelines.

On April 5 2005, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) published Circular 05/176 establishing, for the benefit of undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (Ucits), the lines of conduct for using financial derivative instruments. This Circular implements in Luxembourg the principles of Recommendation 2004/383/EC of the Commission of April 27 2004 on the use of financial derivative instruments for Ucits.

To ensure Indonesia's commercial banks maintain their stability and viability in the rapidly developing global banking market, they have been required to minimize potential losses they might incur when they lend money to bad debtors. Banks must be prudent when determining the creditworthiness of borrowers, and funds should only be provided once the bank has satisfied itself as to the quality of the borrower and its assets.

Ben Maiden reports on a ruling that exposes underwriters to new litigation risks